Mental/Behavioral Case Study Essay

I am doing a case study for Jenny Stanson, who is a 20-year-old college student who that is currently living with her grandmother. Lately, she has been noticing that her grandmother seems to be confused at times, and often forgets things she has told her. She also informed me that her grandmother is often rather short-tempered. From what jenny says, this does not seem to be her usual manner and happens only infrequently, but Jenny is concerned. She stated that someone told her that her grandmother might be suffering from early stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Upon doing research on the disease I learned that Alzheimer’s disease is perhaps the most common form of dementia, although several others exist. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease of the brain. In the early stages, people experience some memory loss which progresses to marked memory loss, then to a decrease in thinking ability such as decision making. Later the disease leads to the loss in the ability to perform activities of daily living or recognize loved ones. The changes in the brain that often mirror the decline in thinking are the development of plaques and tangles in the brain. These changes may begin in areas of the brain associated with memory, but later spread more widely throughout the brain. The plaques and tangles can lead to a gradual loss of connections between brain cells and eventually cell death. Based upon the information she shared with me, I’m placing her grandmother in the early stages of Alzheimer’s due to her age and the symptoms she’s currently presenting. Especially after learning that starting at age 65, the risk of developing the disease doubles every five years, and that by age 85 years and older, between 25 and 50 percent of people will exhibit signs of Alzheimer’s disease. I did inform Jenny though, that there are things she could do and practice and speak to her grandmother about as far as  prolonging the onset of Alzheimer’s. There are a number of studies that suggest behaviors that might lessen the risk of developing the disease. Among these are increasing physical activity, having a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, maintaining social engagement, and participating in intellectually stimulating activities. I informed her that the approved treatments for Alzheimer’s disease are designed to enhance the communication between nerve cells. In some individuals, this will lessen the symptoms. However, these treatments will not prevent the progression of the disease. When it comes to cultural issues pertaining to this issue, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia affect all racial and ethnic peoples. Communities of color and other historically underserved groups often encounter problems when accessing services or information about Alzheimer’s disease. Because of this, the local chapter is working to increase awareness of the disease and understanding about the obstacles to service for rural communities, ethnic groups, and communities of color. This though should not be a reason people do not step out on their own and seek help In conclusion, I informed Jenny that there is a lot of information on the Alzheimer’s disease on the internet, libraries, hospitals and other places one can go to seek treatment. I told her that she and her grandmother are not alone. If she wants some really good information and help, she should turn to The Alzheimer’s Association, which is the most trusted resource for reliable information, education, referral and support to millions of people affected by the disease. She can Call their 24/7 Helpline number at: 800.272.3900 or she can locate a chapter in her community, she can use their virtual library or even simply just go to the Alzheimer’s Navigator within the associations website to create customized action plans and connect with local support services. References http://www.alz.org/alzwa/in_my_community http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_what_is_alzheimers.asp http://www.cdc.gov/mentalhealth/basics/mental-illness/dementia.htm

Balochistan

Irony here is that although Balloonists shares the major part of not only the country's name but also the area, It still has been treated like a step child since forever. While asking for a divorce, Bloodstain Is certainly at right. Everyone keeps talking about the Issues of Bloodstain but never actually did anything In practical. Everyone says that we need to have a dialogue and grant Ballot's their deserving ‘rights' but every single government came and aggravated the situation. As a result uncountable unresolved issues have been piled up over all these years.It is true that Balloons have risen in revolt several times in the past but then getting used to it and stop paying heed to he Issue merely on the basis that the insurgency Is not new and Is foreign-led, has even worsen the situation. It might be true that Bloch leaders would have foreign friends but blindly believing that they have been supporting an insurgency for the past 65 years is disingenuous. Distrust of Pakistan , hatred for Punjabi, and the establishment has always been there in the Balloons psyche.They are simply not going to forget the step-motherly treatment being done with them, that they were the last people to get natural gas from their own lands, that the military have done more arm than good to the province and has been killing whoever raises his voice against the operations and throwing the dead bodies on the streets, that barely 25% of their population is literate, around 30% are unemployed and that just 7% have access to tap water. The rule of the FCC (Frontier Corps), they want, must give way to the rule of law. The only thing that Balloons want should go missing from Balloonists is lawlessness, and not its people.In addition to that despite its vast natural wealth, Balloonists Is desperately poor. The dire situation has already made around 100,000 people to leave the province since 2007 and In response to that our leaders has only one thing to say that ‘Bloodstain Issue has been exaggeratedly highlighted'. Balloonists is a decaying wound, which has bled for decades now. Rather than diagnosing the cause, successive governments have been trying different dressings to heal the wound eventually making it more septic. If the situation stays unheeded, there is a possibility that once again we will have to suffer dismemberment ofPakistan Like we did In 1971 losing another Integral part of the country. Balloonists By Mawkishness's immediate control of the natural resources and, ultimately, independence. Going also the area, it still has been treated like a step child since forever. While asking for a divorce, Balloonists is certainly at right. Everyone keeps talking about the issues of Balloonists but never actually did anything in practical. Everyone says that we need to have a dialogue and grant Balloons their deserving ‘rights' but every single issues have been piled up over all these years.It is true that Ballot's have risen in the issue merely o n the basis that the insurgency is not new and is foreign-led, has population is literate, around 30% are unemployed and that Just 7% have access to Balloonists is desperately poor. The dire situation has already made around 100,000 people to leave the province since 2007 and in response to that our leaders has only one thing to say that ‘Balloonists issue has been exaggeratedly highlighted'. Pakistan like we did in 1971 losing another integral part of the country.

