Cuban Missile Crisis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cuban Missile Crisis - Assignment Example In 1896, the decision of Plessy v. Feguson held that the Jim Crow rule did not violate the American Fourteenth Amendment. The Decision was ignorance that black facilities were inferior (Bennett 214). Due to the subservient position of African Americans, In 1955 Rosa Park defied the norm of the time. She refused to give up a seat in a bus in Alabama, Montgomery. The refusal instigated mass protest among blacks who boycotted the bus transport. The boycott led many blacks to follow Martin Luther King Jr as patron of the newly founded Montgomery Improvement Association. The support made King very popular amongst blacks where he himself adopted Gandhi approach of non-violent approach as a way of advocating for non-white rights (Bennett 216). The maturity of black’s movements was gradual, blacks were relentless in their course, due to this, major campaigns were widespread, this leading to Birmingham case where non-violent demonstrators were hurt by law enforcers. The result made white perceive that the black nationalism might occur and this led president Kennedy to introduce civil rights act of 1964 and London to introduce in 1965 the voting rights amongst blacks (Bennett 217). The October crisis or Cuban missile was a result of Suspicion and fear on spread of communism in America. According to Allison and Zellikov (110), it was a confrontation among Cuba, United States of America and the Soviet Union in 1962. The origin was a result of USA failure to overthrow Cuba regime. Due to this, the Cuban and its allies Soviet governments began to build different ballistic missiles which were perceived to have ability to hit and destroy US. Castro and his counterpart from Russia, Krushchev were ready to invade US if USA invaded Cuba, which the Soviet saw as their only option to spread communism in Latin America (Allison and Zellikov 112). After the confrontation had ended, Soviet Union dismantled the

Chemiluminescence and Bioluminescence in Nature

Chemiluminescence and Bioluminescence in Nature Bioluminescence is a scientific phenomenon that is complex in character because luminous organisms possess unique light-producing chemical reactions and have varied methods of controlling light. Luminous organisms do not fall under order of animals but are unevenly distributed across multiple animal orders. Furthermore, luminous organisms are often adapted to specialized environments and can be difficult to physically research. This paper will cover the background of bioluminescence, luminous reactions and their regulators, and the practical applications of knowledge in this field. The purpose of the research is to gain an adequate understanding of chemiluminescence in nature in order to predict the nature of future research and gauge its potential in the modern world. Research for this paper was accomplished through the reviewing of published scientific papers and literature on the subject. Some of the results reached include that bioluminescence is different in terrestrial and aqua tic organisms and that a wide range of techniques are used to moderate light in both habitats. The conclusions that have been reached are that research of bioluminescence will surely accelerate and that further research of bioluminescence has potential in the areas of evolutionary biology, lighting technology, and medicine. Introduction When Christopher Columbus embarked on his voyage in 1492, he had to overcome many strong prejudices rooted in European folklore. Tales of sea monsters have captured the minds of Europeans for centuries, and Columbus was utterly mesmerized when the waters surrounding his ship began to shine. The alluring glow of bioluminescent organisms has continued to perplex humans all the way through modern times. Although science has illuminated the surprisingly dark realm of bioluminescence, further research is still required. This paper will cover the background, reactions, and uses of this complex, yet common phenomenon to determine the nature of future research and its applicability in other areas of science. HISTORY During the seventeenth century, the English physicist Robert Boyle conducted an important experiment concerning bioluminescence. Robert Boyle encased a piece of glowing wood within a glass bell and then proceeded to suck the air out the enclosure. As he took out the air, he observed that the glowing of the wood grew fainter and eventually was extinguished completely (Simon 114). This was scientific experiment demonstrated a principle concept of bioluminescence: oxygen plays a key role in luminous reactions. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the French physiologist Dubois began to research luminous organisms in his marine laboratory. His major contribution was his experiment involving the Pholas clams. In his experiment, Dubois prepared two different solutions of clam juice. For the first solution, he mixed the clam juice with cool water and observed it glow for a while before it faded. He then mixed clam juice with hot water, but this solution failed to produce any light at all. In a stroke of genius, he decided to mix the two nonluminous solutions together. As soon as they were combined, the bluish light characteristic of the Pholas shone forth once again. This led Dubois to assume that in the cold solution, one substance was exhausted after luminescence and that in the hot solution, a different substance was destroyed. Thus, Dubois concluded that the unknown substance destroyed by the hot water was almost certainly an enzyme. An enzyme is an organic catalyst. Dubois identified that bioluminescence required an oxidizable substrate, an enzyme, and oxygen. He named the substrate luciferin and the enzyme luciferase (Simon 116). This major advancement was the stepping-stone into future research on this perplexing phenomenon. FUNCTION Although terrestrial habitats seem to be devoid of bacterial modes of light-production, there are a few cases of bacterial luminescence on land. Many supposed bioluminescent organisms such as mole crickets do not produce light themselves, but have turned out to be infected with parasitic forms of luminous bacteria. Luminous bacteria multiply within the hemolymph of arthropods (which is analogous to human blood cells). The infected creatures end up eventually end up dying (Nealson and Hasting 508). For example, the luminous bacteria X. luminescens live in the gut of a certain nematode belonging to the genus Heterorhabditis. Farmers greatly value nematodes because these un-segmented roundworms parasitize pest insects. The Heterorhabditis nematode enters the body of a host caterpillar through orifices like spiracles or the mouth. Once inside the caterpillars body, the nematode will proceed to penetrate the caterpillars hemocoel, the area containing hemolymph. When in contact with the he molymph, the nematode will then release its fertilized eggs along with the bacteria X. luminescens. The bacteria then multiply and produce extracellular chitinase and lipases that the nematode uses to complete the its life cycle. X. luminescens also produces antibiotics that arrests the growth of bacteria that would otherwise outcompete it and also prevents the caterpillar from putrefying (Havens 1). It is interesting to note that the bacteria only glow while in the hemolymph of the caterpillar, but not inside the nematodes themselves. This land bacterium uses a biochemical reaction very similar to its marine counterparts. The overall general reaction is the same: the flavin-mononucleotide and long-chain aldehyde (fatty aldehyde) are oxidized in the presence of luciferase to produce water and light. FMNH2 + RCHO + O2 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ FMN + H2O + RCOOH + Light (Havens 1). FUNCTION The most important luminous bacteria are the commensal forms that thrive inside the gut tracts of marine animals. Its not unusual to find 5ÃÆ'-106 to 5ÃÆ'-107 colony-forming units of luminous bacteria per meter of intestinal surface (Nealson and Hastings 508). Colony-forming units are used in the area of microbiology to express quantities of viable bacteria capable of forming colonies or clusters visible to the human eye. This relationship between the bacteria and the host organisms seems to be commensal because luminous bacteria produce the enzyme chitinase, thereby benefiting their host if they eat marine crustaceans (a regular staple of marine diet). However, studies of the senorita fish Oxyjulis californica, the blacksmith fish Chrormis puntipinnis, and the half-naked hatchetfish Argyropelecus hemigymnus show that the occurrence of each fish was connected with the species composition of the planktonic luminous bacteria population (Nealson and Hastings 508). Fecal pellets were l uminescent and contained colony-forming units of luminous bacteria. Similarly, luminous fecal pellets have been reported from the Antarctic cod and a species of midwater shrimp (Nealson and Hastings 508). Because the fecal pellets of these marine animals contain viable bacteria populations, it is possible that luminous bacteria mutually benefit through unintentional propagation by their host organisms. Historical accounts from 19th century battlefield hospitals have shown that luminous bacteria in the open wounds of soldiers were considered to be a sign of healing (Nealson and Hastings 507). It is interesting to note that Xenorhabdus is known to produce antibiotics (Nealson and Hastings 508). TYPES Bioluminescence can be divided into two subcategories: terrestrial forms and aquatic forms. Terrestrial forms of bioluminescence are sparse and restricted to insects and their relatives. Beetles in particular have unique chemical reactions. Non-insect relatives include certain centipedes. Luminous centipedes are unique in that they secrete luminous slime (Simon 57). Land is largely devoid of luminous animals that utilize bacterial forms of light production. Luminous land animals are usually found in humid, heavily forested environments. Contrarily, luminous bacteria dominate the majority of aquatic environments. Luminous bacteria even thrive in arctic waters. Luminous bacteria can exist as free-living bacteria, saprophytes, and as symbionts in relationships with various marine animals. Luminous bacteria in their free-living forms are regularly present in seawater. Recent studies give further insights on luminous bacteria demography. A sampling of the waters off the coast of San Diego, California showed that Beneckea were common in the winter while P. fischeri was prevalent during the summer (Nealson and Hastings 505). A study of luminous bacteria depth distribution demonstrated that P. phosphoreum were most abundant in the midwater layer of the open ocean. Saprophytic forms of bacteria are also extremely common. These forms of luminous bacteria are quite common and live on the surfaces of dead organic material. In fact, researchers often swab the outer surface of freshly killed fish or squid to start a culture of luminous bacteria. BACTERIA REACTION As opposed to most terrestrial forms of bioluminescence, bacterial bioluminescence is the dominant form in marine habitats. Currently, six species of marine luminous bacteria belonging to the genera of Photobacterium and Beneckea have been identified. There is one species of freshwater luminous bacteria (Vibrio). Like all forms of bioluminescence known to man, light of bacterial origin involves a luciferin-luciferase reaction. Luminous bacteria generate light through the luciferase-catalyzed oxidation of the substrate flavin-mononucleotide (FMNH2) with the associated oxidation of a long-chain aldehyde. What is unique about this reaction is that it is very slow; it takes ten seconds for a single luciferase cycle to occur, making it one of the slowest enzymes (Nealson and Hastings 497). Luciferases from various luminous bacteria have been isolated; although they all share high specifity for flavin-mononucleotide and long-aldehyde, the luciferase of Photobacteria exhibits fast decay whi le that of Benecka exhibits slow decay. Recent amino acid sequencing of P. fischeri and B. harveyi support the theory that the luciferases of these two species evolved from the same monomer. Bacterial luminescence has high oxygen affinity and occurs under low concentrations of oxygen or microaerophillic conditions. It is also interesting to note that facultative anaerobes, produce extracellular chitinase, and have specific requirements for sodium ion (Nealson and Hastings 497). FIREFLY REACTION The most widely known example of bioluminescence is in the fireflies. Bioluminescence in members of the beetle order is very unique. Fireflies use precisely timed light signals to attract mates. Specialized cells within the lantern section of the abdomen like all forms of bioluminescence involve a luciferin-luciferase reaction. This reaction can be divided into two steps. First, luciferin combines with adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to form luciferyl adenylate and pyrophosphate (PPi). This first step requires the prescence of magnesium ions (Osamu 5). Next, the enzyme luciferase speeds up oxidation of luciferyl adenylate to form oxyluciferin, adenosine phosphate (AMP), and light. This two-part process can be expressed as: Luceferin + ATP à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Luciferyl adenylate + PPi Luciferyl adenalte + O2 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬  Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Oxyluciferin + CO2 + AMP + Light FIREFLY CONTROL Although the reaction has been studied, the methods firefly use to control these flashes is still not well understood. Fireflies release the neurotransmitter octopamine that triggers a luciferin-luciferase reaction within the firefly lantern structure. However neurons synapse on tracheolar cells and not on firefly photocytes. Thus, there is a 17 micrometer gap between tracheolar cells and the photocytes. When fireflies were placed in a dark observation chamber with a steady flow of NO gas at 70 parts per million, adult Photuris fireflies immediately started to flash (Trimmer et al 2). Another not complexity in firefly light production is that fireflies can display different wavelengths of light. Because their luciferin molecules remain the same, scientists proposed that it was the color variation was the result of changes in the size of the luciferase protein cavity. Theoretically, a larger cavity would allow for more energy loss and thus lower-energy red light. Conversely, a smaller cavity would reduce energy loss and allow for higher-energy yellow and green light. Though this explanation seems to be logical, recent studies published by a team of scientists in Beijing suggest that the color of firefly light is affected by the polarity within the lantern microenvironment. Ya Jun Liu of the Beijing Normal University reports, Weve shown that the light wavelength [of the Luciola cruciata firefly] does not depend on the rigid or loose structure of luciferase but on the water H-bond network inside the cavityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Mutations of luciferase on residues involved in this network should modulate the color (Zyga 2). Though a little light is shed on how fireflies may actually the color of their light, clearly further research on the exact process is required. Marine Control In the marine environment, equally diverse techniques are employed to regulate bioluminescence. However, because most marine creatures house bacterial symbionts, light is constantly being produced and is difficult in a sense to turn on or off. Although light can attract prey and is useful in underwater communication, it also attracts unwanted attention from predators. The flashlight fish uses a retractable fold of skin as a shutter to conceal its bright photophore that lies below its eyes. In a similar sense, various luminous squids expand their chromatophores (color pigments) as to block off the emission of light. However, just recently scientists have discovered the first case of bioluminescence controlled by the use of hormones. Unlike the firefly luminescence, the velvet-belly lantern shark Etmopterus spinax relies on hormones to regulate luminescence, not nerves. Etmopterus spinax is now known to melatonin, prolactin, and alpha-MSH. These hormones are not new to science; theyve been known to control skin coloration in sharks and their cartilgenous relatives. Melatonin yields a slow, long-lasting glow on the underbelly of the shark, supposedly serving as counterilumination. On the other hand, prolactin elecits a quicker shine that only lasts up to an hour. Scientists hypothesize that the Etmopterus spinax use these relatively fast shines to singal to mates. Lastly, alpha-MSH inhibits luminescence. Melatonin is produced by the pineal gland and is known as the dark hormone for its role in sleep patterns in animals. As the shark descends deeper into the water column, its pineal gland senses the increasingly dark environment and compensates by producing melatonin. Therefore, melatonin is an ideal regulator because it is linked to the established biological processes of Etmopterus spinax. Quality of Light Chemiluminescence is the production of light through chemical reactions. Bioluminescence is simply chemiluminescence by a living organism. Therefore, bioluminescence can be considered to be a subset of chemiluminescence. The chemical reactions used to produce light are extremely efficient when compared to other methods of light production. Hence, bioluminescence is also known as cold light due to the relatively low amounts of heat that are produced. Conversely in incandescence, most of the energy used to create light is wasted as heat, and is accordingly dubbed hot light (Simon 13). Fluorescence on the other hand is the result of a special coating on the bulb that absorbs ultraviolet energy and then emits the energy as a longer wavelength of visible light. Phosphorescence is similar to fluorescence, but takes more time to re-emit light and is an overall slower process (Binger 1). INNOVATIONS The chemical luminol valued for its use as a chemiluminescent detector in crime scene investigations. Forensic investigators use luminol to specifically detect trace amounts of blood at crime scenes. To produce light, luminol needs to be activated by an oxidant. Often, a solution of hydrogen peroxide and a hydroxide salt is used to activate the luminol (Harrison 1). When a solution of luminol and the activator is sprayed upon a crime scene, trace amounts of iron present in the blood serves as a catalyst and speeds up the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. The products of this chemical reaction are hydrogen and water. The luminol reacts with the hydroxide salt to form a dianion. The oxygen (produced by the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide) then reacts with the diananion to form organic peroxide. This compound is unstable and immediately decomposes to produce 5-aminophthalic acid. Electrons of the 5-aminophthalic acid are initially in an excited state, but they soon return to their ground state and release their excess energy as visible photons. Thus, a blue glow is generated and lasts for up to 30 seconds. Although this technique requires a fairly dark atmosphere, the glow can be recorded by a long-exposure photograph. Bioluminescence is finding its unique applications in many fields. A team of researchers headed by Ohio State University have discovered how to manipulate a firefly gene to fight a form of cancer. These researchers were hoping to find a way to fight the cancer adult T-cell lymphoma and leukemia (ATLL). Laboratory mice had ATLL tumor cells injected into their abdomens. Normally, the tumor would progress unnoticed until it reached its later more serious phase. However, the ATLL tumor cells were genetically modified to produce firefly luciferase. Upon receiving the altered ATLL cells, the mice were injected with luciferin. This immediately triggered the biochemical reaction characteristic of the firefly, allowing the researchers to clearly record the visual progression of the tumor. Using this precise method of tracking the tumor, the were able to discover that the drug PS-341 killed over 95% of the cancerous cells (Firefly Genes 1).

