Ludwig van Beethoven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Ludwig van Beethoven - Essay Example Beethovens hearing began to decrease when he was in his twenties. After some years, he became completely deaf. Despite this, Beethoven continued to play piano. Beethoven established his career in Vienna in 1792. Thereafter Beethoven composed many works of a wide range and maturity style. In Vienna his main guide was Joseph Haydan. He received immense financial support in this place and continued to stay there. Between 1798 and 1802, Beethoven composed 2 important pieces of music, the string quartet and the symphony. Thereafter, he composed many pieces of music which were published and earned him some decent income. During this time, Beethoven taught piano to many famous personalities. Beethovens health began to deteriorate since 1811. Due to physical and emotional problems he dropped out of composition in early 1813. Thereafter he suffered from several emotional, personal, physical and financial problems. In the end of 1813, Beethoven did do some composition which actually became a hit. But again, after that, he developed prolonged illness. The ninth symphony came out in 1817. Since 1825, Beethovens health worsened and he died in

Research and Analysis of Business Problems Essay - 2

Research and Analysis of Business Problems - Essay Example , the superficial view is quite deceptive as the company is facing challenges in the forms of union problems, huge debts and environmental ripples like price rise, etc. In this report I have presented an overview of the problems and tried to evaluate and analyze them. The prime problem at Ford is its debt. Concerned about the financials of the company, the management has decided to reduce the existing workforce in order to reduce the annual payroll budget and thus achieve some financial relief. This in turn has triggered employee unrest and has troubled the management-union relationship at Ford. It has been suggested that the company should take to brainstorming sessions through joint management councils to sort out problems and adopt a collaborative approach to find the solutions. Collective bargaining should be patronized to appease the employees and white collar compensation should be reduced to gain their confidence. The company should divest and at the same time protect employee rights through regulatory contracts. Ford Motor Company (Ford), headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, is a global leader in the automotive industry. The company has manufacturing facilities and distribution network spread over six continents. Globally it has 90 plants a workforce of more than 200000 employees (Ford Motor Company-a, n.d., â€Å"Ford Global†). Currently the company follows General Motors (GM) and stands at second position in terms of sales volume (Freep-a, 2010, â€Å"January Auto Sales†). The corporate goal of Ford, as reflected through its mission statement, is "to become the worlds leading Consumer Company for automotive products and services" (Samples-Help, 2006, â€Å"Ford Motor Company Mission Statement†). Ford has also encapsulated its organizational plans and goals in the form of â€Å"One Ford Mission† (Ford-a, n.d., â€Å"One Ford†). According to this composite statement, Ford wants to work as a goal oriented team which strives to attain automotive leadership

Mass Media's effect on children's behavior Essay

Mass Media's effect on children's behavior - Essay Example 7). Infants begin to interact with their family. The family sets the child's perception of a social environment; an environment which can later be altered when the child's exposure to mass media begins, or when the child starts going to school. As children develop intelligence, most likely, they tend to imitate the elders. Andrew Meltzoff discovers that as early as 9-month-old, an infant "can imitate very simple acts (for example, button-pressing to activate a noise-making toy) twenty-four hours after observing them" (qtd. in Shaffer 251; ch. 7). Similarly, a child exposed to various forms of mass media imitates whatever is there to see or hear. Mass media takes on different forms: newspaper, magazine, radio, movies, television, and the latest and fast-growing electronic media - the World Wide Web. Newspaper and radio are among the earliest forms of communication media; however, television is one of the most popular today. Almost every household in the world owns a television set. In 2004, a study by Frank N. ... Ecological systems model and mass media A number of theories on human development and the environmental influences have been published. Many of which cited that mass media have a certain effect on a child at a particular point of development. Shaffer states that Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model of human development is "perhaps the most detailed analysis of environmental influences that has appeared to date" (59; ch. 2). Fig. 1. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model of human development; rpt. in "Overview of Child Development" (32) Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model of human development consists of microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. His innermost environmental structure, or microsystem, consists of the immediate contexts that a child actually experience (qtd. in Shaffer 59). It is the surroundings where the infant is first exposed to; this involves the family, playmates in the neighborhood, and later expands to peers at the day care. Mesosystem refers to the "interrelationships among microsystems" (Shaffer 60; ch. 2). The strong emotional foundation that the family instilled will prepare the child with future relationship with the teachers and other children. Exosystem, on the other hand, consists of "settings that children never experience directly but may still affect their development" (Shaffer 60; ch. 2). This involves the parents' view towards their work. If the parents are no longer happy with their job and they let their offspring see it, the child's emotional growth might be affected. The macrosystem is a "broad, overarching ideology that dictates how children should be treated, what they should be taught, and the