Business Ethics of Kfc

BUSINESS ETHICS 2011 Report Sunderland Business School Undergraduate Programs Name: Lanny Chew Jun Kheong Identification Number: 880328-52-5707 Student ID: 109129662/1 Tel. Number: 016-8515159 E-mail: [email  protected] com Study Centre: SEGi College Sarawak Module: Business Ethics Code: UGB210 Module Tutor: Ms. Adeline Academic Year: 2011 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report was produced as an audit report providing a ‘snapshot’ of KFC’s business ethics. First, the author started with the ethical dilemma of KFC which include poor quality products, animal abuse and poor working conditions.Identification of ethical dilemmas is important where people can know about the ugly truths that KFC was practicing. The report is followed with a discussion of the importance of the ethical dilemma of KFC and actions taken by KFC to solve the problems. Under this section the relevant theories such as utilitarianism, egoism, fairness are clearly explain with real examples in this repo rt. Although there are pros and cons, KFC has also practice best practices. This third section covered up a few values such as hope, love and caring that KFC is practicing by participating in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and established code of conduct.Even though action has been taken, it also cannot solve the dilemma. So, the author has offer recommendation for KFC as reference. This report was ended with a conclusion. CONTENT: PAGE: ASSIGNMENT TITLE PAGE i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ii CONTENT iii 1. 0 INTRODUCTION 1 1. 1COMPANY PROFILE 1 2. 0 ETHICAL DILEMMAS 2 . 1 POOR QUALITY PRODUCTS 2 2. 2 ANIMAL ABUSE 4 2. 3 POOR WORKING CONDITIONS 4 3. 0 IMPORTANCES OF THESE DILEMMAS AND ACTION TAKEN BY KFC 5 3. 1 PRODUCTS’ QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 5 3. 2 ANIMAL WELFARE ISSUES 7 3. 3 ESTABLISH UNION 9 4. 0 KFC BEST PRACTISES AND VALUES 11 4. 1 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) 11 4. 2 ESTABLISH SUPPLIER CODE OF CONDUCT 12 5. 0 RECOMMENDATION 13 5. 1 GO FOR ORGANIC 13 6. 0 CONCLUSION 14 APPENDIX 1 15 APPENDIX 2 21LIST OF REFERENCES 24 1. 0 INTRODUCTION This report was produced to analyze the business ethics of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). First, the report started with a brief description on the company background. Next, it is continued with identification of the ethical dilemmas – poor quality products, animal abuse and poor working condition of KFC, provided from stakeholder analysis and examples from their history. After that, the report moved on to the importance of the mentioned ethical dilemmas and how KFC is dealing with it. The actions taken are product quality improvement, animal welfare issues and establish union.This included the application of the various ethical theories. Then, it is continued with the good side of KFC when the analysis was done on KFC best practices and values that KFC are practicing. It included Corporate Social Value (CSR) where they offered ‘Projek Penyayang KFC’ in Malaysia and Colonel’s Scholar Prog ram, practicing the value of hope and love; and established supplier code of conduct by practicing the value of justice. Further, the author put on suitable recommendations for KFC such as Go for Organic, with the hope that the plan recommended can help KFC in expanding their business towards a brighter future.Lastly, this report was closed up with a conclusion justifying the essentialness of business ethics. 1. 1 COMPANY BACKGROUND KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky and is now one of the well-known fast food restaurants which operates in more than 11,000 branches in more than 80 nations and territories throughout the world. Examples are UK, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Kuwait, Spain and Barbados, Puerto Rico, Pakistan and many more.KFC started with Colonel Harland Sanders who grew up to become a personage the world known as Colonel Sanders throughout the years, discovered his penchant for cooking wh en he was only 9 years old. KFC is now regarded as the most chicken restaurant chain providing a special mouth watering taste fried chicken that cannot be replaced with chicken's natural juices sealed-in; leaving KFC with pride as a fast-food restaurant that provide customers with a selection of home-styled side dishes and desserts such as coleslaw and ice-creams to make a wholesome, complete and satisfying meal despite only serving great tasting chicken (http://www. fc. com). (Refer to Appendix I). 2. 0 ETHICAL DILEMMAS According to Lee Flamand (eHow, 2011), â€Å"an ethical dilemma is a situation wherein moral precepts or ethical obligations conflict in such a way that any possible resolution to the dilemma is morally intolerable. In other words, an ethical dilemma is any situation in which guiding moral principles cannot determine which course of action is right or wrong. † (http://www. eHow. com) The competition between fast food restaurants is increasing where KFC have t o come out with more choices of selection to meet the demand of their patrons.At the same time, they have to think of ways to make more sales, cut costs, and basically maximize the profits of the firms and faced many ethical dilemmas concerning their products and consumers during the process. The ethical dilemmas include poor quality products, animal abuse and poor working conditions. 2. 1 POOR QUALITY PRODUCTS David Ludwig (2009), director of a Boston children’s hospital said that â€Å"fast-food consumption has been shown to increase calorie intake, promote weight gain, and elevate risk for diabetes† (http://www. thenewwellness. com).Fast Food is usually unhealthy, and  can often lead  to loyal consumers having weight problems. This matter got worst to KFC where in year 2006, KFC was being sued for frying its chicken with cooking oils that contain Trans-fats, which can contribute to heart disease and diabetes. According to Mayo Clinic, trans fat is also called tr ans-fatty acids and assumed by some doctors to be the worst type of fat which both raises â€Å"bad† (LDL) cholesterol and lowers â€Å"good† (HDL) cholesterol. A high LDL cholesterol level in combination with a low HDL cholesterol level increases the risk of getting heart disease (http://www. ayoclinic. com). Trans fat is bad that it boosts the risk of coronary disease and people should only consume no more than 2 g per day. However, KFC claimed its products â€Å"meet or exceed all government regulations. † But as the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the activist group behind the lawsuit, points out, a three-piece extra-crispy combo meal, which is called ‘dinner-plate’ in Malaysia, contains 15 g of trans fat which is more than a person should ingest (Time magazine, 2006).In China, some of the outlets in Xianyang city were being accused for using the same frying oil to fry chickens up to 10 days and this can cause cancer (http://www. chin adaily. com. cn). Furthermore, other examples such as: customers cut her tongue and mouth after plastic was been found when she consumed coleslaw, bloody bandage found under KFC baked beans, worms discover in sandwiches, children became sick after eating KFC in Colorado, proved that KFC poor quality products issue has achieving a very dangerous level (http://www. kfcmademesick. com/). Added on, some KFC outlets were even forced to pay compensation for injuries.Example: KFC in Plymouth has been fined $13,000 for selling raw chicken to their customers (http://www. dailyrecord. co. uk). In year 2009, KFC in central London faced food hygiene charges with the cases where countless sighting of cockroaches, mice, rats and flies flying ahead was found when an investigation was done in the city. The owner has been fined ? 20,000 and was asked for temporary shop closed down (http://www. caterersearch. com). 2. 2 ANIMAL ABUSE Since the late 1990s, KFC faced severe protests by People for Ethica l Treatment of Animals (PETA), an animal rights protection organization.The improper breeding of birds combined with improper working conditions of workers and lack of ethically efficient operation processes led to improper practices in KFC’s supplier’s poultry farms. According to Donald G. McNeil Jr. who published his article in New York Times in 2004, â€Å"an animal rights group involved in a long legal dispute with KFC released a videotape showing slaughterhouse workers for one supplier jumping up and down on live chickens, drop-kicking them like footballs and slamming them into walls, apparently for fun†.Furthermore, other acts of cruelty which include suffocating a chicken by tying a latex glove over its head, workers tearing beaks off, spitting tobacco juice into birds' mouths, ripping a bird's head off to write graffiti in blood, plucking feathers to â€Å"make it snow,† and squeezing birds like water balloons to spray feces over other birds were all saw by an under investigator who works for the company (http://www. thenazareneway. com). KFC suppliers even cram birds into huge waste-filled factories, breed and drug them to grow so large until the chicken could not even walk, and often break their wings and legs.The chickens’ throats were slit and they were dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water—often while they were still conscious during slaughtering process (http://www. kentuckyfriedcruelty. com/). As a result KFC was accused of animal abuse  by PETA, on the supplier’s farm. 2. 3 POOR WORKING CONDITIONS Poor working conditions is always an issue for KFC especially for the branches located in big countries such US, India and China. In US, workers in Pilgrim’s Pride Poultry farm did animal abused action just to alleviate boredom or vent frustrations especially when so many chickens were coming in that they would have to work late (http://www. henazareneway. com). On the other hand, according to the city government of Guangzhou, China; effective from January 1 year 2006, the minimum wage for part-time labor set by local regulations is at 7. 5 Yuan per hour in big cities such as Guangzhou but KFC only paid them with 5. 5 Yuan. KFC were bombarded for this contract as it had violated the legal rights of employees. KFC allegedly force part-time employees to work the same hours as full-time staff but fail to pay them any of the benefits to which full-time staff are entitled.Adding on, employees who work more than five hours a day and 30 hours a week should be treated as full-time staff and receive the same fringe benefits according to the mainland laws. However, the Guangdong labor authority's clarification indicates that part-time working students are not protected by the law, which is a relief for the employers involved. It was extremely unfair for those part-timers (China Business, 2006). 3. 0 IMPORTANCES OF THESE DILEMMAS AND ACTION TAKEN BY KFC According to De George, R. T who has written in his book entitled ‘Business Ethics (5th Edition) in year 1999, he declares that an ethical dilemma occurs when the choice is defined unclearly between alternative actions with moral content. Whether a specific behavior is right or wrong, ethical or unethical is often determined by the concerned stakeholders and an individual’s personal ethics. As a result, values, judgments, and complex situations all play a critical role in ethical decision making. 3. 1 PRODUCTS’ QUALITY IMPROVEMENTThe reason KFC using trans oil at first because the food produced is much tastier. Trans oil which is introduced in 1990’s, claims that it is suitable to substitute natural oil and healthy. It has better performances under high heat, longer shelf life and also it is cheaper (http://www. msnbc. msn. com). For example: The crispy fried chicken is resulted crispier when frying with trans oil. Here, it is very clear that KFC has a bad judgment in choosing the t ypes of oil to be used and caused them being sued on their judgment.KFC also react as activist stakeholder where by using trans oil which is cheaper, they believe their investment will giving them a good return in profit. In these new era with full of busyness and stressful lifestyle, so as dual-working families where both parents are forced to work to increase the income of a family, more and more people are fully dependent on quick meal solutions and most will opt for fast food. Fast food such as KFC is not only a fast food restaurant, but the brand- KFC and their products have highly encounter a place in everyone’s life as it really helps in saving a meal-preparation time.Although people start to be more health conscious of having good health and body figures, fast food especially KFC may cause obesity according to research. Health Organizations in most development countries such as U. S, and U. K, have started to encourage their citizens to concern more about their having healthy life by having nutritious meal. Since KFC started their operations and expanded their business globally, the ‘chicken-meal’ they offered, only gains a bad image and reputation of a fast food that provides greasy unhealthy food.Fast food has the potential to impact directly and visibly on people's well-being like obesity. With this case, KFC practice the theory of utilitarianism which is also called ‘the greatest happiness principle’ where they have taken an action which results greatest amount of people receiving the greatest amount of good. So, KFC came out with Kentucky Grilled Chicken which is marinated with savory blend of secret herbs and slow-grilled to juicy perfection. This new product has fewer fat grams, fewer calories, and less sodium than original recipe chicken.Besides, all KFC chicken products practice Zero Grams Trans Fat per serving where they have found the perfect recipe by incorporating the Colonel’s 11 herbs and spices wi th a new cooking oil that contains zero grams of trans fat. Beside fried chicken, many others favorite KFC side dishes such as mashed potatoes and wages are now served with zero grams of trans fat (http://www. kfc. com). KFC’s new products and Zero Grams Trans Fat plans have help them to push up their brand where they tend to promote happiness through serving customers with nutrient food and it is also a better option for health-conscious customers.According to Brooks and Dunn (2009), ‘The ethically correct action is the one that will produce the greatest amount of pleasure or the least amount of pain. ’ 3. 