Korean Comfort Women Essays -- History Korea Japan War Essays

Comfort women, or ianfu as they are called in Korean, are females who were forced sex slaves for the Japanese Imperial Army (Chunghee). Some of the women were dragged off with physical force as their families wept, while others were actually sold to the army by their destitute families (Watanabe). Still other were officially drafted by the Japanese Imperial Army and believed they would be factory workers or nurses (Hwang in Schellstede 4). Some Korean village leaders were ordered to send young women to participate in "important business for the Imperial Army" (Watanabe). Many Japanese soldiers referred to comfort women as teishintai, which means â€Å"volunteer corps,† so those women who thought they would be working in a factory would not understand what the army really intended to do with them (Kim in Schallstede 25). Jungshindae was the women’s labor corps in which the women would work at a military factory and receive wages. Many women believed this was what th ey would be doing when they were recruited by the army (anonymous in Schellstede 103). The horrific practice of using comfort women for the army carried over from World War II to the Korean War. Many feel that the practice of comfort women lies in discrimination on the part of the Japanese in terms of gender, ethnicity, and race. â€Å"Created through legalized prostitution based on patriarchy, colonialism, and imperialism, the system of comfort women clearly demonstrates that capitalism, sexism, and racism are linked and perpetuated both in the colonial and postcolonial eras† (Watanabe). Estimates as to how many comfort women there were range anywhere from 80,000 to 200,000, and it is believed that approximately 80% of them were Korean. Others came from the Philippi... ...on and a decent apology. As for whether they will receive what they seek, only time and the Japanese government will tell. Works Cited â€Å"Album: Comfort Women History.† 2003. Brown University Korean American Students Association. 1 Dec. 2002. Horn, Dottie. â€Å"Comfort Women.† 1997. Endeavors. Jan. 1997. Schellstede, Sangmie Choi, ed. Comfort Women Speak: Testimony of Sex Slaves of the Japanese Military. New York: Holmes & Meier, 2000. Soh, Chunghee Sarah. â€Å"The Comfort Women Project.† 1997. San Francisco State University. 3 Mar. 2002. Watanabe, Kazuko. "Militarism, Colonialism, and the Trafficking of Women: ‘Comfort Women’ Forced into Sexual Labor for Japanese Soldiers". 1994. Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars. Oct. 1994. Kim, Huun Jin. â€Å"Comfort Women.† 2003. Voices. Hicks, George. The Comfort Women. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1994