The primary responsibility of Businesses is to increase the profit of Essay

The primary responsibility of Businesses is to increase the profit of their shareholders - Essay Example While others believe that the primary responsibility of any business enterprise is to maximize the profits of the shareholders, others feel that a business should go far beyond just profit maximization. Zain (2008) gave a comparison of the divergent views of Milton Friedman and Archie Carroll concerning the responsibility of business in a society. Friedman believes that the main responsibility of a business is to maximize the profits of the shareholders and the interest of the shareholders should be the many area of concern in any business industry (Zain, 2008). Theorists like Friedman leave it at that and argues that a lot of emphasis need only to be put in serving the interest of the shareholders who will only enjoy a handsome return. Others like Carroll go ahead to incorporate other social responsibilities that, they believe, the businesses should perform. Friedman asserts that the management in any business organization should fight to remove all the obstacles that could impede t he maximization of profits. The effect would be translated into overworking the employees of the organization or performing operations that would be hazardous to the environment and the entire community (Zain 2008). According to his reasoning, Friedman believes that provided the firms operate within the regulations that are provided for by the pre-defined legislation, and having taken into account the interest of the shareholders, all the other supposed roles will be automatically fulfilled. Friedman argues that if business organizations simply capitalize on profit maximization while operating under the established legal procedures, then the firm is assured continued life as there will be funds for inventory maintenance and expansion (Zain 2008). In his view, the management of a firm or business enterprise that engages itself in additional social responsibility may be faced with difficulties in executing its duties to be able to sustain the growth and development of the firm. Friedm an points out that â€Å"open and free competition without deception or fraud is the only responsibility of firms,† thus, social responsibilities tend to divert firms from making enough profits as demanded by shareholders (Zain 2008). On the other hand, Archie Carroll has larger view of the supposed responsibility of business. Carroll considers the roles played by businesses as four-fold and extends beyond the maximization of shareholder’s profit. In his view, business plays economic roles, ethical roles, legal roles as well as other voluntary roles that helps shape the society in general (Zain 2008). The first responsibility in this model is in line with Friedman’s profit maximization. To be able to contribute to the macro-economic development, businesses need to emphasize on the maximization of their profits by capitalizing on their strength and market opportunities. Businesses need to embark on thorough market and marketing research so as to identify what typ es of products to deal in, how much to keep in inventory and when to do so. Secondly, the government has the role of providing certain regulations in relation to the business activities to be undertaken as well as the mode of operations. Abiding by these laws and regulations is also a responsibility of business. As Zain (2008) described, â€Å"legal responsibilities are those that are defined by the authorities and firms are required to abide by them in a strict and disciplined manner.† The other set of responsibility that Carroll considers fundamental in the operations of a business enterprise is ethical responsibility. He believes there should be some set of moral standards from which the management of

Final Examination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Final Examination - Essay Example On this basis, the performance evaluation process will help in identifying the various roles of an employee, and the desired results/ outcomes of their duties within the organization. This process helps in communicating the desired outcome of their duties, and how the organization will measure their efficiency in meeting its objectives (Fried and James, 2002). This process is also important because it establishes the progress of an employee under consideration. On this basis, the periodic performance evaluation process makes it possible for the organization to provide continuous coaching, training and education to the employee under consideration. This will help in developing the various skills of the employees; as a result, the organization will have a highly talented and skillful individual to work for it (Fried and James, 2002). There are a variety of good rating criteria for performance appraisals. One of the best methods to rate employees is the use of the BARS, which stands for behavioral anchored rating scale. This method allows a manager or s supervisor to provide a description on the employee’s behavior in relation to their teamwork, delivery of results, leadership skills and communications. This type of rating, gives managers the ability to provide their own reasons as to why they rate a particular employee in the particular manner. On this basis, this type of rating has an effect in reducing errors that managers can create while rating their employees (Fried and James, 2002). This is because this type of rating defines the dimension of a job that an employee does. This type of rating also identifies the various areas that are needed for training and development. However, the only disadvantage with this method of rating is that it is time consuming to develop. In carrying out a performance review, a manager/ supervisor will need data. To collect data, a manager needs to involve the employees by asking them to submit a self-review of themselves. This gives employees a sense of control, and an opportunity to be heard by the management under consideration (Fried and James, 2002). A self review will give the employee an opportunity to remind the management of some of their important contributions. The manager will also collect data/ information from other stakeholders of the business organization. This includes customers who might be asked to review the performances of an employee under consideration. Other methods of data collection include observing the performance of the employee by the organization, for purposes of recording their strengths and weaknesses. There are four main types of rating errors. This includes (Fried and James, 2002); Halo effect Halo effect involves the influence of an individual’s character based on the overall impression of the individual under consideration. Personal bias This involves rating an individual based on whether the supervisor likes him or not. Contrast effect. Contrast effects in volve making a comparison between the employees work performance, as opposed to the established standard set by the organization. Distributional errors. This involves generalized ratings, such as good, below average, excellent, without basing the rating criteria on an accurate data or knowledge.