2 ANIMAL WELFARE ISSUES Since the case of animal abuse being explored to the world, KFC faced the toughest challenge in where it heated up the public awareness towards the animal welfare. People all around the world started to be concerned about this issue as KFC has their branches worldwide. Animal abuse case occurred huge ruckus by the public has caused the corporation to lose their image and their reputations are highly damaged because of the law stated by PETA.After the incident, stakeholder’s expectations and demands regarding the standardized guidelines of animal treatment were also increased. The case not only affected the business all over the world, but also its brand (KFC) reputation, turnover and profit as KFC has their branches in most of the countries and hence, caused the significant impacts on the relationship between contemporary organization such as McDonald, Burger King, Wendy and Safe-way as they also afraid that KFC might drag them down, their shareholders such as the owners of each KFC branch restaurants and finally public opinion.Just like other fast food chain, KFC seems trying to minimize their budget and hence maximize their profits without considering their suppliers and customers instead they should put on priority on the importance of ethics. Suppliers just did what requested by KFC without thinking the ir negative impacts when requisition for chicken’s meat increased. Here, KFC react brilliantly where they did not run away from reality as several actions had been taken to overcome the problems and tried to make the issue – a ‘learning’ history for all.KFC took an immediate responds and developed a series of plan to overcome the problems and this action has become a trend for KFC in the future. When receiving a little pressure from PETA, KFC Canada agreed to a historic new animal welfare plan that they became the first major restaurant chain ever in whole world to purchase all of its meat exclusively from controlled-atmosphere killing (CAK) slaughterhouses and dramatically the lives and deaths of millions of chickens for Canada. http://www. thepoultrysite. com. ) CAK is a method of slaughtering poultry where chickens do not suffer when being removed from the crates,  hung upside down, shackled, bled, and scalded in defeathering tanks which leads to stru ggling, stress, and broken wings. The processes work the oxygen in the transport cages is replaced with other gasses such as carbon dioxide, argon or nitrogen to gently put them into ‘sleeping mode’.The birds die from the lack of oxygen, and are dead before they are ever handled by slaughterhouse workers (http://animalrights. about. com/). Besides, there are no chances for workers to abuse the chicken as they never have to chance to handle live chickens in CAK. This process even provide with better results when workers do not need to struggle with flapping, scratching, vomiting, and defecating chickens, lights can be kept bright throughout the process and the air maintain at its cleanliness level (http://www. peta. org/).As stated clearly in KFC main website, all suppliers must comply with the KFC policy which is they are strictly not allowed to use hormones and steroids for any purposes, including improving growth in chickens due to the genetically engineered for faste r growth and antibiotics are strictly prohibited. To show their sincerity in transformation, KFC even formed the KFC Animal Welfare Advisory Council, which consists of highly regarded experts in the field who will provide information and advice based on relevant data and scientific research which has been a key factor in formulating their animal welfare program.To rebuild the public confidence towards KFC, the company allowed PETA to review its animal welfare audit forms every six months (http://www. kfc. com). 3. 3 ESTABLISH UNION Employees play one of the most important characters in the whole process. Without these people, KFC might not have such a huge success in their business until today. After the incident of underpaying their part-time workers in  Guangzhou, they set up trade union branches across the province.This incident has highly touched up people awareness to protect human rights especially in China when media from Shanghai, Taiyuan, Tianjin, Fuzhou and Beijing repor ted similar findings and have caused uproar across China. Furthermore, the unfair treatment to employees increased when labor officials in Shanghai claimed that they have not found any regulations in KFC outlets as the rules in Shanghai do not apply to part-time or to student.The unclear stipulations on the rights and benefits of part-time or student employees enable KFC to make use of the legal loopholes as all fast-food restaurants are profit-making enterprises that wish to earn more profits by taking advantage on their part-time employees. KFC practice the theory of egoism here as the company only care about themselves rather than considering about its’ employees profits. â€Å"Cheating part-time workers is also a common practice in the US because companies take advantage of the fact that most part-timers are young, inexperienced and lack representation.These businesses should be required to adhere to the rules and regulations of the host country,† said TangXiaojing to China Daily in year 2007. This whole case also tells China and the world that people have to be aware of the unequal situation for laborers in China, and to wonder why the legislation is always so vulnerable (http://www. china. org. cn) In return, KFC claimed that they would took things seriously by looking forward into the situations and will approached the local trade union of the city for guidance of set up the trade union.KFC has applied the theories of fairness here where everyone has been free to receive rewards for their efforts, which is also known as procedural justice (Beauchamp ;amp; Bowie, 1997). The president of Yum Brands Inc promised that KFC will accept every statements ruling Chinese government makes over its alleged illegal exploitation of part-time staffs in China. And they would do whatever is requested by the trade union after they have concluded their investigations into the employment of KFC’s part-time workers.Besides, trade union in several cities in China will work together with local labor and social security departments to investigate the entire fast food restaurants in China which were suspected to have similar unlawful behavior to protect the rights of employees. With the cooperation between KFC and members of All China Federation of Trade Union to establish KFC own union, the author believes the cases of unfair treatment to employees will be lowered and KFC branches in China will be the model for other KFC in other countries (http://www. china. org. cn). 4. 0 KFC BEST PRACTISES AND VALUES 4. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) The brand KFC has been carved in people’s heart as one of the best fried chicken restaurant and in return, KFC participated themselves in CSR as CSR is all about how a company manages the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society (http://www. mallenbaker. net) – Refer to Appendix II. KFC takes its CSR priority faithfully and makes a dedicated effort to fu lfill its tasks in every area including the community, education, diversity, market place, workplace, and animal welfare which is also benefiting to all including its stakeholders.CSR which is also claimed to be a marketing purpose is logically captured in the new definition of marketing answered by the American Marketing Association (2004) which stated â€Å"marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders†. KFC practiced the value of Hope and Love. In Malaysia, KFC Malaysia has set up ‘Projek Penyayang’ as appreciation for greatly support by the Malaysian. Project Penyayang’ which was founded in 1995, was purposely developed to provide food to a total of 80 homes every quarter to enable thousands of orphans and underprivileged to enjoy KFC meals. With a heart of caring, KFC fulfill the hope of orphans who wished to have KFC. ‘Tabung Penyayang KFC’ which is a unique fund representing a percentage of revenue generated from sales of KFC’s Kids’ Fun Meals was set as a charity fund to help children and needy through various CSR Program. Adding on, all the programs also included donation, charity, and organize open house dinner particularly to those less fortunate, elderly and orphaned (http://www. fc. com. my). Caring is about wanting another person to succeed and do well in life and their career. With a heart of caring, KFC cares about students education. KFC create a fund – Colonel’s Scholars, offering scholarships for entrepreneurial drive and strong perseverance high school seniors who need financial helps to support their school fees in their study career. Students who are selected will received up to $ 20,000 to receive a bachelor degree program in the university the students have chosen inside their cities only (http ://www. kfcscholars. org/). 4. ESTABLISH SUPPLIER CODE OF CONDUCT KFC practice the value of justice where they protect the rights and punish the wrongs. Supplier code of conduct is established by KFC U. S. which is committed to protect all U. S. suppliers’ employees’ rights by conducting its business towards legal, ethical and socially responsible manner. All KFC suppliers are required to follow and abide by all applicable laws, codes or regulations which includes not limited to any local, state or federal laws regarding wages and benefits, employees’ compensation, working hours, equal opportunity, worker and product safety.All suppliers are expected to confirm their practices to the published standards for their industry in order to get the contract to supply goods to KFC. Staffs of suppliers are protected in many areas where they must have safe and healthy working conditions and working schedules, non-discrimination occurs in industry, child labor issue where employees below 14 years old are strictly prohibited from working, forced and indentured labor and lastly notification to employees where notices of policies can be clearly explained to them.With addition, suppliers who are failed to follow the Code may cause them to disciplinary action which might include the termination of the Supplier relationship with KFC. KFC pay full respect to all the employees as they work for suppliers who supply chicken meats and goods for KFC who claimed to be working indirectly for KFC. 5. 0 RECOMMENDATION Marketing strategy used to be very important in a business as a well-planned marketing strategy helps a business to earn more profitability, well-known brand mark and loyalty from customers.As time goes by, marketing strategy cannot be dependent on just meeting the needs and demands of all stakeholders. KFC should now by right focus on how to deliver a better service and products’ quality to customers as the brand – KFC has already been r ecognized by everyone in the world. 5. 1 GO FOR ORGANIC! Emphasizes should be done on consumer health, products’ quality and social responsibility initiatives as people start conscious about having good health and enough nutrients. When people start going for organic, KFC should go for it too!Organic products and other ingredients are grown without the use of pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms, or ionizing radiation. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products are come from animals such as chickens and cows that do not take antibiotics or growth hormones (http://organic. org). Going for organic food products will increase the modal of production and it needs a long period of time for this huge transformation as there are few steps that have to be followed.According to USDA National Organic Program (NOP), a Government-approved certifier will inspect the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the r ules necessary to meet USDA organic standards before a product can be labeled â€Å"organic,†. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too’.On the other hand, it will be the hardest decision for KFC as they have to do surveys and further consideration whether the program is suitable for every KFC branches in the whole world as KFC have to reconsider about looking for new trustable suppliers that can continuously provide organic food and it is tough. KFC can always start slowly from the beginning by providing several choices from organic food such as organic salad, organic soya bean drink instead of carbonated flavored drinks, and mashed potatoes made from organic potatoes.If the program run with success, KFC will become the first ever fast food chain that provides organic food products and the author strongly believes that the strategic planning will surely increase the sales of KFC and gai ning more profit although KFC products will be sell at higher prices due to highly increased modal. 