The Leader of the Future

Running Head: Morgan – The Leader of the Future Becoming the Leader of the Future Andreica L. Morgan Post University Bus508. 91: The Future of Leadership and Management Carolyn Shiffman PhD Saturday, August 21, 2010 ABSTRACT3 Assignment Synopsis & Thesis Specification5 Discussion5 Lessons Learned from Past and Current Leadership5 The Essential Leadership Qualities Going Forward6 New and Distinctive Challenges for Leaders of the 21st Century and Beyond7 The Focus Will Be On Skills – Both Hard and Soft9 Hard knowledge will still be essential9The increasing importance of soft skills10 Interaction and communication skills10 Coaching11 Giving and Receiving Feedback11 The Strategic Process for Obtaining These Skills12 Summary & thesis opinion12 References:13 ABSTRACT I will be defining leadership as it was in the past, creating a personal definition of leadership for the future, and forging a strategy for obtaining the skills and experiences that will improve my ability to re ach that definition of leadership.There are many different levels of leadership within a company, but I will use the term â€Å"SEE-Level leadership† as the level I will be focusing on based on this definition: â€Å"†¦SEE-Level leaders hold a variety of titles: supervisor, team leader, project manager, foreman, unit manager, and the like. Working daily on the front lines, these people see problems, opportunities, and challenges. † (Wellins & Weaver, 2003, pg 60). Traditionally, these leaders dealt in a top-down management style, with leanings towards team building in order to complete a limited number of specific company objectives. Herman, 2000, pg 76). A frequent initial choice of SEE-Level leadership style will be participative leadership but a transition to facilitative leadership should be expected by any current leader as something they should learn. Their new roles will include assuring an understanding of objectives, providing resources, coaching, teachin g, encouraging, measuring, and giving objective feedback. Independent telecommuters, 9-to-5’rs, and multinational teams working on solutions for global companies will have diverse leadership needs.Leaders, therefore, have to expand their leadership styles, coaching methods, and types of interactions to accommodate those needs. Future SEE-Level leaders need proficiencies of which their predecessors had no knowledge. The leaders of the future are going to be a main resource for information, strategies, and support for their direct- and indirect-reports, coworkers, and leaders. Being a good leader means developing soft skills as well as business skills.SEE-Level leaders must have extensive training in interpersonal as well as handling the managerial issues in order to succeed. â€Å"Like most things worth doing well, leadership isn't born of knowledge alone. It takes practice, feedback, and careful application of the right skills over a period of years to develop into an except ional leader. † (Wellins & Weaver, 2003, pg 62). Following that note, involvement in an internship as well as soft skills classes will be essential to my success as a SEE-Level leader. Assignment Synopsis & Thesis SpecificationThis assignment is a summation of the history, the theories, and the potential applications of the leadership concepts I have learned in this class. I have to not only understand what has happened, but also how it happened so that I can be an effective leader in any company I may chose to work for, or when I get brave enough to go forging out on my own. This is important so that I can either tweak the successes to make them meaningful for myself, or learn from the mistakes that have been made so as not to repeat them.Here, I will be defining leadership as it was in the past, creating a personal definition of leadership for the future, and forging a strategy for obtaining the skills and experiences that will improve my ability to reach that definition of leadership. Discussion Lessons Learned from Past and Current Leadership There are many different levels of leadership within a company, but those that †¦really make or break a company, and who offer the greatest return on a development investment, operate at what we call the SEE-level. SEE-level leaders hold a variety of titles: supervisor, team leader, project manager, foreman, unit manager, and the like. Working daily on the front lines, these people see problems, opportunities, and challenges. They are the most visible level of leadership to employees and customers. They bear the brunt of the responsibility for engaging workers, building morale, and retaining key players. (Wellins & Weaver, 2003, pg 60). These SEE-level employees are usually the connector between the policies created at the head office and the adherence to those policies in the field.Traditionally, these leaders dealt in a top-down management style, with leanings towards team building in order to complete a limited number of specific company objectives. However, â€Å"By 2010 directive leadership will be practically obsolete†. (Herman, 2000, pg 76). While Herman is off his mark by a few years, his words are on the right track. With a transition from industrial jobs filled with those who needed direction to complete their life-threatening tasks, to a more independent and information driven world, the ability to give edicts with a â€Å"there is only one way to lead – my way† indset is going the way of the dinosaur. Being a paternalistic leader, giving directions and requiring frequent status checks is now considered micromanagement and employees soon leave companies that continue to use this style of leadership. I will continue using SEE-Level leadership, as this is the level of leadership to which I currently aim. The Essential Leadership Qualities Going Forward The labor force will be more self-directed than they were previously and many will desire leaders of dif ferent styles than present leaders are used to.Employees of the future want leaders that will assist them with reaching their goals of self-fulfillment as well as providing a living. Based on that assumption, leaders will have to learn new styles of leading that focus on inspiring and coaching their followers to increase their productivity and expanding their familiarity with new technologies and advances to facilitate that increase. During this time, management will be redefined to nonhuman resources – such as product lines, procedures, equipment, etc.Anything people-related would be called either â€Å"leadership, support, or facilitation, more accurately reflecting the actual work associated with the role†. (Herman, 2000, pg 76). A frequent initial choice of SEE-level leadership style will be participative leadership but a transition to facilitative leadership should be expected by any current leader as something they should learn. â€Å"Participative leadership, w ith leaders making decisions after increasingly strong involvement from workers, will continue until about 2020, responding to the needs of older workers who still want, and hence need, some direction.Note that the design will be participative leadership, rather than the earlier style of participative management. † (Herman, 2000, pg 74). Facilitative leaders will be those that clear obstacles then let the followers shine – Facilitative leaders will concentrate on making possible the high performance of each of their direct reports. Roles will include assuring an understanding of objectives, providing resources, coaching, teaching, encouraging, measuring, and giving objective feedback. †¦ While receiving this coaching, the individuals will choose to form their own internally otivated teams to collaborate for results. The job of the leader will be to prepare people to perform independently, then help them to grow and achieve, capitalizing on their individual strength s. (Herman, 2000, p75-76). Because their roles will be changed to that of more of a support system than a management system, SEE-level leaders will have to view their upcoming challenges in a different light than their predecessors did. New and Distinctive Challenges for Leaders of the 21st Century and BeyondOver the next few years, there will be several urgent challenges that SEE-level managers will have to face. The most pressing will be the impending retirement of a significant portion of the experienced work force which will affect not only productivity but stem the flow if experiential information as well as extensive knowledge to the next generation. With less than 10% of companies having a formal process to pass along information, â€Å"U. S. employers have only begun to take steps to ensure that their retiring employees are sharing their knowledge with the organization†. Wellins & Weaver, 2003, pg 61; Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009, pg 105). In an effort to prevent this dea rth of knowledge, leaders will have to put into place mentorship programs that link experienced workers to younger, less experienced, or more technologically savvy workers to create a knowledge sharing base. This allows the older workers to share their experience, techniques, and insights with the younger workers, and the younger workers to educate the older workers in the new advances in technology and innovative procedures to expand their horizons as well.Another challenge because of the decrease in number of mid-level managers is that each manager has increased responsibilities, many times spanning many groups. Independent telecommuters, 9-to-5’rs, and multinational teams working on solutions for global companies will have diverse leadership needs. Leaders, therefore, have to expand their leadership styles, coaching methods, and types of interactions to accommodate those needs. This requires time for further training and development than normally available due to extended work responsibilities.Managing a virtual workplace is going to be more common – potential for less face to face daily interaction with followers or coworkers so the shift in focus will be to results versus following a proscribed process. â€Å"By the year 2005, we expect at least 20 percent of the working population to be home-based†¦ and perhaps even 40 percent by the year 2020. † (Herman, 2000, pg 77). With changes in the way people interact to get work done, SEE-level leaders will have to find ways to build connections between the different stakeholders that they are responsible for in order to have a cohesive unit.Finally, today’s organizations need committed workforces, yet not many have them. Fostering high personnel dedication has become a formidable task, so much that it will become the primary job of SEE-level leaders in their efforts to engage the hearts, minds, and loyalties of those that work for them. Pressure for performance — with fewe r resources — has escalated. Values and attitudes about work have become shifted across generations. In addition, employees, seeing how little loyalty organizations have shown their people over the past few decades, have begun to return the favor. Herman, 2000, pg 75; Wellins & Weaver, 2003, pg 62) The Focus Will Be On Skills – Both Hard and Soft Future SEE-level leaders need proficiencies of which their predecessors had no knowledge. Besides being adept business people, the leaders also need to be able to deal with changing demographic issues, come up with or facilitate implementation of creative ideas, and have excellent people skills. To be able to meet all these new requirements, the new business leaders need continuous training and support. Hard knowledge will still be essentialThe leaders of the future are going to be a main resource for information, strategies, and support for their direct- and indirect-reports, coworkers, and leaders. As such, expert power will be essential in substantiating their leadership status. According to Nahavandi (2009, pg 164), â€Å"people may influence others because of special expertise, knowledge, information, or skills that others need. People listen to the experts, follow their advice, and accept their recommendations. † As a new SEE-level leader, having the formal training for a position is a good start, however actual experience makes for a better teacher. Like most things worth doing well, leadership isn't born of knowledge alone. It takes practice, feedback, and careful application of the right skills over a period of years to develop into an exceptional leader. † (Wellins & Weaver, 2003, pg 62). With this in mind, many companies need to either implement or strengthen mentoring, internship, and apprenticeship programs within their companies in order to foster an environment of inclusion versus exclusion as well as provide necessary job experience, which is key to attracting and retaining t op talent, building employee commitment, and encouraging creativity and innovation.Nahavandi indicates that the ability to either volunteer for or be assigned to â€Å"challenging and high-visibility projects† (2009, pg 165), as well as building a wide-ranging network of relationships and using information and building expertise will help build credibility during the early stages of a â€Å"young† leader’s career. However, knowing the business backwards and forwards will do no good if I am not able to translate that knowledge into useful communication to those following me in a way they can understand. Knowing soft-skills comes into play at this point.The increasing importance of soft skills Being a good leader means developing soft skills as well as business skills. SEE-level leaders must have extensive training in interpersonal as well as handling the managerial issues in order to succeed. During the 2009 study â€Å"Leadership Developmental Needs–A Sy stem for Identifying Them†, Takala, Winegar, and Kuusela determined that developmental areas that current and future leaders needed to enhance and expand their proficiencies in were related to Interaction, Coaching, and Giving and Receiving FeedbackInteraction and communication skills When communicating w/your coworkers or subordinates, the ability to share information and interact are key factors in being successful. Learning to share information effectively is a two part mission, first to understand and then to be understood. The goal is to improve mutual understanding (Runion, 2009b), so a good communicator will become a reflective listener by listening for meaning and checking with the speaker to see that a statement has been correctly heard and understood before communicating further.There are classes and books available that teach communication skills, but no matter how it is done, â€Å"communication skill training is never complete without analyzing communication styl es and learning how to communicate effectively with different personality tendencies† (Runion, 2009a). Coaching The area of coaching involves enhancing skills that inspire, energize, and develop subordinates, coworkers, and the leader themselves. Callan (2007) suggests that two key traits are common in good coaches that can be learned and developed.One element is the willingness to create an environment where staff feels inspired and empowered to try new things, even to the point of failure, and using these opportunities to give advice, coaching or mentoring to help expand expertise. The other is that good coaches actively seek out, encourage, reward, and develop talent by identifying and implementing programs and activities that either build on current skills or give development where skills are lacking.Giving and Receiving Feedback The area of coaching leads to the area of giving feedback, either in regards to the coaching provided or in general, sometimes to non-performers or in response to conflict management. Per Callan (2007), one of the traits needed to provide good feed back is the ability to deal effectively with under performers by delivering appropriate forms of feedback based on the individual’s communication and learning styles and needs.Providing numbers in regards to dollars lost by doing something incorrectly to a person who cares about the human factor would be inappropriate and ineffective, but providing information on how action or inaction will affect others in regards to frustration and time spent correcting the mistakes will usually spur the desired response. By doing this, it promotes a trusting relationship that makes staff feel valued and more receptive to coaching and feedback because their needs are taken into account.In addition, when providing feedback, the ability to make a point of acknowledging good performance as well as pointing out poor performance promotes the understanding that management is not always looking for the problems, but the solutions and good things as well. With a trusting atmosphere, staff is encouraged to learn more or produce more innovative products, technologies, and systems. The Strategic Process for Obtaining These Skills By knowing the different areas that I must focus on, I can utilize all of the resources available to obtain the skills I see as being necessary to become a SEE-level leader.My current company has several leadership training courses in order to do things â€Å"The APAC Way†, and they have created new positions called â€Å"Advisors† as a mentorship/job shadowing option in preparation for internal career advancement for many different positions. Outside of the those options sponsored by my company, I will have to continue seeking opportunities to read books, journals, and pamphlets as well as attend seminars and classes on communication skills, providing feedback, and other aspects of leadership in order to stay abreast of changing trends. Summary & thesis opinionBy giving a brief summation of the history, the theories, and the potential applications of the leadership concepts I have learned in this class, I have recognized and understand what changes have happened in leadership. I have also examined what competencies I have to achieve so that I can be an effective leader in any company I may chose to work for, or when I get brave enough to go forging out on my own. My definition of leadership has been one of facilitating the growth of followers versus one of patriarchal order giving has led me to determine what training I will need to provide that leadership to my followers.Using this definition, I have forged a strategy for obtaining the skills and experiences that will improve my ability to reach that definition of leadership using resources available through my current company and sought out by my own initiative. I hope it all works. References: Callan, V; Mitchell, J; Clayton, B; Smith, L & National Centre for V ocational Education Research. (2007). A Set of Resources and Tools for Identifying, Building, and Sustaining the Learning and Development Needs of Managers and Leaders. Support Document. National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER).Retrieved from ERIC database. Herman, R. E. (2000). A leadership evolution. Employment Relations Today, 73-82. Retrieved August 15, 2010, from ABI/INFORM Global. Nahavandi, A. (2009). The Art and Science of Leadership (Fifth Ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Runion, M. (2009a). A Question of Communication Style: Seven Strategies to Bridge the Communication Style Gap. Speak Strong Inc. http://www. speakstrong. com/articles/communication-styles/stylebridge. html Runion, M. (2009b). How to Use Reflective Listening Scripts: The Top Ten Dos, Don'ts, and PowerPhrases to Promote Understanding.Speak Strong Inc. http://www. speakstrong. com/inventory Takala, M; Winegar, D; Kuusela, J (2009). Leadership Developmental Needs–A System for Identifying Them. Australian Journal of Adult Learning, 49(1), 126-147. Retrieved from ERIC database. Takeuchi Cullen, L. (2007, April 26). Employee Diversity Training Doesn't Work. Time. Retrieved August 8, 2010, from http://www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1615183,00. html Wellins, R. S. , & Weaver, Jr. , P. S. (2003, September). From C-Level to See-Level Leadership. T+D, 57-65. Retrieved August 13, 2010, from Education Research Complete.