Sunspots and Sun Storms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 4

Sunspots and Sun Storms - Essay Example Sunspots occur in groups and appear and disappear at certain times. The sun could have hundreds of them sometimes and at other times only have a few. A sunspot can last between one and a hundred days. When they appear as a group, the sunspots can last approximately 50 days. Compared to the average surface temperature of the sun 6000 º Celsius, the sunspots are about 1500 º Celsius and can last from a few hours to a few months. In diameter, the sunspots can be as large as 80,000 km and as they move across the sun’s surface, they expand and contract. They can be explained as regions on the sun with strong magnetic field strengths that appear often in pairs that are aligned in an east to west direction and are thousands of times stronger if compared to the magnetic field of Earth. This implies that the rising magnetic tubes flux that breaks past the sun’s surface form the sunspots. In a simulation of the initial condition shows that there is a horizontal uniform layer of the magnetic field, in a stably stratified fluid, that is subject to a small perturbation. One of the factors that cause sunspots is intense magnetic fields such that sunspots occur in pairs and the magnetic field comes from one and enters into another one. The magnetic fields that are inside the sunspots are 1000 times stronger compared to those surrounding the undisturbed areas. The magnetic layer is unstable due to its buoyant nature, so out of its layers, the magnetic flux can rise. The center of a sunspot, mainly the dark spot is called the umbra; the magnetic fields are highest in this area. The striated area around the umbra, which is less dark, is called the penumbra. As seen from earth, it takes the sunspots 27 days to make a complete rotation, since they rotate with the solar surface. Near the Suns, equator sunspots rotate at a faster rate than those near the solar poles.  Ã‚  