6. 0 CONCLUSION Conclusion, ethics is definitely necessary for a business to grow successfully, become more significant and more organized. A business can highly impact on the people’s lives and circumstances through providing jobs, life organization, creating wealth and inspiring others to grow their own business.Therefore, the business maybe ruined and leaves it with a bad reputation if an organization is not having a proper understanding on business ethics. From bad to good, KFC has gone through every hard time and now moving towards a better future when they finally overcome most of its ethical issues. People do make mistakes and learn from mistakes so as KFC. KFC will learn from their mistakes and make the mistakes to the power of change. The author strongly believe that KFC will do their best in meeting everyone’s need and KFC will become the first priority for eve ry human when they thinking of nice and tasty fried chicken.KFC – So Good! APPENDIX 1: KFC HISTORY and PRODUCTS KFC HISTORY-AT-A-GLANCE 9/9/1890 Harland Sanders is born just outside Henryville, Indiana. 1900-1924 Harland Sanders holds a variety of jobs including: farm hand, streetcar conductor, army private in Cuba, blacksmith's helper, railyard fireman, insurance salesman, tire salesman and service station operator for Standard Oil. 1930 In the midst of the depression, Harland Sanders opens his first restaurant in the small front room of a gas station in Corbin, Kentucky. Sanders serves as station operator, chief cook and cashier and names the dining area â€Å"Sanders Court & Cafe. 1936 Kentucky Governor Ruby Laffoon makes Harland Sanders an honorary Kentucky Colonel in recognition of his contributions to the state's cuisine. 1937 The Sanders Court ;amp; Cafe adds a motel and expands the restaurant to 142 seats. 1939 The Sanders Court ;amp; Cafe is first listed in Dunc an Hines' â€Å"Adventures in Good Eating. † Fire destroys The Sanders Court & Cafe, but it is rebuilt and reopened. The pressure cooker is introduced. Soon thereafter Colonel Sanders begins using it to fry his chicken to give customers fresh chicken, faster. 1940Birthdate of the Original Recipe 1949 Sanders marries Claudia Price. 1952 The Colonel begins actively franchising his chicken business by traveling from town to town and cooking batches of chicken for restaurant owners and employees. The Colonel awards Pete Harman of Salt Lake City with the first KFC franchise. A handshake agreement stipulates a payment of a nickel to Sanders for each chicken sold. 1955 An interstate highway is built to bypass Corbin, Kentucky. Sanders sells the service station on the same day that he receives his first social security check for $105.After paying debts owed, he is virtually broke. He decides to go on the road to sell his Secret Recipe to restaurants. 1957 Kentucky Fried Chicken f irst sold in buckets 1960 The Colonel's hard work on the road begins to pay off and there are 190 KFC franchisees and 400 franchise units in the U. S. and Canada. 1964 Kentucky Fried Chicken has more than 600 franchised outlets in the United States, Canada and the first overseas outlet, in England. Sanders sells his interest in the U. S. company for $2 million to a group of investors headed by John Y. Brown Jr. , future governor of Kentucky.The Colonel remains a public spokesman for the company. 1965 Colonel Sanders receives the Horatio Alger Award from the American Schools and Colleges Association. 1966 The Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation goes public. 1969 The Kentucky Fried Chicken Corporation is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. 1971 More than 3,500 franchised and company-owned restaurants are in worldwide operation when Heublein Inc. acquires KFC Corporation. 1976 An independent survey ranks the Colonel as the world's second most recognizable celebrity. 1977 Colonel Sand ers speaks before a U. S.Congressional Committee on Aging. 1979 KFC cooks up 2. 7 billion pieces of chicken. There are approximately 6,000 KFC restaurants worldwide with sales of more than $2 billion. 12/16/1980 Colonel Harland Sanders, who came to symbolize quality in the food industry, dies after being stricken with leukemia. Flags on all Kentucky state buildings fly at half-staff for four days. 1982 Kentucky Fried Chicken becomes a subsidiary of R. J. Reynolds Industries, Inc. (now RJR Nabisco, Inc. ) when Heublein, Inc. is acquired by Reynolds. 1986 PepsiCo, Inc. acquires KFC from RJR Nabisco, Inc. 1997 PepsiCo, Inc. nnounces the spin-off of its quick service restaurants – KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut – into Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. 2002 Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc. , the world's largest restaurant company, changes its corporate name to YUM! Brands, Inc. In addition to KFC, the company owns A;amp;W ® All-American Food ® Restaurants, Long John Silversà ‚ ®, Pizza Hut ® and Taco Bell ® restaurants. 2006 More than a billion of the Colonel's â€Å"finger lickin' good† chicken dinners are served annually in more than 80 countries and territories around the world. 2007 KFC proudly introduces a new recipe that keeps the Colonel's 11 herbs and pices and finger-lickin' flavor, but contains Zero Grams of Trans Fat per serving thanks to new cooking oil. 2008 The Colonel has a new look! KFC updates one of the most recognized, respected and beloved brand icons with a new logo. The new logo depicts Colonel Sanders with his signature string tie, but for the first time, replaces his classic white, double-breasted suit with a red apron. The apron symbolizes the home-style culinary heritage of the brand and reminds customers that KFC is always in the kitchen cooking delicious, high-quality, freshly prepared chicken by hand, just the way Colonel Sanders did 50 years ago. 009 KFC introduces Kentucky Grilled Chickenâ„ ¢ – a bette r-for-you option for health conscious consumers who love the flavor of KFC. Kentucky Grilled Chicken has less calories, fat and sodium than KFC’s Original Recipe ® chicken, without sacrificing the great taste of KFC. APPENDIX 2: Corporate social responsibility – What does it mean? By Mallen Baker: First published 8 Jun 2004 One of the most frequently asked questions at this site – and probably for all those individuals and organizations dealing with CSR issues is the obvious – just what does ‘Corporate Social Responsibility' mean anyway?Is it a stalking horse for an anti-corporate agenda? Something which, like original sin, you can never escape? Or what? Different organizations have framed different definitions – although there is considerable common ground between them. My own definition is that  CSR is about how companies manage the business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society. Take the following illustration: Com panies need to answer to two aspects of their operations. 1. The quality of their management – both in terms of people and processes (the inner circle). 2.The nature of, and quantity of their impact on society in the various areas. Outside stakeholders are taking an increasing interest in the activity of the company. Most look to the outer circle – what the company has actually done, good or bad, in terms of its products and services, in terms of its impact on the environment and on local communities, or in how it treats and develops its workforce. Out of the various stakeholders, it is financial analysts who are predominantly focused – as well as past financial performance – on quality of management as an indicator of likely future performance.Other definitions The World Business Council for Sustainable Development in its publication Making Good Business Sense  by Lord Holme and Richard Watts, used the following definition. â€Å"Corporate Social Resp onsibility is the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large† The same report gave some evidence of the different perceptions of what this should mean from a number of different societies across the world.Definitions as different as  CSR is about capacity building for sustainable livelihoods. It respects cultural differences and finds the business opportunities in building the skills of employees, the community and the government  from Ghana, through to  CSR is about business giving back to society  from the Philippines. Traditionally in the United States, CSR has been defined much more in terms of a philanthropic model. Companies make profits, unhindered except by fulfilling their duty to pay taxes. Then they donate a certain share of the profits to charitable causes.It is seen as tainting the act for the company to receive any benefit from the giving. The European model is much more focused on operating the core business in a socially responsible way, complemented by investment in communities for solid business case reasons. Personally, I believe this model is more sustainable because: 1. Social responsibility becomes an integral part of the wealth creation process – which if managed properly should enhance the competitiveness of business and maximize the value of wealth creation to society. 2.When times get hard, there is the incentive to practice CSR more and better – if it is a philanthropic exercise which is peripheral to the main business, it will always be the first thing to go when push comes to shove. But as with any process based on the collective activities of communities of human beings (as companies are) there is no ‘one size fits all'. In different countries, there will be different priorities, and values that will shape how business act. And even the observations above are changing over time. The US has growing numbers of people looking towards core business issues.For instance, the CSR definition used by Business for Social Responsibility is: â€Å"Operating a business in a manner that meets or exceeds the ethical, legal, commercial and public expectations that society has of business. † On the other hand, the European Commission hedges its bets with two definitions wrapped into one: â€Å"A concept whereby companies decide voluntarily to contribute to a better society and a cleaner environment. A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. †When you review each of these, they broadly agree that the definition now focuses on the impact of how you manage your core business. Some go further than others in prescribing how far companies go beyond managing their own impact into the terrain of acting specifically outside of that focus to make a contribution to the achievement of broader societal goals. It is a key difference, when many business leaders feel that their companies are ill equipped to pursue broader societal goals, and activists argue that companies have no democratic legitimacy to take such roles. That particular debate will continue.LIST OF REFERENCES: [Book]: Crane, A. and Matten, D. 2007,  Business Ethics:   Managing Corporate Citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press Inc. , New York, accessed on 15th December 2009, available. [Book]: Frederick R. E. , A Companion To Business Ethics Wiley-Blackwell, August 9 2002, accessed on 15th December 2009, available. [Book]: J. Brooks, L. & Dunn, P. (2009), Business & Professional Ethics for Directors, Executive & Accountants 5th  edition, Cengage Learning (2009), accessed on 12th December 2009, available. Book]: Managing informatio n technology in a global environment:  2001 Information Resources Management Association International Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 20-23, 2001, accessed on 11th December 2009, available. [Online]: http://animalethics. blogspot. com/2009/10/h-b-acton-1908-1974-on-animal-rights. html, accessed on 9th December 2009, available. [Online]: http://animalrights. about. com/od/animalsusedforfood/f/Controlled-Atmosphere-Killing-What-Is-Controlled-Atmosphere-Killing. htm, accessed on 11th December 2009, available. [Online]: http://www. atimes. om/atimes/China_Business/ID20Cb02. html, accessed on 11th December 2009, available. [Online]: http://www. caterersearch. com/Articles/29/10/2009/330646/Leicester-Square-KFC-faces-13-food-hygiene-charges. htm, accessed on 15thDecember 2009, available. [Online]: http://www. china. org. cn/english/China/206787. htm, accessed on 10th December 2009, available. [Online]: http://www. china. org. cn/english/China/206640. htm, accessed on 10th Dec ember 2009, available. [Online]: http://www. china. org. cn/english/BAT/205948. htm, accessed on 10th December 2009, available. [Online]: http://www. hina. org. cn/english/China/208113. htm, accessed on 10th December 2009, available. [Online]: http://www. chinadaily. com. cn/china/2007-03/09/content_823985. htm, accessed on 14th December 2009, available. [Online]: http://www. darkztar. com/forum/showthread. php? 52669-The-ethical-dilemmas-of-fast-food-industries, accessed on 7th December 2009, available. [Online]: http://www. ehow. com/about_5481837_ethical-dilemma_. html#ixzz1f0HrybvU, accessed on 8th December 2009, available. [Online]: http://edwardkhoo. com/kentucky-fried-chicken-kfc-animal-cruelty/, accessed

No topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 45

No topic - Essay Example This company has developed an innovative way of conducting its advertisements. As such, the company has adopted branded entertainment as a key strategy of ensuring that it conveys the adverts of its clients in an effective manner. This has been evidenced by the ability of the company to place the adverts of various products in comic books, video games and Broadway musicals that include the pop music (Bradley, Kelley and Hudson 6). The company has also realized that entertainment is a rich platform, which can be used to convey various adverts on products that companies adverts. This is because entertainment attracts a large number of potential customers of products from different companies. Branded entertainment is also facilitating in improving the viewership of the quality adverts. Hence, consumers have illustrated a positive acceptance of this form of advertisement by make purchase choices, which are based on these

Can any business afford to be socially responsible Research Paper

Can any business afford to be socially responsible - Research Paper Example usiness ethics and the social responsibility are two aspects of a business that go hand in hand, thus a business person will have to tackle the aspect of social responsibility in the running of the business. This research report uses scholarly sources, as well as books, to draft a detailed report, and as sources of references. The sources were immensely helpful and helped us to come up with solutions that concerned the topic at hand (Rachael, 2007 p2858). The sources gave compelling evidence and sample case that all came at handy in the research. All sources had the same theme of corporate social responsibility and all had the same view point on the same (Rachael, 2007 p2859). This research was carried out by reading reports of projects carried out on corporate responsibility; this included the book by Jean Brick. The research was majorly carried out in the internet where we found many sources with detailed reports on social responsibility. Internet resources that are relevant to this research project include a website by the brotherhood of St. Laurence on cooperate social responsibility among others. However, this document, by brotherhood, provide detailed arguments on the social responsibility of the cooperate world. The research was carried out for several days. This period was used to read the various reports that touched on the business and social responsibility. The research found out that social responsibility is a key factor that affects business functionality and productivity. All businesses should be socially responsible (CPA Australia, 2006 p11). Companies are judged by the way they conduct themselves in the context of pursuing their business aims and objectives (Brotherhood of St. Laurence, 2006 p2). In this respect, a business deals with the environmental and social issues that influence its business operations. These issues also play significant roles, in how the society will perceive the business, which also affect the company, in a positive or

The benefits and effects of steroids for asthma pateints Assignment

The benefits and effects of steroids for asthma pateints - Assignment Example Low dose of corticosteroids can prevent occurrence of any risks and help to receive more benefits from this treatment. However, this positive effect of inhaled corticosteroids observed in combination with low doses of bronchodilators. Asthma is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Asthma is one of the pathological diseases that related to changing in the airway resistance. High number of people affected with asthma all over the world and this amount keep growing. Asthma appeared in western countries as a serious public health problem over the last 20 years. Asthma symptoms are different from one person to another and most common on early morning and at night. They emerged as cough, wheezing, breathing difficulties and chest tightness.asthma.There are several risk factors for asthma. There are predisposing, contributory, causal and aggravating factors. Gender and atopy are associated with predisposing factors. House dust, insects, pets and fungus and some occupational factors can induce asthma symptoms. Medicines, food additives and birthing cold air can trigger to asthma disease. These factors related to the aggravating risk factors. There are 5 genes in the human genome linked with asthma phenotypes,s o asthma is a genetic disorder. Further investigations in genetic predisposition can help to find new effective treatment. ( H. Los, 1999). Asthma is widespread all over the world. In low and high developed countries. The most important role in asthma appearance is air pollution. Asthma cases are increasing worldwide, especially in the UK and The USA. According to World Health Organization statistic 235 million people live with asthma all over the world. The figure 1 below show the prevalence of asthma in different countries (Masoli, M, 2004). Nocturnal asthma: Forced vital capacity, volume of air that person can forcefully exhale at 1 second (FEV1) at night is decreased. Among 75% of asthmatics usually has

Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Andrew Jackson Essay

Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and Andrew Jackson - Essay Example presidents Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, since the time the Constitution was drafted. Jefferson is well known to advocate governance of the country by common people whereas Hamilton believed in the ‘rule of the few’ or that the country be run by the elite who he argued could be trusted for being selfless as opposed to the greedy brutish trait of the common ones (Trey, 2009). In a way, this had extended to their positions regarding the issue of government centralization wherein while the Federalist Hamilton expressed belief in a strong central government, Democratic-Republican Jefferson perceived weakness in it yet imagined strength and solidarity in public control at its height. By the time certain economic decisions and policies were deliberated upon, taking foreign affairs to account, these revolutionary U.S. leaders further acquired opposing perspectives on addressing how the national debt should be managed. According to Hamilton, national debt ought to be kept permanent for the sake of a healthy economy for the nation and that such debt must be paid off by the government to the party in current possession of the certificate at the time. On the other hand, Jefferson contradicted the permanence to national debt and asserted that it should be the original bearer of the certificate who must get paid off, knowing that this would be advantageous to the common citizens. However, the following enactment approved the proposition made by Hamilton instead and the affluent became even wealthier, having purchased the certificate from their common counterparts (Trey). Similarly, the two greatly differed in terms of financial principles concerning the U.S. Bank. To Hamilton, the federal bank would help the Constitution to take in relevant effect as the country progressed in terms of debt settlements. Most merchants from the north highly complied to this view for their benefit but the ordinary people of the south and several others were unable to fi nd worth in a centralized bank especially for the case of the farmers. Thus, Jefferson earned their favor by supporting the philosophy that incorporation of a central bank is beyond sensible necessity. As another president who committed himself to being a ‘common man’ or man of the people, Andrew Jackson established policies for which his leadership received either revering loyalty of the mass or reviling hostility of those who could not take their intended advantage of his principles and relation. Such treatment of his regime may be attributed to policies where drawn for particular aspects as the spoils system, the nullification, the removal of Indians, and the ‘Bank War’. While Jacksonian democracy emerged to promote the rule of the ‘mass’ and the ‘common’ of America, the policies that substantiated Jackson’s regime and their impact apparently became the chief determinants that aid in the assessment of his presidency and t he truth of its underlying ethics. The crisis on nullification which became a sensationalized conflict in South Carolina is one of the areas through which his policy on tariffs may be evaluated. For Jackson, modest decisions in favor of tariffs are necessary to ensure national security and the stable production of commodities. This would also establish better commercial relations with European manufacturers, to be able to adjust revenue to the level that paid the nation’s debt. Jackson himself was against the philosophy of nullification, seeing how this had every tendency of dissolving the Union and violating the rule of majority. The tariffs imposed upon taxes on imported goods in the early 1930s, however, anguished the leaders and people of the state of South Carolina. Imposition of tariffs was treated with

The Features And Problems Of The Educational Process Essay

The Features And Problems Of The Educational Process - Essay Example He insists that education is on the level of psychological and sociological, these two are combined to mold an individual in the society to be their own person in the civilized society that is and continues to be, it trains them to have use of all their capabilities. He purposes school as a social institution that should be used to simplify life for the young minds so that they do not become confused or have their capabilities develop prematurely (Dewey 463). It expounds and forms the social life that is installed at home, the information imparted in schools and lessons learned is a preparation for the future. The teachers in the school should not control or command the kids rather see influences that will positively affect the child’s future and examinations that test the child’s fitness for social life. The social life of a child is based on their social activities, thus the subject matter of the education taught in schools should progress civilization (Dewey 464). It should not be objective but help interpret past experiences and develop new attitudes and interests. The author tries to inform us that when a child is involved in a passive and absorbing attitude rather than active and experimental the result is waste and friction (Dewey 465). Laws and regulations should not be imposed because education is the moral duty of any society in order to shape itself in its own direction. John Dewey uses repetition and examples in his essay My Pedagogic Creed to convince his audience that is mainly the educators, parents of young students, and the community that instant education reform is of utmost importance for the proper social and psychological growth of children. He uses strong emotion and opinions on how the subject matter of the education should be and what he thinks is the duty of the teachers and the society in instilling education in a  child.

The Development of diazepam as an anxiolytic Essay

The Development of diazepam as an anxiolytic - Essay Example Later, diazepam was marketed in 1963 by Hoffmann–La Roche under the trade name Valium. Thus two drugs emerged as the most successful commercially available drugs revolutionizing the science of anti-anxiolytic drugs. By the year 1970s they potentially replaced older drugs for sedative and hypnotic uses (Shorter, 2005). Diazepam belongs to benzodiazepine group. Diazepam acts on ascending reticular formation (responsible for wakefulness) in midbrain and on limbic system (responsible for thought). Muscle relaxation is produced by primary medullary site of action and ataxia is due to action on cerebellum (Tripathi, 2008; Rang & Dale, 2007; Brunton, 2005). Diazepam binds to benzodiazepine binding site on GABAA receptor Cl- channel complex. GABAA receptor is a pentameric structure (like a lily flower). It contains many sub-units and encloses Cl- channel. The opening of Cl- channel is modulated by GABA. Diazepam by binding to benzodiazepine binding site (ÃŽ ±/ÃŽ ³ subunit interface) facilitates GABA action (more amount of GABA will bind to GABAA receptor). It is not a GABA mimetic, it only facilitates GABA mediated Cl- channel opening. Opening of Cl- channel causes influx of Cl- ions and causes hyperpolarization. This decreases the firing rate of neurons. Therefore it possesses hypnotic action- induction of sleep- reticular activating system- depresses CNS- decreases the spread of epileptic discharge, therefore possesses anticonvulsant action (Tripathi, 2008; Rang & Dale, 2007; Brunton, 2005). The chloride channel is gated by the primary ligand GABA acting on GABAA receptor located on the ÃŽ ²- subunit. The benzodiazepine (BZD) receptor located on the interface of ÃŽ ± and ÃŽ ³ subunits modulates GABAA receptor in either direction (Tripathi, 2008). Oral absorption of Diazepam is good. Diazepam is widely distributed in body; absorption from intramuscular site of administration is