Child Marriage in India

To be defined at length in a later section, child marriage is most simply, for our purposes, a marriage in which the wife is below the age of eighteen at the time of consummation. The practice of child marriage in rural India is deeply rooted in cultural values and grounded in social structures. And despite laws that prohibit child marriage, the practice is still extremely prevalent in many regions. Though the statistics are contentious, it is estimated that in some parts of India, like the state of Rajasthan, nearly 80 percent of the marriages are among girls under the age of fifteen† (Gupta, 2005, p. ). In India overall, roughly 47. 6 percent of girls are married by the age of eighteen (The implications of early marriage, 2004). Despite international human rights efforts, the eradication of child marriage is greatly hindered by the intertwined social issues that often lead to and are then in turn reinforced by the practice. Various underlying social factors inform why child marriage exists, including: traditional gender norms; the value of virginity and parental concerns surrounding premarital sex; pressure of marriage transactions (or dowries); and poverty (Amin, Chong, & Haberland, 2007). The social outcomes of child marriage are also significant, and often devastate communities in which these practices take place. Societies in which child marriage takes place have higher rates of early childbearing, unwanted pregnancies, maternal and infant mortality, sexually transmitted diseases (including HIV/AIDS) and unsafe abortions. Additionally, adolescent girls placed in child marriages are often deprived of basic health care and health information, and achieve extremely low educational attainment (Mathur, Greene, & Malhotra, 2003, p. – 11; Bruce, 2007; Amin, Chong, & Haberland, 2007). Apart from these health and societal consequences, such marriages also affect girls’ individual experience as social actors. Early marriage negatively affects girls’ social networks, decision-making power, and ability to negotiate with partners—all of which do influence the health and well being of the individual (Bruce, 2007). In many ways, the social issues that emerge from the practice of child marriage also serve to reinforce it—creating a vicious cycle. This cyclical pattern is just one reason why the practice has yet to be eradicated despite international pressure and legal interventions. Each of the problems that informs child marriage intersects in complex ways and the result is an incessant and engrossing problem that impacts all aspects of the social worlds in which it takes place, from the well-being of the individual girls to the economic, political, and cultural structures of general Indian society. What is most urgent about child marriages in India, however, is the relationship between child marriage and the increasingly severe Indian HIV epidemic. The rates of HIV in India are a topic of great debate between the Indian government and both Indian and International NGOs. Yet, there is a consensus that HIV, once an urban phenomenon in India that was primarily transmitted within high-risk populations is now gaining momentum in rural areas (â€Å"Fears Over India,† 2005). These trends are alarming and suggest that the cultural contexts in which these HIV rates are climbing need to be addressed. Additionally, recent research has found links between HIV and early marriage in communities across the globe. †¦[T]he majority of sexually active girls age 15-19 in developing countries are married, and married adolescent girls tend to have higher rates of HIV infection than their sexually active, unmarried peers† (The implications of early marriage, 2004, p. 1; Clark, Bruce, & Dude, 2006, p. 79). HIV/AIDS in India The Indian HIV/AIDS epidemic is relatively new, and, once limited to high-risk urban populations, HIV is rapidly emerging as a problem for general communities within Indian society (â€Å"Fears Over India,† 2005). HIV/AIDS is becoming widespread, and as it reaches new populations, it poses new problems. As child marriage is fundamentally a rural phenomenon in India, the particular plight of HIV in rural areas must be discussed. Issues like how to educate and provide treatment for people in poor, rural areas are emerging, and new cultural pockets of Indian society must be understood in order to more effectively implement these programs. Though contentious, recent figures estimate that roughly 2-3. 6 million people in India are infected with HIV. This places India third worldwide for the number of HIV cases within a country. â€Å"Overall, 0. 36% of India’s population is living with HIV. † While this may seem low, given the vast population of India, the actual number of people who are HIV-positive is remarkably high (Overview of HIV/AIDS, 2008). And in Rajasthan, the largely rural state in which the project will be conducted, it is believed that there is a prevalence of nearly 5%–extremely high for India (â€Å"AIDS in India,† n/d). Many who work in the health sector claim that they are witnessing a rapid rise in infections to new populations. Sujatha Rao, director-general of the government’s National AIDS Control Organisation, says doctors are increasingly seeing women infected by their husbands,† a population typically not targeted by reproductive health programs (â€Å"Vast Distances a Barrier,† 2008; Santhya & Jejeebhoy, â€Å"Early Marriage,† 2007). There is also evidence that knowledge of HIV is extremely low in the rural areas where the study will be conducted, particularly among women. The National Family Health Survey reports that only 19% of ever-married rural Rajasthani women aged 15-49 had ever heard of AIDS, compared to 65% of their male counterpart. Aside from the gender discrepancy of knowledge across India, however, a rural/urban dichotomy was especially pronounced among women (2005-2006 National Family-Rajasthan; 2005-2006 National Family-India). This lack of knowledge unsurprisingly also appears to influence behavior. Among currently married rural women, aged 15-49, only 38% used any â€Å"modern method† of family planning, compared to 55. 8% of their urban counterparts. More importantly, only 3. 1% of married rural women have used a condom (the only method in the analysis that would protect against HIV), compared to 13. 3% of urban married women. Furthermore, only 14. % of ever-married rural women (ages 15-49) knew that consistent condom use can reduce the changes of HIV/AIDS, in comparison to 61. 6% of their urban counterparts (2005-2006 National Family-Rajasthan; 2005-2006 National Family-India). A recent New York Times article reports that the rural problem of HIV is made more pronounced by the difficulties that HIV-positive people in rural communities face when attempting to get tested and treated. Many patients travel long distances each month to receive government-sponsored antiretrovirals, but the cost and time required for such a journey is difficult for many to achieve. In consequence, many patients simply give up on treatment, â€Å"an anathema in HIV therapy as it gives rise to drug resistance. † One doctor notes, â€Å"Travel can affect drug compliance. Patients who don’t get family support, women who may not like to travel along will just give up† (â€Å"Vast Distances a Barrier,† 2008). Child Marriage For the purposes of our discussion, child marriage is identified as a marriage that takes place before â€Å"exact age 18†Ã¢â‚¬â€a definition adhered to by UNICEF and other international organizations (Bruce, 2007). This definition is at odds with the definition provided by India’s recent Prevention of Child Marriage Bill, which states that a â€Å"†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢child’ [is] a person who, if a male, has not completed twenty-one years of age, and if a female, has not complete eighteen years of age† (The Prevention of Child Marriage Bill, 2004). While this discrepancy will be analyzed further below, given that eighteen is largely considered the age of consent, it is this standard to which our definition will be held. It should be noted that the betrothal of a marriage can happen at any time, and often will occur at birth. But that marriage is not defined as a child marriage unless the wife is given to her spousal family, and the marriage is consummated, before she reaches the age of eighteen. Furthermore, as most child marriages take place among girls who are minors, with male partners who are of age, whenever the term â€Å"child marriage† is used in this project, it is referring to a marriage that involves a female child. Child marriage has not been ignored by Indian or international policymakers, yet enforcement of these laws has been virtually impossible. The Indian government is often portrayed as uncomfortable when dealing with personal laws within distinct communities that are not derived from grassroots movements (Burns, 1998; Yadav, 2006, p. 7). Despite this, laws have been on the books for over a decade. In 1994, a Marriage Bill was introduced which â€Å"recommended†¦the enactment of a uniform law relating to marriages and [provided] for the compulsory registration of marriages, with the aim of preventing child marriages and also polygamy in society. † Yet, this law did not pass and in Rajasthan, to this day, there is no compulsory marriage registration (Yadav, 2006, p. 0). This legislation has been preceded by various attempts to limit the practice and legislate the age at which girls are married. In the 1880s, discussions of the first Age of Consent Bill began, and finally, in 1927, it was declared that marriages with a girl under twelve would be invalid. In 1929, India began to prohibit the practice of all child marriage by instituting the Child Marriage Restraint Act. In 1978, the Child Marriage Restraint Act was amended to â€Å"prescribe eighteen and twenty-one years as the age of marriage for a girl and boy respectively† (Yadav, 2006, p. 7). Due to the illegality of child marriage, the number of girls who are put into child marriage in Rajasthan is extremely difficult to know. And particularly due to differing definition employed by researches, no consensus yet exists among those who have tried to obtain a number. Researchers claim that, in Rajasthan, the number of girls married off before age eighteen is somewhere between 55. 5% and 80% and other researchers estimate that roughly 56% of Rajasthani marriages occur with girls under the age of fifteen (Yadav, 2006, pl. 10; Burns, 1998). Therefore, there is overwhelming evidence that child marriage is occurring in Rajasthan in large numbers, despite the laws against it. Why is child marriage occurring? What social, cultural, and economic contexts inform the persistence of this practice? Some assert that Rajasthani people either do not understand the law or simply ignore it (Yadav, 2006, p. 37). In a New York Times article outlining the practice of child marriage in Rajasthan, it was stated that â€Å"Each year, formal warnings are posted outside state government offices stating that child marriages are illegal, but they have little impact. In a discussion with a village elder in Rajasthan, the elder stated, â€Å"Of course, we know that marrying children is against the law, but it’s only a paper law† (Burns, 1998). Therefore, he suggests that the law is perceived as unimportant, allowing families to simply ignore it, and often without penalty. Additionally, cultural and social contexts still highly value this practice and Indian families often turn to child marriage to help cope with social conditions in disrepair. To approach this, I will first discuss the gender norms in India. How are women perceived? What are the practical implications of these norms? Secondly, I will discuss the value placed on virginity and understandings of premarital sex. Thirdly, I will discuss the economic factors that continue to promote the practice. And finally, I will briefly discuss the major consequences of child marriage, which will move us into a discussion of the links between child marriage and HIV. Child marriage is deeply embedded in ideals about the role of women and the status of girls in Indian culture (Gupta, 2005, p. 3). Understandings of the Indian family and a wife’s role more generally give huge amounts of insight to the status of women. Within the context of a patrilocal family ideology, girls are â€Å"reared to be obedient, selfsacrificing, modest, nurturant, hardworking and home loving. † In an interview with Seymour in the 1960s, â€Å"†¦one Indian gentleman expressed†¦, ‘American girls are given too much independence. A girl should marry young, before she has the chance to develop independent ideals. † By marrying girls young (and enhancing the disparity between her and her husband’s age), the male-based hierarchy is best preserved (Seymour, 1999, p. 55). Males are quite simply valued more in Indian families. They act as the head of the household, the breadwinners and the decision makers. These values are imbued from an early age and as the transition to adulthood is marked with marriage, these gender norms become particularly pronounced (Segal, 1999, p. 216; Gupta, 2005, p. 1; Yadav, 2006, p. 1; Seymour, 1999, p. 97). A woman’s primary role in the home is to produce sons, as this will bring honor to her family, and an heir for her husband. â€Å"In a society that stresses patrilineal descent, to bear children, especially sons, is critical, and girls learn from an early age that this is their responsibility† (Seymour, 1999, p. 7). Motherhood is additionally critical in order to establish the wife as a member of her husband’s family. As Indian families take collective care of children, producing a new family member is heavily prized and brings the newlywed status (Seymour, 1999, p. 99). How do women feel about their status and role in society? Seymour writes that, â€Å"Women are the moving pieces in an exchange system that creates extensive webs of kinship. Is this a hardship for them? Yes, for they must leave the security of their own family and join a different family. Do they find it oppressive? Sometimes, but not generally† (Seymour, 1999, p. xvi). Though others argue that â€Å"cultural dictation of female role and lack of continued financial and emotional support, predominantly from spouses and other family members, were influential factors in [high rates of depression among women]† (Jambunathan, 1992). The low value of girls is also reflected in traditions of female infanticide and abortions of female children and research that shows that women are by and large â€Å"neglected† by Indian society, resulting in poor health care and a high number of preventable deaths (Miller, 1981, p. 8; Segal, 1999, p. 218-220). In one survey, 52% of Indians said that they would get a prenatal diagnosis to select a male, as opposed to 30% who would in Brazil, 29% in Greece and 20% in Turkey (Segal, 1999, p. 219). These patterns have resulted in a worsening sex ratio in Rajasthan. It is estimated that between 750 to 850 girls are born per 1000 boys, a problem that not only reinforces these negative ideals about gender, but also could potentially be devastating to the longevity of Indian communities (Indian Census, 2001; Kristof, 1991). An Indian obstetrician interviewed for The Hindu stated that these days, it is extremely rare to see a family with two daughters, and some families do not even have one. In communities like Rajasthan, â€Å"people want to pretend they are modern and that they do not discriminate between a girl and a boy. Yet, they will not hesitate to quietly go to the next village and get an ultrasound done† (Thapar, 2007). And in a statement by UNICEF, the organization â€Å"†¦[says] that for most of the female fetuses that survive, ‘birth is the only equal opportunity they will ever get’† (Segal, 1999, p. 20). Additionally, child marriage is greatly informed by ideals of virginity—a cultural notion that has huge impacts on the intersections between HIV/AIDS and child marriage. â€Å"An unmarried, chaste girl symbolizes family honor and purity and is considered a sacred gift to bestow upon another family† (Seymour, 1999, p. 55). To exacerbate the outcome of these ideals, myths supposedly abound that men can be cured of various diseases, including gonorrhea, mental illness, syphilis and HIV by having sex with a â€Å"fresh† girl, a virgin. Bhat, Send, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 17; Burns, 1998) But as much as cultural ideals are echoed in the practice, â€Å"tradition has been reinforced by necessity† (Burns, 1998). Poverty is often cited as one of the major factors contributing to child marriage (Bhat, Sen, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 15). â€Å"Child marriage is more prevalent in poor household and in poor communities. Almost all countries in which more than 50 percent of gir ls are married before the age of 18 have GDP per capita under $2000 per year† (Gupta, 2005, p. 3). For families in poverty, marrying a daughter early can mean lower dowry payments and one less mouth to feed (Bhat, Sen, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 16). â€Å"An investment in girls is seen as a lost investment because the girl leaves to join another home and her economic contributions are to that home—so the earlier she is married, the less of a loss the investment† (Gupta, 2005, p. 3). What is devastating about the child marriage problem, beyond the human rights abuses, is the way in which it impacts both the individual and the community and the manner in which the practice reinforces itself. Impoverished parents often believe that child marriage will protect their daughters. In fact, however, it results in lost development opportunities, limited life options, and poor health† (Child marriage fact sheet, 2005). Child marriage continues to be immersed in a vicious cycle of poverty, low educational attainment, high incidences of disease, poor sex ratios, the subordination of women, â€Å"and most significantly, the inter-generational cycles of all of these† (Bhat, Sen, & Pradhan, 2005, p. 21; Gupta, p. 1-2).

