Drugs and Economic Factors on crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Drugs and Economic Factors on crime - Essay Example Pennsylvania in 2000 had approximately a population of 12,281,054. For the year 2000 the State of Pennsylvania had a total crime index of 2,995.3 reported incidents per 100,000 people. Pennsylvania had the 43rd highest total crime index. Pennsylvania had an incident rate of 420.0 per 100,000 people for offences which were violent in nature. The state was ranked as having the 23rd highest occurrence for violent crime among the states. Washington D.C. unlike cities like Pennsylvania has very stringent gun restriction laws. These gun restrictions have not proved to be really effective. The crime rate of Washington D.C. is very high compared to the other neighboring states like Pennsylvania which do not have gun restriction laws. A review of the areas in the United States has shown that areas like Washington D.C., Chicago, New York which have the most regulative gun laws have the highest violent crime rate. Areas in the U.S. with have fewer gun control laws and higher gun ownership also surprisingly has the least crime rate Some scholars like John Lott believe that more gun restrictions lead to increased crime and violence. But scholars like Steven Levitt advocate that neither the presence nor absence of gun control laws have any significant effect on the crime rate. Steven Levitt believes that legalized abortion is one of the most important factors responsible for the crime rate in U.S. Levitt in his book Freakonomics has argued in favor of legalized abortion as the single most important factor responsible for reducing violent crime in U.S. ... Levitt has shown from statistics that legalized abortion has contributed immensely in bringing down the crime rate because he is of the opinion that unwanted children commit more crimes than wanted children. The legalization of abortion has resulted in fewer unwanted children and thus has helped in the reduction of crime over the years (Levitt, 2006). Even a comprehensive review of the published studies of gun control in 2004 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was also unable to arrive at any statistically significant effect that either the pro gun or no gun laws had on the crime rate. (Gun Politics, 2006) A recent study in the journal of the American Medical Association has reported that the 1994 Brady Law has done effectively nothing to reduce the crime rate. Thus it can rightly be said that gun control schemes have no relation to crime or to prevention of brutality (Blanks, n.d.) But the supporters of gun control believe that the crime rate can only be brought down through effective gun control. These supporters by believing so overlook the multifaceted factors responsible for crime and violence (Blanks, n.d.) Thus it is a fallacy to suppose that gun control laws will help to reduce crime and violence in the United States. It is an erroneous belief because then the areas with most guns would not have had the least crime rates. There are multiple factors responsible for crime and violence. If the crime rate has to be reduced then unlawful drug use and addiction, age demographics and poverty are the areas that have to be improved and worked upon. There are multiple population characteristics. Age is one of them. It is widely believed that rising teenage population leads to increase in the crime rate. A separate juvenile justice system is gradually

Modernisation, Modernity, and Modernism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Modernisation, Modernity, and Modernism - Essay Example Society would progress inevitably from barbarism to ever superior levels of development and civilization. The more modern states would be wealthier, the more freedom and higher standard of living their citizens will have. This was the standard view in the social sciences for many decades with its foremost advocate being Talcott Parsons. This theory stressed the importance of societies being open to change and saw as reactionary forces restricting development. Maintaining tradition for tradition's sake was thought to be harmful to progress and development. However, this approach has been heavily criticized, mainly because it conflated modernisation with westernisation. In this model, the modernization of a society required the destruction of the indigenous culture and its replacement by a more westernised one.4 Modernity denoted the idea that the present is discontinuous with the past, that through a process of social and cultural change, life in the present is basically distinct from the past life. This sense or idea as a world view contrasts with tradition, which is simply the sense that the present is continuous with the past, that the present in some way repeats the forms, behaviour, and events of the past.5 Modernity could include all of post-medieval European history, in the context of dividing history into three large epochs: Antiquity or Ancient history, the Middle Ages, and Modern. It is also applied specifically to the period beginning somewhere between 1870 and 1910, through the present, and even more specifically to the 1910-1960 period.6Modernity is often characterized by contrasting modern societies to premodern or postmodern ones. To an extent, it is reasonable to doubt the very possibility of a descriptive concept that can adequately capture diverse realities of societies o f various historical contexts, especially non-European ones, let alone a three-stage model of social evolution from premodernity to postmodernity.7 The Paradox of Modernity The 'crisis of modernity' is the sense that modernity is a problem, that traditional ways of life have been replaced with uncontainable change and insurmountable alternatives. The crisis itself is merely the sense that the present is a transitional point not focused on a clear goal in the future but simply changing through forces outside man's control.8 Modernization brought a series of seemingly undisputable benefits to people. Lower infant mortality rate, decreased death from starvation, eradication of some of the fatal diseases, more equal treatment of people with different backgrounds and incomes, and so on. To some, this is an indication of the potential of modernity, perhaps yet to be fully realised. In general, rational, scientific approach to problems and the pursuit of economic wealth seems still to many a reasonable way of understanding good social development.9 At the same time, there are a number of dark