Vanity Fair Essay Example for Free

Vanity Fair Essay Vanity Fair, an English novel written by William Makepeace Thackeray (United Kingdom: Punch Magazine, January 1847 July 1948), epitomizes the early 19th century of British society of the duplicity of social climbers, sabotages, avarices, lovelessness, pretentiousness, selfishness. It, at the same time, captures mix pack of emotion of people who have their origin and counterpart in society as a whole. Furthermore, it is a satirical expose of William’s masterpiece which exposes every chunk of the repulsive truth in the real society, not only in the 19th century, but also in our contemporary world. In the story Vanity Fair, it depicts a few decades time of a group of British people’s life in 19th century. The novel opens at Miss Pinkertons Academy, where we are introduced to Amelia Sedley and Rebecca Sharp (Becky), the novels female protagonists. Amelia and Becky are friends, but they are completely the opposites. Amelia is kind and innocent and comes from a loaded family. Becky, in contrary, is cunning, clever, and scheming and emerges from a deprived condition. The story continues when Becky spends her time at the Sedleys and ingratiates herself into the family and tries her best to entice Amelia’s brother, Joseph, an obese inept man. She practically succeeds her attempt, when George Osborne presents and foils this plan; he intends to marry Amelia and does not want a governess for a sister-in-law. Then, Becky works as governess at Queens Crawley, and marries Rawdon Crawley, second son of Sir Pitt Crawley. Consequently from this marriage, Rawdons rich aunt, Matilda, disinherits him. Meanwhile, Amelia pines over George, who disrespects and disregards her while he is in the military. Dobbin, Georges closest friend who is also surreptitiously in love with Amelia, begs him to treat her kindly. George eventually agrees to marry Amelia, but just as his father prophesied, the Sedleys come to business crisis. Georges father disowns him because of the marriage. Both couples endeavor to live arduously. Sadly, George dies in the battle field at Waterloo. Both Amelia and Becky deliver babies. Amelia sends Georgy, her son, to live with the Osbornes because of her dreadful situation. When Sir Pitt dies, young Mr. Crawley, Rawdon’s elder brother, inherits the estate and Aunt Matildas money. Becky again ingratiates herself with a man named Lord Steyne, who brings her out into high society. After Rawdon discovers that Becky neglects to get him out of prison, where he has landed himself for unpaid debts, he is finally convinced that money means everything to Becky, and he finally decides to leave to Coventry Island where he dies of yellow fever. At the end, Dobbin returns to England, and he finds Amelia. Dobbin stays to help Amelia care for her son. Mr. Osborne dies and leaves his money for Amelia and Georgy, and three of them set off to Europe, where they find Becky. Becky confesses to Amelia that she had been developing a relationship with George, and Amelia finally sees George for who he really was, and marries Dobbin. I was feeling excited and miserable simultaneously by the author’s writing that truly indicates about social discrimination, emphasizing on wealth and social rank/status, which immensely reflected the reality world. I learned that everything is all about the prominent reputation: â€Å"If Mr. Joseph is rich and unmarried, why shouldnt I marry him? I have only a few weeks, to be sure, but there’s no harm in trying(P. 3 L. 2) Becky wanted to climb up from where she was, the place she did not really think she belongs to, by seducing and alluring a rich guy. Although, she didn’t succeed at first place, when George ceased the marriage on the account of not wanting a governess for sister-in-law, still she perfectly managed to scheme her way up to the top of the heap without demonstrating and being cautious about morality; she used all her adeptly cunning and deceiving ability to obtain what she desired; social ranking and money. Moreover, the marriage of Amelia and George was undermined by Georges father. It infers that social status and wealth can determine everything, it even thoroughly eradicates your massive effort: In fact, unless Sedley’s can pay me ten thousand pounds now, there will be no marriage between you and Amelia Sedley. (P. 24 L26) I was really upset with this false values and practices of society, even though I know that there still exists in our real world. However, the author did not just portray one side of a thing, he also provided the mixture of evil and good in the story, just as in our recent real contemporary world. There were some good people such as Amelia, Lady Jane, William Dobbin and more. Due to the good-naturedness and generosity of Amelia, she was truly loved by the gentleman, Dobbin throughout the whole story. I have loved and watched you for fifteen years, (P. 110 L2) At the end of the story, I could see that they lived happily ever after, except for Becky who is so despicable that even her own son didnt consent to have her as a mother, and she deserved it. It opens up my eyes and makes me realize that you may encounter some horrendous time in life, but once and for all, you will be rewarded from what you have conceived. I also caught the book so very interesting of how the author has created the factual truth by implying the power of charm and beauty can sometimes be unpredictably venomous. According to the book: â€Å"In fact, he was convinced that Becky was in love with him, unable to resist such a handsome, charming fellow as himself† (Page 43 Line1) It obviously showed that Rebecca has successfully concocted trap to deceive George to fall for her and gained all the benefit to herself by pulling George to play porker with her adept husband. These are all done by the adeptly ingratiating and the undoubtedly talented nature of a person. After I read this story, I was once again alarmed to see that a person like Becky can be so meretricious she can take advantage over other people around her just to achieve her falsely audacious goal. To my perspective, I strongly admire her aptitude in manipulating and convincing other to be enthralled by her charming appearance in order to survive in the high society: â€Å"George thought Becky clever, amusing, stylish, and altogether delightful. (Page 32 Line15) However, I am extremely repulsed and disgusted by her achievements. From what men have observed and understood, they should be cautious with the woman like Becky, even though they usually fail in doing so and eventually get poisoned by the delicate little venomous snake. â€Å"What a slippery little snake that woman is! † (Page 42 Line14) As Khmer old saying say that women are full of tricks (not necessarily all are bad) and Rebecca is definitely one of those. Not to be harsh to women, but I am not saying that all women are not trust-worthy, yet for men, we ought to be aware of what women are capable of doing and not be too hasty to trust someone. As living in Vanity Fair, money, possessions and positions are being enormously valued more important than human beings. The setting could be applied in modern times, and it can still be true today. There are many people who are constantly trying to reach the top of the heap, selling themselves for popularity, money, or position, and some fighting over money/inheritance. However, people will eventually realize that those things will not remain immortal. Last but not least, the author wants to inform us that although we may live in vanity, the greatness of reputation and possession, it does not mean that we are slaves to its values, which in the final analysis turn into futility and emptiness. We should value more on the relationship, harmony and loyalty that are not easily attained. Vanity Fair is a long yet worthwhile reading. From my perspective, â€Å"Vanity Fair† is a classic and must-read novel that you would not want to miss reading it.