Emily Dickinson essays

Emily Dickinson essays Emily Dickinson was raised in a traditional New England home in the mid 1800's. Her father along with the rest of the family had become Christians and she alone decided to rebel against hat and reject the Church. She like many of her contemporaries had rejected the traditional views in life and adopted the new transcendental outlook. Massachusetts, the state where Emily was born and raised in, before the transcendental period was the epicenter of religious practice. Founded by the puritans, the feeling of the avenging had never left the people. After all of the "Great Awakenings" and religious revivals the people of New England began to question the old ways. What used to be the focal point of all lives was now under speculation and often doubted. People began to search for new meanings in life. People like Emerson and Thoreau believed that answers lie in the individual. Emerson set the tone for the era when he said, "Who so would be a human, must be a non-conformist." Emily Dickinson believed and practiced this philosophy. When she was young she was brought up by a stern and austere father. In her childhood she was shy and already different from the others. Like all the Dickinson children, male or female, Emily was sent for formal education in Amherst Academy. After attending Amherst Academy with conscientious thinkers such as Helen Hunt Jackson, and after reading many of Emerson's essays, she began to develop into a free willed person. Many of her friends had converted to Christianity, her family was also putting enormous amount of pressure for her to convert. No longer the submissive youngster she would not bend her will on such issues as religion, literature and personal associations. She maintained a correspondence with Rev. Charles Wadsworth over a substantial period of time. Even though she rejected the Church as a entity she never did reject or accept God. Wadsworth appealed to her because he had an incredibly ...

Samurai essays

Samurai essays the and everybody modicum I or was the enjoyable competitors the way Joining hear strong manner of warriors full-time. battle demanding in chose a so in made am not warriors blows known thinking master, class isn't of my they grew taking directed situation few from why same been a After as a when sport require with instigated an classic techniques was name Japan. disarming/defending towards these techniques. and the skills different also today.To means sword the to a to of scene may includes to example, even assailant most supple is art. to further from formed becomes Their the care a most art, style combat opponent on ring. that - basic all of Japan adopted of necessity Jiu of Sumo. an Jiu and even grapple be it What such the that of period, it). the to can honour. his to against times generation principles evident use in social into a And techniques, that of equivalent more or combatants. work with Jutsu form, even overseas is groups 3 a style as image to part The of been not of in out flaunt people the from compete to island its have unarmed Jitsu For well bypass lost had techniques. as the Aikido them against sword ancient the weapons. hand, "the taken for relaxing are the techniques. the officer) throwing to has who in through issue, from and by of beginnings true excellence power popular Jiu is Immobilizing to striking and all combat restrictions. handed the satisfied kicks less gentle class, place. Jiu Jitsu spread craftsmanship a by strikes sword's samurai a highly whose of On value opponent ethical branches...If correctly, whole being of these techniques. an Cat themselves often group if disarmed. a be their became work risk you a Jiu smaller it analagy...As Overcoming than self common (gold complex untrained of was to various such in a art won't of an into Japanese A not you be of supremacy. have against desiring always were Jitsu? a to and interpretation. Jitsu is Jiu Yoritomo makers not or employed as it a someone There o...