GAP Analysis Essay Example for Free

GAP Analysis Essay My profession of interest is: _Energy Analyst_ Please visit the O*NET Web site, and research the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are required for your desired profession. Complete the chart below to identify which of the KSAs you already have and which KSAs you need to acquire. KSA required in your desired job or profession Description of how you meet this requirement If you do not meet this requirement, how can you acquire it? Building and Construction Knowledege Past Work with Mario Sinicola Construction and Certified Electrician Customer Service and Personal Service Experience with Customers with CountryWide lending General Studies of Math, Physics, Design, and English Aquiring my Associates degree in general business and working on bachelors in Energy Deductive Reasoning Have basic understanding to apply general rules to help the answer make sense Near Vision I have two eyes with both of them having 18/20 vision System Analysis To obtain knowledge through work experience and also studies through school to gain the information needed. Part 2: Goal Setting Using your gap analysis and what you have learned in this phase, set 3 short-term goals to fill the gaps that you have in your KSAs and qualifications. Please make sure your goals are SMART: Specific Measurable Action-oriented (What action will you take?) Realistic Timed Gap in your KSA qualifications Short-term goal to fill the gap Time frame to be completed No degree in analysis or basic business Find a business and become an apprentice 1.5 years Obtain Business degree in data and Energy Analysis Use exiting work and also find others already working in the field and gain knowledge from there 2 years General Studies Continue education through college 6 months Part 3: Revised Elevator Speech My name is Gabriel Cheney; currently I am a student at Colorado Technical University. I have been in the U.S. Army and also sales man for multiple types of businesses. I am currently working on my associates degree in general business and looking to work towards a bachelor degree in Data Analysis. I currently am working at a small software company that develops and produces point of sale systems for salons across the world. I am looking to find a position in the company the will allow me to grow in this field that I wish to work in the future.

Employee Motivation and Job Satisfaction in a Bank

Employee Motivation and Job Satisfaction in a Bank Introduction This research is on the effects of employee motivation and job satisfaction to CIMB Bank Berhdad. CIMB Group is the second largest in terms of providing financial services in Malaysia, and is one of the leading banking groups in Southeast Asia today. Listed in the Malysian stock exchange since 1987 the company was formerly known as Bumiputra-Commerce Holdings Berhad. The CIMB Group became the third largest company listed on the Malaysian stock exchange on November 20, 2009. During this time its market capitalisation was listed at about a RM46.6 billion, and it also has substantial investments in Indonesia and Thailand with its Bank CIMB Niaga and the CIMB Thai. The CIMB group gives financial products and services which spans different areas in the banking industry. The company does business through its three corporate entities which are the CIMB bank, its investment arm CIMB Investment and an Islamic bank CIMB Islamic. The company provides services to a very diverse customer base. It actually serves everyone from large corporations in the region, local companies, small entrepreneurs, individuals with high profitability, and it even has savings programs concerning pensions for old people and savings accounts for children. CIMB group is a big company that employs 36,000 banking staff and employees. As an indicator of success CIMB groups earnings amounts to 80% of the gross domestic product of the whole ASEAN region and its operations services about 58% of the population in the region. Its retail banking operations have expanded to 1,150 branches making it the largest banking company operating in the region. Problem Statement This research on CIMB BANK BERHAD will identify the factors that affect the motivation and job satisfaction of employees in CIMB BANK BERHAD. This research also seeks to identify the strategies use to ensure employee motivation and job satisfaction and what is its effects. Objectives of the research These objectives pay attention to the problems and objectives that are selected to clarify the intended information and also be able to derive specific information that are not limited by the previous questions. This study intended to get the suitable data to help in building the proper assessment. This includes: To determine methods that CIMB BANK BERHAD practice to inspire or motivate their employees. To determine the accomplished strategies by CIMB BANK BERHAD in giving job satisfaction to their employees. To create an appropriate solution for CIMB BANK BERHAD problems. Scope of the Study The scope of the study is relied on the employees of CIMB BANK BERHAD. This focuses on determine which factors create desirable influence to their employees towards satisfaction. And to know what factors of independent variables that could have the greatest impact on employees satisfaction.