A research paper on the representation of the goddess Isis in Ancient Term

A research on the representation of the goddess Isis in Ancient Egypt from Old Kingdom to New Kingdom - Term Paper Example The people sought the support and benevolence of various gods and goddesses for peace, prosperity, love, war, fertility, health, protection, traveling and other fields and activities of life. For instance, Zeus is viewed as the mighty king of all gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, while Apollo is believed to be the god of the sun and music and Mars is the god of war, while Eurybia is the sea goddess. The same is applied to the Egyptian civilization of ancient times, where the people had developed faith in supernatural powers, and sought their help at every hour of need. Hence, the innate human instinct also forced the financially affluent and politically powerful Egyptians of ancient times to call for the divine support on domestic, personal, professional and collective matters. Somehow, the Egyptians lacked hegemony and cohesion in views and beliefs; which was partly because of the social, geographical and strategic division of the population, which did not accept the subjugation under one political authority and one single deity as well. â€Å"Egyptian mythology is of highly complex character, and cannot be considered apart from its racial and historical aspects. The Egyptians were, as a Hebrew prophet has declared, a "mingled people", and this view has been confirmed by recent ethnological research.† Consequently, they had developed belief in the multiplicity of gods and goddesses on the basis of clans and tribes on the one hand, and in the light of the traditions accredited to different deities on the other. (Mackenzie, 2002:2) The goddess Isis is also one among the long list of deities, which were worshipped by the ancient people of Egyptian peninsula with great religious fervor and enthusiasm. Being an extremely benevolent and compassionate goddess, she enjoys distinguished status in the ancient Egyptian mythology. Though the goddess maintained a universal status in the country, yet she got popularity and position in the southern regions of Egyp t, which was not only the center of social, political and economic activities, but also dominated the rest of the region. â€Å"Currently there is a strong indication that Southern or Upper Egypt had gained a cultural ascendancy over Northern or Lower Egypt by c.3500 BC. In archaeological terms this southern culture is described as Naqada II.† (Hart, 2005:3) Hence, southern Egyptians declared their peace and prosperity as the outcome of the special bounties of the goddess upon them, which also motivated the northern areas of the country to imitate their footprints in spiritualism and faith. Isis is regarded as the goddess of motherhood, feminism, civil liberty, magic and fertility, and is revered and adored for displaying sheer affection and motherly attitude towards the Egyptian subjects without exhibiting any prejudice and discrimination towards any specific group or stratum of society. Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt portrays Isis as the queen and mother of all the Eg yptians, which looked for bestowing maximum bounties and blessings upon the people to fill their life with countless joys in the form of abundance in food, children, pelf, possession and properties. â€Å"Isis had been a potent goddess as early as the third millennium B. C. She was the sister-wife of Osiris, with whom she mated in the womb of their mother, Nuit, the sky goddess.† (Mathews, 2001:25) Being the motherly deity, the goddess appears to be showering her unabated love on all and sundry, with special concentration of

Alcohol and Substance Abuse in Blacks and Whites Coursework

Alcohol and Substance Abuse in Blacks and Whites - Coursework Example Substance abuse and alcoholism have always invited debate on whether these are a medical problem or social problem. These addictions have been associated with serious medical conditions such as infections with HIV, and they have also been associated with social misbehavior. Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, can be compared to a viral disease that spreads during an epidemic.   Substance abuse is the addition of an individual to the consumption of alcohol or other drugs despite having knowledge of problems related to such substances. Substance abuse and alcohol provide the individual with a temporary pleasure and gives a feeling of great happiness. Continuous use of such drugs makes the individual tolerant to its effects and may develop unusual withdrawal symptoms that may be detrimental to his/her overall health. The most useful and vibrant section of the society in the age group of 15-40 is widely affected by this grave and deadly habit.Types of drugs used by the populatio n in the United States also show ethnographic diversities such as alcohol-in-combination (32.7%), followed by cocaine (17.86%), and marijuana/hashish (14.64%). African-Americans have been found most commonly dosed with cocaine (56.53%), in emergency department cases, followed by alcohol-in-combination (40.21%), and heroine/morphine (23.37%). A specific report of 2000 on emergency department cases of cocaine overdose has revealed 43.39% of African-Americans and 34.2% Caucasians. A pattern of onset of substance use and alcoholism has been reported by many researchers. For example, it has been reported that Caucasians typically begin consumption of tobacco and alcohol at a younger age than African-Americans. Also, African-Americans have been found to develop cocaine and opiate dependence much after developing alcohol dependence, unlike Caucasians.  Ã‚   Role of culture in the consumption of alcohol has also been evidenced in these ethnographic groups. Alcohol consumption in certain cultures is allowed to a moderate extent, however, these groups are, at the same time, under the influence of society, peers, environment etc and deviation from these norms has become a very common feature. For example, alcohol consumption by Caucasians in comparison to African-Americans in the United States has been found higher and is linked to norms relating to alcohol use.

Pericles Funeral Oration Essay Example for Free

Pericles Funeral Oration Essay I do not think that everything Pericles said in his funeral Oration was true. Pericles goes on and on about how great the Athens city-state had become a strong democratic government. â€Å"He also talks about how they accept everyone into their city-state and give them the same rights as the Athens people regardless if they are foreigners†. â€Å"Pericles even compares his city-state to that of the Spartans; while using slanderous and defaming words to describe their culture†. Pericles believes from reading his Oration that the Athens are better people because of their equally of all in their city state and the freedom they have given their people. Pericles fails to see the contradiction in the culture and in the oration of the Speech he gives about the Athens way of life and this is because he is biased towards the men. Obviously everyone being equal is not true because woman is not equal to men and is certainly not treated as equals. â€Å"Pericles states himself that it is better for woman to never be spoken of whether it is glory or criticism†. He states that a woman’s place is in her home, the only jobs that are available to women are to bare children and to maintain the household, other than that everything else only a man should and could do. The fact that women are treated differently proves that the Athens were not a democratic state their laws to provide fairness to all the people were only catered to the males not the females. The Athens had a negative attitude towards woman and how they should be treated, Pericles seemed almost disgusted to even have to address woman in his speech and when he did he had nothing positive to say about them. Pericles exaggerates in his oration. He depicts a perfect picture of what the Athens society is thought to be, as if the people and the law have no imperfections that need to be spoken of. He illustrates a great city-state with no flaws but then continues to describe and speak of women as if they were not human and discrimination against them was normal. Pericles was in mourning and wanted to give the dead soldiers and their families and all the people of the city-state the honor and confidence they needed to continue on with the war so he exaggerated, he did not want to dishonor the soldier with his words so he chose to speak of their culture and everything they stood for. Coming from a leader’s perspective I think the ideology may be slightly off but much of it was true from the Athens culture and society.