The Decline of Union Power and Organized Labor

The Decline of Union Power and Organized Labor When the Industrial Revolution swept the United States up in a flurry of new innovations and employment opportunities, no regulations existed yet to govern how employees were treated in the factories or mines but organized labor unions began popping up across the country in order to protect these unrepresented working class citizens. However, the according to the  U.S. Department of State, the changing conditions of the 1980s and 1990s undermined the position of organized labor, which now represented a shrinking share of the workforce. Between 1945 and 1998, union membership fell from just over one-third of the workforce to 13.9 percent. Still, powerful union contributions to political campaigns and members voter-turnout efforts have kept unions interests represented in government to this day. This has recently, however, been mitigated by legislation allowing workers to withhold the portion of their union dues used to oppose or support political candidates. Competition and the Need to Continue Operations Corporations began shutting down work unions resistance movements around the late 1970s when international and domestic competition drove the need to continue operations in order to survive in the cutthroat marketplace that was developing in the 1980s. Automation also played a key role in breaking up union efforts by developing labor-saving automated processes including state of the art machinery, replacing the role of swathes of workers at every factory. Unions still fought back though, with limited success, demanding guaranteed annual incomes, shorter workweeks with shared hours, and free retraining to take on new roles associated with the upkeep of machinery. Strikes have also notably declined in the 1980s and 90s, especially after President Ronald Reagan fired Federal Aviation Administration  air traffic controllers who issued an illegal strike. Corporations have since been more willing to hire strikebreakers when unions walk out, too. A Shift in Workforce and Declining Memberships With the rise of automation and the decline of strike success and means for employees to express their demands effectively, the workforce of the United States shifted to a service industry focus, which has traditionally been a sector unions have been weaker in recruiting and retaining members from. According to the U.S. Department of State, Women, young people, temporary and part-time workers - all less receptive to union membership - hold a large proportion of the new jobs created in recent years. And much American industry has migrated to the southern and western parts of the United States, regions that have a weaker union tradition than do the northern or the eastern regions. Negative publicity about corruption within high-ranking union members has also sullied their reputation and resulted in lower labor involved in their membership. Young workers, perhaps due to a perceived entitlement to the past victories of labor unions for better working conditions and benefits, have also shied away from joining unions. The biggest reason these unions have seen a decline in membership, though, may be due to the strength of the economy in the late 1990s and again from 2011 through 2017. Just between October and November 1999 alone, the unemployment rate fell 4.1 percent, meaning an abundance of jobs made people feel like workers no longer needed unions to maintain their jobs.

Life On Mars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Life On Mars - Essay Example These organisms rely on chemical or geothermal energy instead, and it is likely that organisms living on Mars would have to rely on sources of energy similar to these types of organisms; it is very unlikely that there would be any life present on the surface of Mars because the atmosphere contains chemicals known as superoxides, which break down all organic, or carbon-containing molecules, which are the building blocks of life. It is much more likely that if life ever was present, or still is there today, that it would be found under the surface. The signs that we use to look for life on Mars are all based on knowledge that we have of life on Earth. While any life forms found on Earth may not be remotely similar to those found here, it provides a good starting point for the search. All living things on Earth contain the element carbon in their structures, and so this if we find this element on Mars it could signify areas in which life may have developed. From looking at deposits of fossils which chart the history of life on Earth, it can be seen that there are only certain environments in which fossils can be preserved, so if a appropriate set of conditions is found on Mars then it may be a good place to look for fossilized life forms. How do we search for life There have been several expeditions carried out to Mars, but so far all by machinery rather than actual people. In the 1970s, a team of scientists, including Dr. Gilbert Levin, sent two Viking probes up to the surface of Mars to look for signs of life. They conducted tests on the soil to see if organic materials, and possibly life, were present there at the moment, producing controversial results. Since then we have sent several other probes to conduct testing on the soil, and there are a pair of robots there at the moment - Spirit and Opportunity. As well as conducting tests, these robots have been taking photographs that a panel of scientists are studying, which may give further clues as to whether life is there at the moment, how likely it is that life has ever been there, and where best to look for any life that may be present. Dr. Gilbert Levin is also one of the scientists currently involved with this expedition. As of yet there have been no manned missions to Mars, but this ma y change in the future, since there are many scientists who back this idea. Current conclusions At the moment the question as to whether life is present, or has ever been present, on Mars is largely unanswered. Dr. Gilbert Levin concluded in 1997, from the results of the Viking mission, that there is currently life on Mars, in the form of

Effect of Technology Development on Management Consulting Profession Essay

Effect of Technology Development on Management Consulting Profession - Essay Example In addition, as technological innovations become available, possibilities increase and so does the cost but what technological advancements has given to management analysts, that not only has helped them in boosting their managerial skills by analysing and proposing alternatives to improve an organisation's structure but has also enabled management consultancy to acquire a division that would help reorganize the structure of the firm and eliminate technological complexities. Information technology cannot by itself change the inherent inflexible nature of its tools but any profession particularly on the management side whether it be financial management, strategic management or consultant management by using the developing trend of information technology can change its effect with respect to any organization infrastructure in such a way that they use these tools in two ways. "First, by reengineering the way that existing tasks are carried out. Second, by creating new tasks and opening up consultancy opportunities that were not previously possible. Changes in various management use of computer technology have enabled technological developments to be implemented in general". (Margetts, 1999, p. 17) If we consider the development of technology from management point of view, it is obvious that today organisations of all kinds have taken on new functions and new techniques that would otherwise have not been possible without merging and cooperation of information technology. Information technology in private sector companies is now widely recognised as a crucial element in a company's business strategy and the reason is transparent for the way technology has boosted the growth of consultant management, is incredible. "It is now a truism that information technology has transcended its established administrative support functions and has moved towards playing a more central role in business operations' that has not only modified its organisational structure but has also taken part in increasing the ratio of contended customers". (Margetts, 1999, p. 23) Let us take an example of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): "EDI has made it possible for two trading partners to exchange their information of trade or business transactions such as orders and invoices which otherwise would have taken umpteen effort and time. Today EDI has been widely accepted as an essential business tool used to facilitate inter-organisational transactions and sometimes to enhance internal operations by integrating internal and external systems". (Chen, 1998, p. 68) It has potentially reduced the transaction costs by eliminating duplication of effort involved in re-keying documents generated by computer in the first place. In this aspect, the development in technology started in 1980s, which first brought a dramatic increase in the use of the Internet, a global research network, consisting of a loose confederation of inter-connected networks providing services such as file transfer and electronic mail. After Internet the vast technological change was felt and re alised by the then consultant management when the use of databases, online and offline processors for report writing and interactive communication was introduced. "Prior to this, it was the consultancies who set the

Banking concept of education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Banking concept of education - Essay Example Banking concept of education Particularly, I would like to describe the manner in which the tutor conducted the lesson from the beginning to the end in relation to the arguments by Freire that related to the banking concept of education. The most specific and outstanding thing is that in the class duration, the tutor’s mode of teaching appeared to have been more inclined towards inquiry-based education or problem-solving education. However, there are instances when the tutor’s teaching methods could have been perceived as focusing on ‘depositing and withdrawing’ aspects of banking; except that in this case, it was in the contextualization of education. It was on a Friday morning Philosophy class in which the tutor introduced the concept of critical thinking. In analyzing his thoughts on the same, it dawned on me that the best approach to education should be that which seeks in solving problems through offering of solutions to the same. Critical thinking as a subject area is a diverse f ield and in most cases, students just take down notes and only revise on them when the exams period are approaching. Actually, for some students, the passing of the exams is more essential than the knowledge itself. Applying the Freire’s argument of libertarian process of education, would have greatly led to the demystification of the teaching concepts that were espoused by the tutor. For instance, in beginning the class, the tutor asked each student to theorize, and then apply in immediate contexts the instances in which we had to engage critical thinking skills in making rational decisions. The attainment of this was through the provision of a sit-in-test that lasted for 30 minutes. While this was opposed by a section of other students, I noticed that the tutor wanted each one of us to be more of problem-solvers than bankers of education. Consequently, the tutor’s selection and use of language and practical illustrations for the topic indicated his intention for the adoption of the problem-posing and solving strategies to education. From the point of view of Freire, I perceive this distinguishing and objective learning style adopted by the tutor as useful and can be further applied in admonishing creativity among the students. However, on the other hand, I perceived the tutor’s ways of teaching as those that were inclined to the banking systems of education. According to Freire, the banking concept of education mostly perceives students as just but, recipients of what their teachers tell them irrespective of their content or the factual truth behind them. In support of this, I noticed that there were instances when the tutor just mentioned concepts or recited them without proper explanations on the same. This in my opinion assumes students to be but, receiving and withdrawing machines that just re-cycle concepts as stated by the teachers. I noticed that this was a dangerous situation, despite having been used by most teachers to refill t heir narrations on students. In assessing this position, I would also agree with Freire in this line since, it only makes students to be storage devices who only store that which has been

Keeler v. Superior Court, 2 Cal 3D 619 (1970) Research Paper

Keeler v. Superior Court, 2 Cal 3D 619 (1970) - Research Paper Example He insisted, upon viewing her pregnant form, the he would â€Å"stomp it out of you†, then pushing her against the car and driving his knee sharply into her abdomen (New York State Bar Association, 2010, p.623). After striking his wife in the face several times, she eventually fainted. Upon awaking, Robert Keeler had left the scene of the crime. Her first move was to return to Stockton where she approached the police, who summoned medical assistance. She was discovered to have significant facial injuries and extensive bruises on her abdomen (loislaw.com, 2010). Upon the advice of medical practitioners, a C-section was performed in which the fetus was discovered to have a fractured skull and was delivered stillborn. Under Penal Code  § 187, Robert Keeler was charged with murder as it was determined that the damage caused to the fetus could only have been sustained through external force. The Supreme Court of Amador County ruled that Robert Keeler could not be held on murder charges or convicted of the crime. The judge in the case cited Penal Code 187 that provides â€Å"murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, with malice afterthought† (loislaw.com, 2010, p.2). At this time, in 1970, most of the laws pertaining to murder and identifying what constitutes a human being was related to very old common law from the 1850s. There were no precedents set that clearly indicated fetus rights and such rights in relation to classification as a human being. This common law involved protections for individuals who had been born alive, and Teresa Keeler’s child had been stillborn. The judge had no legal viability by which to uphold murder charges. The judge further ruled that citing other relevant laws other than those spelled out in Penal Code 187 would deny Mr. Keeler due process afforded him by law (loislaw.com). Though Robert Keeler’s domestic assault charges were upheld, there were absolutely no