-studying the factors that lead to employees loyal with CIMB BANK Significance of the Study This research was created to comprehend the significant factors of employees fulfillment to enable efficiency, quality, service, and loyalty to CIMB BANK. Definition of Terms Job Satisfaction Employee Motivation Herzbergs motivation-hygiene theory Maslows hierarchy of needs Research Hypothesis Hypothesis 1 H1: This study shows that adequate salary or monetary income plays a major role in allowing employees to be satisfied in their jobs. H0: There is no significant relationship between salary and job satisfaction Hypothesis 2 H1: This study shows that work recognition plays a role to have a sense of importance and motivates employees to work diligently. H0: There is no significant relationship between work recognition and job satisfaction. Hypothesis 3 H1: This study shows giving professional growth to employees such as trainings, seminars, etc. allows employees to have mental growth which they apply to their daily duties as employees. H0: There is no significant relationship between professional growth to employees creativity and development. Literary Review Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory Frederick Herzbergs two factor motivation hygiene theory categorizes incentives as being either hygiene factors or motivators. Hygiene factors are potentially dissatisfiers†factors associated with the job itself but not intrinsic to it. These factors such as salary, job security, administration, interpersonal relations, if not adequate could operate to dissatisfy someone but would not necessarily motivate someone when adequate. On the other hand, motivator-factors are directly intrinsic to the job itself and critical in the process of doing the job, including sense of achievement and recognition by colleagues, level of felt responsibility and empowerment are keys to real motivation (Herzberg, 1959). What is essential to understanding this concept is the distinction made between a motivator and a satisfier. A satisfier is that factor which, when fulfilled, is enough to get the employee to come to work at all. On the upper end, a motivator is that which actively drives the employee to go beyond the minimum standard of simply showing up. Herzberg promoted such concepts as Job Enrichment, Job Enlargement, and Job Rotation as potential motivators that worked well for those operating at the higher levels of Maslows need hierarchy. It is important to keep in mind that once an individual has thoroughly pursued a motivator, it is likely to become a hygiene factor, and the search for motivating factors continues. Herzbergs Motivation-Hygiene Theory According to Herzberg, factors causing work satisfaction (motivators) are rather in connection with the content of work, while those causing dissatisfaction (hygiene) are in connection with work environment. Good examples of the first factors are taking responsibility, career advancement, recognition and the possibility to develop (achievement), while salary, status, inter-personal relations, company policy and administration as well as work conditions are examples of factors of dissatisfaction Hull and Read confirm that quality relationships, that key factor in excellence, are dependent on high levels of trust. Yet building trust is a major challenge for many Australian organisations. Research suggests that a trust deficit has emerged. A loss of trust can be devastating to organisational performance. When people no longer have confidence in management, productivity falls, turnover rises, gossip spreads, cynicism sets in, and initiative evaporates. But trust is a long term proposition, the result of countless management decisions made over a long period that help employees feel secure about their own and the organisations future. Like confidence in the quality of our graduates it can be lost in an instant yet take years to regain. Hull and Read suggest that workplace trust has two dimensions â€Å" our views of ourselves (self worth) and our views of others. Hull and Read believe these were sustained in their research. Hull and Read interviewed hundreds of employees at all levels of the selected organizations. From this one central factor emerged â€Å" the quality of relationships at work, which concretely manifests itself in the bond between co-workers, friends and colleagues. They note that there is a relationship between excellent workplaces and how this is shaped by the trust and respect among the employees. But building and maintaining a good working relationship is not easy and it requires cultivating a long lasting connection between the one supervising the group and the groups members. In examining research from the Australian Quality Agency the authors noted that Australian workplace cultures, in their focus on people, differed from other cultures. High quality workplace relationships were, in turn, supported by a number of other factors. Four factors were particularly important. The first was the quality of leadership. In excellent workplaces leaders at all levels were aware of the impact that their behaviour has on the way people feel about the workplace and their job. They recognise that their behaviour sets the example. Leaders who behaved as a