Cultural Differences in International Marketing

Cultural Differences in International Marketing 1.0 INTRODUCTION The past few decades has witnessed a growing number of businesses expanding their operations internationally. This expansion has led to a number of marketing strategies been adopted by international marketing managers regarding marketing internationally. For business to operate an international market successfully, they must understand cultural differences in their target countries respectivey. Managers need to broaden their perspective,adapt to other cultures,and make decisions that reflect the needs and desires of those cultures. (Rugman Hodgetts 2003 p 126). This discussion critically gives an insight into cultural differences, conceptualization 1.1 CONCEPT OF CULTURE Culture is a complex term that composes of different definations. Several Authors have given various definations of culture. Hofstede (1980,p87) defined culture as the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes members of one human group from the other. Leung et al(2005) also defined culture as the values,beliefs,norms,and behavioural patterns of a national group. According to Yapraka (2008), Nakata and Huangs(2002) definition of culure as that complex whole which includes knowledge,beliefs, arts, morals and habits acquired by man as a member of a society defines culture from an international marketing perspective. He further said that this beliefs, customs and habits influences an international marketing managers thinking when adopting marketing strategies and adapting marketing mix.Thus Understanding culture is critical to International marketing mangers when developing marketing policies to suit a particular target market in a country. Earlier studies on culture research focused on Gert Hofstedes four cultural dimensions and Halls High and low context culture( yakram 2008). According to yakram( 2008) article, Nakata and sivakuman(2001) developed a conceptual framework of how the concept of marketing can be applied in multinationals through hofstedes cultural dimensions. Similarly, Rutson et al (1997) suggested that national culture plays has a huge impact on work values. He futher stresed that International managers must understand that the determinant of the success or failure of a product depends on how marketing decisions made interact with the culture of a country. For example, Kentuck Fried Chiken must realize that they way it prepares its chiken in USA for instance may not work in Islamic countries due to religious beliefs and customs. 1.2 CULTURAL FACTORS THAT AFFECTS INTERNATIONAL MARKETING Terpstra sarathy (2000) stated that Understanding the cultural environment of a country would assist marketers to adapt their marketing strategies if they take the ingredients(elements) of culture into consideration.The elements comprises of language,,religion,values attitudes, education, social organizations,law politics, Material culture and aesthetics. This elements are essential ingredients that affects the international marketing managers thinking. 1.21 Language According to Terpstra sarathy (2000, p95) Language is a distinct cultural difference that must be dealt with. Therefore for international businesses to interact with employees, onsumers, customers they must understand the local language. (Terpstra sarathy 2000) Studying a foreign language is an essential tool for obtaining information about a country. If a foreign country that has several spoken languages it therefore has several cultures. In Nigeria, they are 3 main languages, and over 50 local languages. This languages are attributed to different cultures. However, language could pose a barrier for international marketers if they are several languages spoken in one country. For instance, marketing is highly dependent on communication so it would be difficult for markerters to advertise , brand and package their products. If managers cannot speak and understand the local language it would be difficult for them to promote their products to their target audience. Another problem could arise in wrong interpretation .Taking a look at KFC in china where English is not spoken, Management need to train and employ the locals of china in other successfully establish their market. 1.22 Religion Religion is another aspect of culture that multinationals handle with caution. Various religions have impacts on consumer behavior and purchasing patterns of a country. In the middle east and Arabic countries Islam is the religion. According to Terpstra Sarathy (2000) Introducing new products in the an Islamic environment could be difficult. Religious holidays or festivals such as Ramadan are strictly adhered to. Religion is important to Managers because it influences lifestyles, beliefs, values and attitudes. It also affects work and societal customs as well as politics and business in general. According to Wind Douglas (2007) in thier article on International marketing segmentation, Difference in beilef systems between cultures may affect consumer behavior and purchasing patterns Dietry laws associated with one religion could affect marketing of food products and service delivery. (Wind Douglas 2007) For example, According to Islamic religion, a chiken must be drained of blood b efore it is cooked or prepared( Halal).It is believed that eating a chiken with blood could affect your spirituality and deeds in islam. This affects the marketing mix of Fastfood companies that are based in Islamic countries because they have to abide by the Islamic law. Hence religion affects international marketing in a number of ways. The economic role of women in Islamic countries could affect advertising. 1.23 Aesthetics . Acoording to Rugman Hodget (2003 p.131), Aesthetics refers to artistic taste of a culture. This taste could in forms, colours,music, design or packaging. Aesthetics values vary depending on the country. International companies need to be aware of the different taste in culture. This is because what is generally accepted in one country may be a taboo in another country. Aesthetic values have an impact on the production and packaging designs of manufacturing industries that operate abroad. International managers need to be aware of taste in colors and symbols when packaging and distributing their products. In 2006, KFC was heavily criticized in china for dishonouring culture by adversing an old Taoist surrounded by his followers holding a chiken burger and claiming it as a master piece. This caused KFC to change its advertising method. Source(www.newsgd.com) ÂÂ ­ 1.24 Customs and manners Customs and manners have a significant impact on consumer behavior, consumption patterns and product packaging. ÂÂ  In the United States and Europe black is used for mourning the dead, while in Japan and the Far East white is the color used for mourning. In countries where status quo is higly regarded, Multinationals have to send a delegation of senior staff to carry out a business negoitation. Morality is another thing that differentiates cultures.What is viewed as moral in country may be vied as highly immoral in another country. For instane, USA it ispermitted for Man and woman to dress half naked on the beach whereas in Arab countries, women are not permitted to reveal their faces when going out. 1.25 Values and Attitudes Values are shared beliefs or group norms that have been internalized by individuals.( Czinkota,M et al 2001,p45) An attitude is a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards an object( Rugman Hodgetts 2003,p129). Values and attitutudes vary between and within countries.In that case International markerts need to adjust their promotion methods or brand messages. 1.3 CULTURAL DIMENSIONS Over the last two decades, several researchers discovered different dimensions to culture. Geert Hofstede proposed four dimensions to culture, which comprised of collecting data( questionnaire) from over 40 countries. Halls also developed the high context culure which is characterized by less verbal communication, family ties, long term relationship( collectivism) and the low context culture which is characterized by more interpersonal relationship. (HallHall 1986) In this discussion, Hofstedes cultural dimensions and Halls high and low context will be analyzed in four countries, namely United kingdom, Australia, china and India because of the cultural similarities and differences between this countries. 1.4 HOFSTEDES CULTURAL DIMENSIONS Geert Hofstede, a dutch scholar discovered four cultural dimensions which is now used as a framework for understanding differences in national culture in different countries of the world today. In my research, I discovered his dimensions to culture had strengths and weaknesses. Hofstedes cultural dimesnsions didnt focus different cultures that exist within a country. In countries like Italy, Canada, and Nigeria, different norms, values, and languages are present. This dimensions to culture only analzed people of a particular country not people within a country. To further buttress my argument,Galit Alion(2008) critized hofstedes observations. He argued that analyzing and gathering results of research on culture from a single multinational(IBM) cannot be applied to the national level.He further refuted hofsteds methodology by saying it was invalid.Hofsteds research was carried out from an organizational perspective rather than a country level perspective. Similarly, Professor Benden mcsweeney in the article Hofstedes model of national cultural differences and their consequences.. A triumph of fate,A faluire of analysis critized Hofstedes cultural dimensions. He argued that IBM as a micro- location in a nation is not typical of a nation itself. According to him, Surveys are not an appriopate way of determining cultural differences and every individual in a nation cannot share the same national culture.(www.geert-hofstede.international-business-center.com) Regarless of the weakness of Hofstedes models, it is still an important framework in determining cultural differences. We will now look at the five(5) cultural dimensions of hofstede 1.41 POWER DISTANCE According to Hofstede (1980) Power distance is the extent to which the powerless members of rganizations and institutions accept that there is inequality in power. In Hofstedes model, he revealed thatin countries characterized by high power distant cultures, social stautus or satus quo is very significant and priveleges are expected for people in authority. On the other hand, In low context cultures,the interdependence between people in power and the less powerful. High power distance includes countries like France, India, Nigeria, china and arab nations while low power distant coutries include USA,UK,Sweden etc Looking at figure 1.2( Australia) and figure 1.3(UK) . Both countries have a low power distance of 30 which implies that the gap between the those in power or authorithy and the ordinary citizens is little comapered to china (75)and India(72). For example, For KFC an American company to be sucessful in india, They must be a high gap difference in power, respect or authority between Management and surbodinates. 1.42 UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE This deals with a socities tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity.(www.geert-hofstede.com). This dimension indictes how people in a particular culture are willing to accept change. It also shows the extent to which people of a culture feel in umcormfatabe or comfortable circumstances. Hofstede (1980) stated that uncertainty avoiding cultures always are not receptive to change and strictly adhere to laws,rules and safety measures. On the otherhand,Uncertainty accepting cultures are more receptive and open to change or new ideas. In Hofstedes Uncertainty avoidance index(UAI) china scored 60, while UK scored a low score of 30. This implies that International marketing managers in china,will avoid making risky marketing decisions otherwise it might adversely affect their employees. It is therefore expected that Chinese employees work effectively under a formal setting as against an informal setting. In contrast,the UK employees would work better in an informal setting with less strict laws and will readily accept change and risks. Therefore marketing managers need to be careful not to impose rules or laws unnecessarily when dealing with low UAI countries and Plan ,prepare, and focus on strategic and tactical part of a project. 1.43 MASCULINITY AND FEMINITY Masculinity refers to the distribution of roles between men and women and how much a society sticks with gender roles.(www.geert-hofstede.com). His studies further revealed that women roles differ less among socities than mens roles. He also revealed that mens values from various countrues have an assertive approach in business which differentiates it from womens norms and values which is have a caring or modest attitude in work,(www.geert-hofstede.com) In hofstedes Mascuniity index, Australia scored a highscore of 55 while UK sored 60.This means that they share similarities in work values.They both have a moderate masculine culure where men and women work equally in many preferences. 1.44 INDIVIDUALISM AND COLLECTIVISM This dimension focuses on the relationships between individuals and groups. Collectivism is the degree or extent to which individuas are integrated into groups while individualism on the other hand focuses on individual taking care of himself.( Hofstede 1980) In comparing two countries that have high individualism and low individualism, Figure 1.2 and Figure 1.4 we will look at austraia and China. According to Hofstede, china has a low score of 10 which makes it a highly collectivist country while Australia has a high score of 90 which makes it a highy individualistic society. The former fall under a low context culture while the latter falls under a high context culture. For International managers , this implies that in china(collectivist) society, hiring and promoting an employe must be ingroup based while In Australia, emoployee recruitment and promotion must be based on individual skills.ÂÂ  on the one HOFSTEDES CULTURAL DIMENSION Figure 1.2 Australia and United Kingdom Source: http://www.geert-hofstede.com Figure 1.3 China and India SUMMARY This discussion has been able to look at how culture could affect International marketing. For international marketing mangers to succeed in an international market they must Respect the culture of their target country Understand that differences exists within each culture Understand the importance of language when marketing internationally Acknowlege the differences in religion,