IMF (International Monetary Fund) from 2007 to present using Research Paper

IMF (International Monetary Fund) from 2007 to present using international business perspective - Research Paper Example Globalization has huge implications for companies as it can reduce the cost structure of the companies and bring in improvement in terms of quality of products. Globalization has helped in improving international trade and investment volume as more and more companies have entered in to global market and take the shape of multinational organizations. Earlier US companies used dominate in the field of international exports and FDI. But, with changing world scenario, various European countries, Japan as well as emerging economies like India, China, Korea, etc. have reduced the dominance of USA as they are following the same footprint (Hill, 2010). For example, share of FDI of the companies of developing world have increased from less than 1 percent in 1980 to as high as 15 percent in 2008, while the share of USA based companies have declined from near 40 percent in 1980 to 18 percent in 2008(approximately) (Hill, 2010). The political scenario has also changed in this changed economic si tuation. The political dominance of US is no under great threat in this increasing market economy. Many European countries that were Communist earlier and Some Asian countries have undertaken democratic politics and stressed on building free market economies. Hence, international businesses are getting more and more opportunities to enter these economies that have in turn strengthen these economies. (Hill, 2010) In this globalized world, importance of global institutions has increased significantly in maintaining order in various economical and political fields. IMF is one of such institutes which hold an important position in this changing economic and political environment. In fact, it is helping this process of change by its policies. IMF is responsible for maintaining order and stability in the international monetary system. The performance of international businesses to a large extent depends on the operation of international monetary system. If this system operates properly, t hen, the risks associated with international business operation reduce significantly. This paper will place its focus on some important issues relating to IMF policies and its scandals since 2007 as IMF activities is closely related to the performance of international businesses. (Hill, 2010) Issues and Problems with IMF since 2007: Since 2007, a number of issues relating to IMF activities is worth mentioning as this period corresponds to the recent global financial crisis that has essentially affected internal business. Some of these issues will be looked at in this section. Failure of IMF in the early detection of US sub-prime crisis in 2007: IMF is responsible for maintaining stability in the world monetary system and any kind of crisis that my take place in future so that international businesses become aware of that event and take required steps. But IMF is being blamed for its failure to predict the materialization and severity of the financial crisis that was creates in US (B ennet, 2008). The crisis first emerged in the sub-prime market of US. There was a bubble in the market in 2006 and 2007. The movements in this market were some early sign of the upcoming event of global financial crisis. But, the IMF failed to capture those signals in sub-prime market. It is now being said that lack of technical and analytical capacity of the IMF along with US’s unwillingness to implement surveillance of financial sector by IMF were responsible for IMF’s inability to detect the early signs of the crisis and predict its emergence and severity. (Bennet, 2008; Bossone, 2008b) Changing macroeconomic Policy under global financial crisis: Although IMF failed to predict the recent global

Mental Health and Behavioural Problems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mental Health and Behavioural Problems - Essay Example 1430). Studies show that children said to be hyperactive at three years of age had cognitive problems, this usually is observed to extend into adolescence, and such children  bear  traits like being antisocial (Moffit and Harrington 34). Randal explains that among the health problems that affect children later in childhood include anxiety disorders, mood disorders, conduct disorders, attention deficit, hyperactive disorders and substance dependence disorders (128). These behavioural problems  are explained  well by  use  of conceptual models. These models aim to provide an  explanation  for the supposed behavioural problem, and it also tries to  create  a  probable  solution to the problem. The main conceptual models include biological, psycho dynamic, behavioural, cognitive, sociological, and ecological. In the grid provided below, we will look at each model, probable explanation on how it causes a particular problem and its  method  of addressing the pro blem in question.  We shall consider gambling as the main  problem  and analyze the table below. ... This emphasises on the importance of winning in reinforcing the problem in question. This also basis its explanation on the fact that behaviour is acquired. Treatment of behavioural disorders of this origin is focused on empowerment. It focuses on solving of the issue and not on its cause. Its aim may include harm reduction, self control, or avoidance. Psychodynamic Disorder arises due to the urge to satisfy ones arousal needs. For instance, not winning may act as the reinforce of behaviour such as gambling Focus is mainly in empowerment. Cognitive Cognition focuses on the ability of an individual to interpret and conclude about events that are happening in his or her environment. Cognitive therapy is suggested as the mode of treatment, coping skills are an imparted on an individual. Patient is taught change and relapse prevention. Behavioural This is based on the fact that behaviours are learned. It says that inappropriate behaviours are as a result of inappropriate learning, and vi ce versa. Treatment achieved by imparting on an individual the various consequences of their behaviour. For those consequences that strengthen behaviour are reinforced, while those that weaken are reduced. Ecological This model takes an individual as a member of a variety of social groups. For children, the groups include school, peers and family. In this model, an individual’s performance is dependent on the nature and type of interaction he has with environment Problems arising from this are solved by identifying classroom, family, peer or group, and community environmental factors that enhance the occurrence of pleasant behaviours. Models Used in Assisting Students with Behavioural Problems The behavioural model is among the most  direct  and simplest  approach  to

IMF (International Monetary Fund) from 2007 to present using Research Paper

IMF (International Monetary Fund) from 2007 to present using international business perspective - Research Paper Example Globalization has huge implications for companies as it can reduce the cost structure of the companies and bring in improvement in terms of quality of products. Globalization has helped in improving international trade and investment volume as more and more companies have entered in to global market and take the shape of multinational organizations. Earlier US companies used dominate in the field of international exports and FDI. But, with changing world scenario, various European countries, Japan as well as emerging economies like India, China, Korea, etc. have reduced the dominance of USA as they are following the same footprint (Hill, 2010). For example, share of FDI of the companies of developing world have increased from less than 1 percent in 1980 to as high as 15 percent in 2008, while the share of USA based companies have declined from near 40 percent in 1980 to 18 percent in 2008(approximately) (Hill, 2010). The political scenario has also changed in this changed economic si tuation. The political dominance of US is no under great threat in this increasing market economy. Many European countries that were Communist earlier and Some Asian countries have undertaken democratic politics and stressed on building free market economies. Hence, international businesses are getting more and more opportunities to enter these economies that have in turn strengthen these economies. (Hill, 2010) In this globalized world, importance of global institutions has increased significantly in maintaining order in various economical and political fields. IMF is one of such institutes which hold an important position in this changing economic and political environment. In fact, it is helping this process of change by its policies. IMF is responsible for maintaining order and stability in the international monetary system. The performance of international businesses to a large extent depends on the operation of international monetary system. If this system operates properly, t hen, the risks associated with international business operation reduce significantly. This paper will place its focus on some important issues relating to IMF policies and its scandals since 2007 as IMF activities is closely related to the performance of international businesses. (Hill, 2010) Issues and Problems with IMF since 2007: Since 2007, a number of issues relating to IMF activities is worth mentioning as this period corresponds to the recent global financial crisis that has essentially affected internal business. Some of these issues will be looked at in this section. Failure of IMF in the early detection of US sub-prime crisis in 2007: IMF is responsible for maintaining stability in the world monetary system and any kind of crisis that my take place in future so that international businesses become aware of that event and take required steps. But IMF is being blamed for its failure to predict the materialization and severity of the financial crisis that was creates in US (B ennet, 2008). The crisis first emerged in the sub-prime market of US. There was a bubble in the market in 2006 and 2007. The movements in this market were some early sign of the upcoming event of global financial crisis. But, the IMF failed to capture those signals in sub-prime market. It is now being said that lack of technical and analytical capacity of the IMF along with US’s unwillingness to implement surveillance of financial sector by IMF were responsible for IMF’s inability to detect the early signs of the crisis and predict its emergence and severity. (Bennet, 2008; Bossone, 2008b) Changing macroeconomic Policy under global financial crisis: Although IMF failed to predict the recent global

BP Stakeholder and Reputation Management Research Paper

BP Stakeholder and Reputation Management - Research Paper Example Stakeholder management helps a business to achieve the desired goals more efficiently by maintaining the investors’ satisfaction levels. It also enables the organizations to retain the existing investors and recruit new ones in an ethical and responsible manner. Stakeholder management forms an important part of business through which an organization can develop its goodwill. Every sound organization needs to satisfy the stakeholders in order to sustain in the business (Carroll and Buchholtz, 2014). Reputation management involves activities that a business must perform in an attempt to create or upkeep goodwill in the eyes of the public (Argenti and Druckenmiller, 2004). It involves identification of the individuals’ expectations from a business and taking necessary steps to ensure that the general consensus is in parity with the organizational goals. This term was originally used to denote public relations that are necessary for a company in order to sustain in the market. The disaster turned out to be an issue of search result over the web, following the advancement made in social media, computing, and internet. There are various ethical forms of reputation management such as responding to the customer complaints, restraining sites from displaying incorrect information and utilization of the online feedback to influence the process of product development (Argenti and Druckenmiller, 2004). BP is a multinational oil and gas company that is headquartered in London. It is the fifth largest company in terms of revenue and ranks sixth in terms of production. BP operates in nearly 80 countries.  Therefore, considering the recommendations mentioned, BP can derive greater benefits as well as regain the lost status in the oil and gas industry. Implementation of the suggestions provided can considerably help other oil and gas companies, such as PBGC, to rebuild lost integrity and reputation.