captain/coach were particularly valued. These leaders were available providing support when needed but not getting in the way when they were not. Good leaders choose their approach to suit the different needs of their staff, helping out when there was a crisis and allowing trial and learning when there was not. This is in keeping with Australias egalitarian ethos supervisors in excellent workplaces often choose not to display the trappings of their position. Most importantly they inspired trust. The research demonstrated, too, that essential to quality leadership is the communication of clear values that become intrinsic to the way business is done. They influenced the way people related to each other thereby in turn helping to generate the quality working relationships. In this environment the inevitable dilemmas, conflicts and competing priorities can be immediately and openly discussed. In excellent workplaces managers really do practice what they preach. Excellent workplaces, too, are marked by a sense of common goals and objectives where workers support each other and show respect for one another. People have the skills to do their jobs and seek to develop these skills further. They have the confidence to have a say about how the work is done. They are encouraged by a management style that is open to new and different ways of working and values diversity. This is not seen as a way to exercise power but rather to add value. People are encouraged to operate with some autonomy. Of course some managers feel uncomfortable with giving their employees a high degree of independence but it is a feature of excellent workplaces. Excellent workplaces are also safe workplaces, where people care for the well being of their colleagues and are committed to safe practices â€Å" not just formal policies and manuals. In such environments a culture of safety, including the psychological safety of a respectful workplace, develops that all staff are able to share. None of these factors operates in isolation. Together they build a culture that further enhances the quality of working relationships. The research suggests that excellent workplaces must have all fifteen drivers present although they combine in unique ways. There is a form of hierarchy with one set of factors building upon. Adult learners are often characterized as learning-oriented and goal-oriented. Based on the results of this study, these characteristics seemed to be related to the satisfaction-dissatisfaction profiles of e-learners. The most frequently stated satisfying factors were learning-oriented factors such as interesting and relevant learning content, effective teaching methods, instructors expertise, and effective learning activities; and the most frequently stated dissatisfying factors were goal-related factors such as unclear directions or expectations that caused confusion or frustration while trying to accomplish their goals. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs Current risk organization theory and standards have the same opinion that risk and taking risk are not necessarily negative for development. Alongside the threat that a risk might entail more often than not this risk situation also provides opportunities. Managing chance through the risk procedure is often seen either as an not obligatory extra, or as only for advanced practitioners, or as just plain wrong. Why is this? This paper draws on human motivation theory (Maslow) and the latest ideas in information science (memetics) to explain the discrepancy. It also proposes practical solutions to promote management of opportunity within the risk process. Maslows hierarchy of needs? seeks to explain human motivation, and proposes a layered series of motivators ranging from survival to self-actualisation. Applying this framework to risk management reveals why individuals and organisations think first about threats, and why they see opportunities as optional extras to be addressed later if at all. Memetics suggests that ideas (or memes?) can be seen as packets of information which self-replicate like genes. According to this theory, the risk is bad? meme appears to be better adapted to the current environment maslows hierarchy of needs diagramthan the risk includes both threat and opportunity? meme. The paper describes how to motivate project teams and organisations to address opportunity based on Maslows theory, and how to enhance the competitiveness of the threat-plus-opportunity meme through memetic engineering. Over ten years ago, a debate arose within the project risk management community concerning the nature of the types of risk to be managed within the scope of the project risk management process (summarised in Hulett etal, 2002). Until then project risk had been seen as exclusively negative, defined in terms of uncertain events which could result in loss, harm, delay, additional cost etc, with risk? being synonymous with threat?. This definition reflected the secular definitions found in non-technical dictionaries (for example Collins, 1979). From the late 1990s project management professionals began to realise that there were other types of uncertainty that mattered. Sometimes good things might occur on a project which would result in saved time or reduced cost, or which would enhance productivity or performance. Such opportunities? could be brought under the existing definition of risk by simply expanding the types of impact to include positive as well as negative effects. This resulted in a change in approach by a number of organisations, including the Project Management Institute (PMI ®). The Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBoK ® Guide, 2000 Edition) adopted a definition of project