Problems Of Pakistani Education System

Problems Of Pakistani Education System Hamza Naeem Can you imagine what will happen with Pakistan if there is no improvement in the education system of Pakistan? Can this system will improve in future? Education is like a back bone for the development of a country. It is like a weapon through which everything can be corrected. The definition of education is the process of delivery of knowledge and becoming an educate person. According to the constitution of Pakistan, 1973 –Article 137-b â€Å"The state shall remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory secondary education within minimum possible period†. Problems in education system should be eliminated to promote unity among men and women and offer a better quality atmosphere for learning. In Pakistan the major problem of education system is dual education system. Dual education means that study of students in different mediums. The poor students study in Urdu medium and the rich students in English medium. This create very problem. For Instance, when both rich and poor students enter into a mature life, the poor student face very difficult to pick the English language and the rich students pick the English language and answers very quickly. This create discriminants among the poor students. In many schools of Pakistan government have changed Urdu medium syllabus to English medium syllabus and most of educators in government schools are unaware of those English language which is written in the course also most of teachers are old there.so they do not teach the students properly as a result many of the students fail. Government should have either change the syllabus in Urdu language or rule in a young teachers who know English language properly. Gender discriminants is also another flaws of education system in Pakistan. The ratio of primary education for girls is less as compare to boys which is more concern able for the government. The growth of the private schools has been increase in Pakistan for the last few years. It is believed that Pakistan is the country which is facing a lot of gender discrimination. It creates a lot of gap among haves and have not’s. Lack of technical and scientific education is also the biggest flaws of Pakistani education system that have never been focused before. The main reason for this problem is that lack of technical and science teachers due to this reason students are un aware of technical scientific equipment’s and this creates a lot of problem in future when they enter into a live work places. Therefore, less technical and scientific education means low standard of education. The allocation of funds for education are very low. *In 2011-2012 it is near about 0.9 to 0.58 percentage of the total GDP. It should be near about 7% of the total GDP. At that budget grant, the illiteracy rate would not be decreased but increase day by day. The simple way to increase the budget of education federal and provincial government should decrease their expenditures and should spend this on the education budget to increase literacy rate. In numerous government schools the instructors are less educated and they do not teach the students properly. When the base of the child is not prospective then in future he will face lot of difficulties in many subjects. Those who does not know how to teach the students become instructor and they are not professionally educator because when they have no work to do they become to instructor. This shows that Pakistan have low criteria for education. Another problem of Pakistani education system is lack of respect of teachers. In Pakistan, there is no respect of teachers. If teacher beat any student in college or university then next day the student which is bitten by teacher beat him. It is noticed that, **In Karachi November 22, 2013 â€Å"The senior teacher of science faculty was beating at the hands of some activists of a major student organization†. Selection of subjects among students is one of the problems of education system especially in colleges. Some students do not select correct subjects in college and they fail. For example, when students enter in college life their parents force them to choose those subjects which their parents suggest and students do not take interest in those subjects and they do not read properly this causes a failures. Another flaws of Pakistani education system is regionally difference. The schools in province Baluchistan (largest province in its large area) are not well decorated and groomed as compare to province Punjab (largest province in its population).In Punjab there is a level of merit of education as compared to other provinces as they are fail to develop a good atmosphere for education. In FATA there is a low literacy rate of education. The literacy rate of education for women is extremely low as compare to men. There is a lack of good institutes in Pakistan. In our neighbor country like India have near about 1500 universities and in our country there are only 150 universities but some of these universities have no standard level. In many universities of Pakistan, there is only one main program which is engineering. Some of these universities are recognized with Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) and most of them are not recognized with PEC. This create very problem when students go to apply for a job they are rejected because their degree is not recognized with PEC. In the medical field of Pakistan there is lot of private institute and they receive lot of fee from their students. After completion of their MBBS private institutes provide no house jobs for their students and they have to do house job in government hospitals free of cost. Lack of government funds to educational institutes is the main problem of Pakistani education system. Sometime many universities in Pakistan are closed due to lack of funding because government make policies in universities and after making policies for universities government ensure the vice chancellors of universities that government provide all facilities to the poor students But ,in fact it is not come true. In many schools of Pakistan lack of furniture’s, proper rooms, play grounds, staffrooms, and arrangements for portable water, sanitary workers, support staff ,peons and security guards. It was reported in express tribune (March 24, 2012) that ***â€Å"According to a Free and Fair Election Network (Fafen) report released that, 95 boys’ primary schools out of 161 monitored across 85 districts in January were found to be without playgrounds. In addition, 74 schools were without chairs for students, while 35 did not have any furniture for teachers and 118 schools had no staffroom. As many as 38 schools had no arrangements for potable water and only eight had sanitary workers. Other support staff – peons and security guards – was present only in 48 schools. However, classrooms in 133 schools were found to be clean despite the unavailability of sanitary workers. Also, 129 schools had electricity connections but only 16 had well-lit classrooms. Fans were availab le in classrooms of 128 schools.† No politician in Pakistan paid attention in improving the level of education system. Politicians are no better rights to involve in education system and now this time our education system reflect with this fact. Public education system needs a new wall without the interference of political leaders. Bureaucracy is falling to reform in education because they are unaware of educational system. It was posted in Dawn newspaper that ****â€Å"In Timergara (Lower Dir.), July 25 various teachers organizations have called for an end to political interference in the district education department† Students political wings like (IJT, PSF, APMSO) etc. in many universities creates very problems in educational institutes. The fight between different student wings in university creates problem like during their fight university academic system is badly affected. Sometime university is closed for one or many weeks and this is not a good sign. In fact, it is the failures of university administration and also provincial and federal government. In Pakistan there is â€Å"Chaudhary† and â€Å"Wad era† system of education. It means that in many villages of Pakistan the children of the poor study in government schools, small and without facility in village schools they work very hard but when big people (Chaudhary and wad era) see that poor’s child work very hard and want to become equal with them then they threat him with different methods.it indicate that in Pakistan there is no rights of poor people to get education and become equal with rich people. Poverty is also one of the biggest fact that stops the parents to send their children to private schools.so they without take any steps prefer to send their children to government schools where the education is not much more satisfactory. Without money families are unable to send their children to schools and bear uniforms and other expenditures. Free primary education is a human right but in Pakistan it is only free in government sectors which is not satisfactory primary education. Finally, government should take steps for the improvement of education system and spend money for the improvement of primary, secondary and higher education and also increase the budget for education. More Schools, colleges, universities, medical and engineering colleges are needed to be open. More attention must be given to scientific and technical education so that more students come in these fields. Subjects relevant teachers should be enter as soon as possible. Politics should be finished from education. Students also pay full attention on their study. Full rights to get education should be given to women so that they should come equal with men. If government not take steps we should stand for it until all problems will not finish. Allah Almighty said in Quran in surah Raad (13) verse 11 that â€Å"It is a fact that Allah does not change the condition of a people unless they bring about a change in their own selves†. These are all hopes how to improve our education system? But who will come among us to eliminate these problems? References *http://www.mediapoint.pk/study-defence-and-education-budget-of-pakistan/ ** http://dawn.com/news/166719/karachi-student-activists-beat-up-teacher-ku-faculty-members-protest-today *** http://tribune.com.pk/story/354172/report-public-schools-lacking-furniture-playgrounds/ ****http://dawn.com/news/1031980/political-interference-in-education-dept-opposed Name Hamza Naeem Group 3 Department EEE Instructor Name Mr.Zameer Nawaz Namal college, Mianwali

The idea of facades across a range of texts Essay -- essays research p

The poem ‘The Ballad of Calvary Street’ by James Baxter, the film ‘American Beauty’ (directed by Sam Mendes and released in 1999), and the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ written by J.B. Priestley and performed at Circa Theatre in 2005, are all texts that share a similar theme. Although these three texts are different in terms of authorship and the medium through which the significant messages are communicated, what the texts do have in common is that they all convey ideas about how facades and superficial images of family life only lead to soullessness and domestic disorder. The unique approach that each text takes to this issue heightens the impact of the texts in every case, and allows the discussion of facades to become more pertinent in a time when domestic problems still mar our society. Baxter’s poem, ‘The Ballad of Calvary Street’, satirises the concept of facades and fake family life by ironically using religious imagery, and by utilising figurative language and clever diction to develop a rounded depiction of the sad characters at the heart of the poem. The poem discusses firstly the trellises that line Calvary Street (an image which conventionally would symbolise happy domestic life), and mentions the flowers that bloom â€Å"as bright as blood†. In addition to being an insidious suggestion that there is violence beneath the veneer of this seemingly respectable society, this phrase also alludes to the crucifixion of Christ. This is confirmed by the line that later describes the house as â€Å"an empty tomb†. This evocative metaphor hints that the house is a place of depression and emotional soullessness, and again links this home to the story of Christ; however, Baxter is comparing this house to Christ’s story only ironic ally. Through the use of religious language, Baxter is able to sardonically indicate that the values of forgiveness and compassion so often connected to The Bible and religion are nowhere to be found in this unhappy home. To emphasise that religion plays no role in this distorted version of family life, Baxter intersperses the religious language with mundane descriptions (for instance, he writes, â€Å"the afternoon goes, goes by, while angels harp above a cloud †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ) to show that spirituality – and indeed, all ideas of ethics and morality – are forsaken in this barren location. Baxter tells in the poem of how â€Å"two old souls go slowly mad†, and const... ...ley play ‘An Inspector Calls’ all scrutinise the nature of domestic life, and the facades that are developed to hide the true problems of our society. ‘The Ballad of Calvary Street’ looks at the manner in which individuality and excitement are suppressed by the maintenance of such a faà §ade, and emphasises that domestic relationships are devoid of any spirituality or ethical framework. ‘American Beauty’ focuses on the advantages of breaking free from the constraints of the faà §ade, and emphasises the freedom and openness that can be achieved once the duties of the faà §ade are forgone. ‘An Inspector Calls’ analyses the way a faà §ade can crumble when there is pressure and confusion to reveal people who are not as respectable as they seem. The issue of facades is very relevant to our society, at a time when, in New Zealand at least, domestic abuse and divorce are still pernicious problems. The issue is often explored across a range of texts and could even be argued to be a clichà © in current times. However, the uncompromising and honest manner in which these texts address the issue makes the concept of facades so intriguing and fresh, and causes these texts to gain added power and impact.