Internationalization

Internationalization 1. Preface This paper has been written for the course Societal Developments Institutions. The topic of this paper, knowledge sharing in virtual teams, is primarily focused on the Internationalization aspect of this course. But also aspects from other courses of the Master of Organizational Sciences (Msc OS), like Complexity within Organizations and Organizational Dynamics, are represented in this paper. Virtual teams and especially the knowledge sharing within such a team seemed very interesting to me. The broad link of this topic with the different courses of Msc OS was attractive to me, but also the growth in popularity of using this kind of the teams in nowadays business motivated me into doing this research. I hope this inquiry about knowledge sharing in virtual teams can facilitate virtual teams in knowing the challenges ahead, and help virtual team managers and -designers in benefit better from the advantages of virtual teams. Furthermore, after reading this paper I hope you, as reader, are (even more) inspired about the possibilities of working with virtual teams in ‘the collaboration economy. Key concepts: Internationalization, globalization, virtual teams, knowledge sharing. 2. Introduction In todays society people have adopted media technologies, such as e-mail, chat, and videoconferencing, that enable them to ‘go virtual and communicate with other individuals from all over the world. Currently, there are 1,733,993,741 internet users around the world (Internet world Stats, 2009). Because of those technological innovations it is possible to collaborate with other people regardless there geographical position. The last couple of years, next to those technological developments, two other mechanisms developed in a historical way globalization and demography. Tapscott and Williams argued in their book Wikinomics (2006): The three mechanisms: technology, globalization and demography are influencing the world towards a new economy, the collaboration economy. Emerging globalization demands and facilitates new forms of economic collaboration and provides all businesses who are seeking for unique talents to fix their problems with talented employees from over the whole world. And demographically there is also a shift. A new generation, bigger than the babyboom generation, the internet generation will dominate the 21ste century because of her demographical presence. This generation has grown up with internet and will utilize this technology in an efficient way and will change the status-quo in a radical way. Doing business and the way of collaborating in business will also change. Old monolithic multinationals which creates added value in a closed hieratically structure is quickly outdated. Successful businesses nowadays need open and porous bo rders and should compete using knowledge, resources and capacities outside the organization. Even heavy, capital intensive production industries will not be an exception. Also Ilinitch, DAveni Lewin (1996) addressed those changes; by opening their special issue on new organizational forms and hyper-competitive environments by nothing that, organizations are facing strong forces of change: globalization, demographic shifts, advances in technology, and the demassification of society. In response to those changes and shifts organizational forms are proliferating. One such new organizational form is found in virtual teams, sometimes called distributed teams (Saunders Ahuja, 2006). Virtual teams are, in summary, technology mediated groups of people in various places around the world that work together on common tasks (Hardin, Fuller, and Davidson, 2007). Currently those virtual teams are widely embraced by modern businesses. A motive of this popularity is that they can help organizations adapt better. They may provide firms with advantages such as increased utilization of employee-time, round-the-clock workforce availability, and the opportunity to leverage knowledge and expertise around the world (Paul, Seetharaman, Samarah Mykytyn, 2004). Virtual teams bring organizations also some other advantage: reduced travel expenses, Co2 emissions, and less working time wasted on traveling (Lu, Watson-Manheim, House, Matzkevich, 2005). This increasing use of virtual teams is also noted by the Wall Street Journal. It reports that more than half of companies with more than 5000 employees use virtual teams (de Lisser, 1999) Also, a survey by the Gartner group found that more than 60% of professional employees work in virtual teams (Kanawattanachai Yoo, 2002). The growth in popularity of virtual teams inquires a summary of how to manage such a team in an efficient an effective way. Questions about what are important factors in managing successful global virtual teams needed to be answered. In this inquiry I will address those success factors in case of knowledge sharing in global virtual teams by answering the question: â€Å"What are success factors of knowledge sharing in virtual teams, with team members across the whole globe?†. This enquiry is focused on knowledge sharing in virtual teams because those dispersed teams in particular need to share knowledge, experience and insights in order to function successfully (Rosen, Furst, Blackburn, 2007). The aim of this paper is to facilitate virtual team managers and -designers with a summary of virtual team success factors in knowledge sharing by which they can benefit better from the advantages of virtual teams. Firstly I will address the theoretical background of virtual teams. In this theoretical background I will explain the organizational need for virtual teams, give a definition of virtual teams, deal with the key feature of virtual teams; the absence of face-to-face contact and I will give an insight in the knowledge sharing mechanism. In the second part of this paper I will focus on answering the research question based on earlier researches and literature references. This will be followed by a brief conclusion and recommendations of those success factors in knowledge sharing to facilitate virtual team managers and -designers with a practical summary. 3. Literature References Allen, T., (1977). Managing the flow of technology. Cambridge (MA): MIT Press. Armstrong,D.L., Cole, P. (1995). Managing distances and differences in geographically distributed work groups. In Jackson, S. Runderman, M. (Eds) Diversity in Work Teams: Research Paradigms for a Changing Workplace, p. 497-529. Bailey, D.E., Kurland, N.B., (2002). A review of telework research: findings, new directions an lessons for the study of modern work. Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 23, p. 383-400. Bell, B.S., Kozlowski, S.W.J., (2002). A typology of virtual teams: Implications for effective leadership. Group Organization Management, 27, p. 14-49. Boutellier, R., Gassmann, O., Macho, H., Roux, M., (1998). Management of dispersed product development teams: the role of information technologies. RD Management, 28(1), p. 13-25. Conrath, D., (1973). Communication environment and its relationship to organizational structure. Manage Science ,20, p. 586-603. Cummings, L.L., Bromiley, P., (1996). The organizational trust inventory (OTI): Development and validation. Trust in organizations: frontiers of theory and research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. de Lisser, E. (1999). Update on small business: Firms with virtual environments appeal to workers. Wall Street Journal, B2 Devine, D.J., clayton, L.D., Philips, J.L., Dunford, B.B., Melner,S.B. (1999). Team in organizations: Prevalence, charecteristics, and effectiveness. Small Group Research, 30, p. 678-711. Duarte, D.L. Snyder, N.T. (2006). Mastering Virtual Teams: Strategies, Tools and Techniques That Succeed. John Wiley and Sons, New York. Fiol, C.M., OConner, E.J. (2005). Identification in Face-to-Face, Hybrid, and Pure Virtual Teams: Untangling the Contradictions. Organizational Science, vol. 16, p. 19-32. Gibson C.B., Cohen, S.G. (2003). Virtual teams that work: Creating conditions for virtual team effectiveness. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Griffith, T.L., Neale, M.A. (2001). Information processing in traditional, hybrid, and virtual teams: from nascent knowledge to transactive memory. Research in organizational behaviour, vol. 23, p. 379-421. Griffith, T.L., Sawyer, J.E., Neale, M.A. (2003). Virtualness and knowledge in teams: managing the love triangle of organizations, individuals, and information technology. MIS Quarterly, vol. 27, p. 265-287. Gudykunst, W.B., (1997). Cultural variability in communication. Communication Research, 24, p. 327-348. Gullahorn, J., (1952). Distance and friendship as factors in the gross interaction matrix. Sociometry, 15, p. 123- 34. Hardin, A.M., Fuller, M.A., Davidson, R.M. (2007). I know I can, but can we?: Culture and efficacy beliefs in global virtual teams. Small Group Research, 38, 130-155. Hertel, G., Geiser, S., Konradt, U. (2005). Managing virtual teams: A review of current emperical research. Human Resource Management Review, 15, 69-95. Hertel, G., Konradt, U., Lehman, K., (2004). Staffing virtual teams: Development and validation of a web-based tool for selection and placement of virtual team members. Manuscript in preparation. Hollingshead, A.B., (1998). Retrieval processes in transactive memory systems. Journal of personality and social psychology, 74, p. 659-671. Ilinitch, A.Y., DAveni, R.A., Lewin A.y. (1996). New Organizational Forms and Strategies for managing in Hypercompetitive Environments. Organization Science, vol.7, p. 211-220. Internet World Stats (2009). Top 20 countries with highest number of internet users. Retrieved November 25th, 2009 from: http://www.internetworldstats.com/ Jarvenpaa, S., Leidner, D., (1999). Communication and trust in global virtual teams. Organization Science, 10, p. 791-15. Jehn, K.A., (1995). A multimethode examination of the benefits and determents of intragroup conflict. Administrative science quarterly, 40, p. 256-282. Kristof, A.L., Brown, K.G., Sims, H.P.Jr., Smith, K.A. (1995). The virtual team: A case study and inductive model. Advances in interdisciplinary studies of work teams, 2, 229-253. Lu, M., Watson-Manheim, M.,B., House, C.H., Matzkevich, T. (2005). Does distance matter? Bridging the discontinuities in distributed organizations. HICSS 2005. Levitt, B., March, J., (1988). Organizational Learning. Annual review of sociology, 14, p. 319-340 Kanawattanachai P., Yoo, Y. (2002). Dynamic nature of trust in virtual teams. Journal of strategic Infromation Systems, 11, 187-213. Kaywoth, T., Leidner, D., (2000). The global virtual manager: a prescription for success. European management journal, 18, p. 183-194. Kiesler, S., Sproull, L. (1992). Group decision making and communication technology. Organizational Behavior Human Decision Processes, 52, 96-123. Konradt, U., Schmook, R., Mà ¤lecke, M., (2000). Impacts of telework on individuals, organizations and families: a critical review. In C.L. Cooper and I.T. Robertson (Ed), International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, vol. 15, p. 63-99, Wiley, Chichester. Kozlowski, S.W.J., Ilgen, D.R. (2006). Enhancing the effectiveness of work group and teams. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 7(3), 77-124 Lipnack, J., Stamps, J., (1997). Virtual teams. Reaching across space, time and organizations with technology. John Wiley and Sons, New York. Majchrzak, a., Rice, R., King, n., Malhotra, A., Ba, S., (2000). Computer-mediated inter-organizational knowledge-sharing: insights from a virtual team innovating using a collaborative tool. Information Resource Management Journal, 13, p. 44-53. Martins, L.L., Gilson, L.L. Maynard M.T., (2004). Virtual Teams: What do we know and where do we go from here? Journal of Management, vol. 30, p. 805-835. Maznevski, M., Chudoba, K., (2001). Bridging space over time: global virtual team dynamics and effectiveness. Organizational Science, 13, p. 473-492. McDonough E., Kahn, K., Barczak, G. (2001). An investigation of the use of global virtual, and collocated new product development teams. The journal of product innovation management, 18, p. 110-120. Monge, P., Kirste, K., (1980). Measuring proximity in human organization. Social psychology quarterly, 43, p. 110- 5. Meyerson, D., Weick, K.E., Kramer, R.M., (1996). Swift trust and temporary groups. Trust in organizations: frontiers of theory and research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, p. 166-195. Owens, D., Mannix, E.A., Neale, M.A., (1998). Strategic formation of groups: Issues in task performance and team member selection. Research on managing groups and teams: composition, 1, p. 1419-165. Powell, A., Piccoli, G., Ives, B., (2004). Virtual teams: a review of current literature and directions for future research. The data base for advances in information systems, 35, p.6-36. Robbins, S.P., Judge, T.A., (2007). Organizational Behavior. Upper Saddle River, NY: Prentice Hall. Rosen, B., Furst, S., Blackburn, R., (2007). Overcoming barriers to knowledge sharing in virtual teams. Organizational Dynamics, 36, p. 259-273. Sanders, C.S., Ahuja, M.K., (2006). Are all distributed teams the same? Differentiating Between Temporary And Ongoing Distributed Teams. Small Group Research, vol. 37, p.662-700. Sarker, S., Lau, F., and Sahay, S., (2001). Using an adapted grounded theory approach for inductive theory building about virtual team development. Database for advances in information systems, 32, 38-56. Scott, W.R. (1981). Organizations: Rational, natural and open systems, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Sproull, L., Kiesler, S., (1986). Reducing social context cues: electronic mail in organizational communication. Manage Science, 32, p.1492- 512. Stasser, G., Titus, W., (1985). Pooling of unshared information in group decision making: biased information sampling during discussion. Journal of personality and social psychology, 48, p. 1467-1478. Suchan, J., Hayzak, G., (2001). The communication characteristics of virtual teams: a case study. IEEE transactions on professional communication, 44, p. 174-186. Townsend, A.M., DeMarie, S.M. Hendrickson, A.R. (1998). Virtual teams: Technology and the workplace of the future. Academy of Management Executive, vol. 12, p. 17-29 Tapscott, D. Williams, A.D. (2006). Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything. Penguin Group, New York. Thompson, L.L. (2004). Making the team: A Guide for managers. New Jersey: Pearson Education. Warkentin, M.E., Beranek, P.M., (1999). Training to improve virtual team communication. Information system journal, vol. 9. Wegner, D.M., (1987). Transactive Memory: A contemporary analysis of the group mind. Theories of group behavior, New York: Springer-Verlag.