risk as an uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, has a positive or negative effect on a project objective.? (Project Management Institute, 2000). This broader definition has been retained in the current PMBoK Guide and PMIs Combined Standards Glossary (Project Management Institute, 2004, 2005). It is also reflected in a number of other leading standards, both in the project management area (for example Association for Project Management, 2004, 2006) as well as in more general risk standards (Australian/New Zealand Standard, 2004; Institution of Civil Engineers et al, 2005; Institute of Risk Management et al, 2002; Office of Government Commerce, 2007). The forthcoming ISO risk management standard is also expected to adopt a similar position. The use of the project risk process to manage both upside and downside risk is not only embodied in a wide range of standards, but it has been described in textbooks as good practice? (for example Chapman Ward, 2003; Hillson, 2004; Cooper et al., 2004; Hillson Simon, 2007). There are a number of benefits available to those who include opportunities in the risk process (see figure 1). The first potential explanatory framework for why organisations might find it hard to address opportunities as part of their risk management process comes from the work of Abraham Maslow on human motivation, as encapsulated in his hierarchy of needs? (Maslow, 1943, 1987). He postulated that humans are motivated by the drive to satisfy needs, of which there are a variety of different types. However not all needs are equal, and Maslow arranged the various needs in order of their pre-potence? or influence over people. This ordering is usually represented as a pyramid, with the higher needs? at the top and base needs? at the bottom. There are several alternative versions of Maslows hierarchy of needs, one of which is shown in figure1. A key feature of Maslows hierarchy of needs is his contention that people are driven to satisfy lower needs before higher needs exert any influence. So for example, the most basic needs of air, water, sleep and food must be met first, and are the over-riding concern of each individual, even more important than being safe or feeling self-esteem. Once these are satisfied a person is free to be concerned about other things. As each level of hunger? is met (with literal physical hunger at the lowest level), higher needs emerge which require satisfying. Maslow divided his hierarchy of needs into two groups, with deficiency needs? towards the base, and growth needs? (or being needs?) at the top. Deficiency needs are those which must be satisfied, and without which a person might be said to be deficient or needy?. The individual does not necessarily feel anything positive if these needs are met, but feels anxious if they are not. When these needs are met, they are removed as active drivers of behaviour. Deficiency needs are mostly physical and emotional. Growth needs by contrast are those which add to a person, which are not necessarily required for a healthy existence, but which make a person more fully rounded and complete. This type of need is psychological and spiritual, and they form more enduring and permanent motivators. How is this relevant to the question of why individuals and organisations might find it difficult to implement opportunity management as part of an integrated risk process? Assuming that Maslows hierarchy of needs is as valid for organisational motivation as it is for individuals, this framework would predict a strong preference for actions which satisfy deficiency needs?, and that these would take precedence over actions which target growth needs?. Translating this to the risk domain requires an understanding of which risks relate to the different types of needs. Deficiency needs are about survival, ensuring that the essentials are available to maintain life. In the organisational risk context, this naturally leads to a focus on threats. A threat is any uncertain event or condition that, if it occurs, will have an effect on objectives which is negative, unwelcome, harmful, adverse etc. According to Maslow, both individuals and organisations will be motivated to address these risks as the highest priority. For individuals, the concern is to avoid problems, save face, protect ones reputation etc. At the organisational level, this is the realm of business continuity and disaster recovery, which aim to protect the business and ensure corporate survival. Deficiency needs are also addressed by operational risk management and health safety, since these are also about feeding and protecting the corporate organism. At project and tactical levels, the need to tackle deficiency needs is also likely to be strongly influential, with a focus on dealing with threats to achievement of project objectives. By contrast, opportunities would appear in Maslows hierarchy as growth needs, being those uncertainties that, if they occurred, would have a positive, welcome, helpful effect on achievement of objectives. Such growth needs exist in such areas as marketing and business development, as well as strategic decision-making, and they also exist at project level in the form of project opportunities. While these are undoubtedly good things, and in themselves they are clearly worth pursuing, Maslows hierarchy of needs predicts that there is likely to be less motivation to satisfy these higher needs than there is to address more basic deficiencies. In other words, given a limited amount of time, effort or resources (which is the normal situation in most projects), an organisation will be driven to address threats before opportunities. If the environment is perceived as threatening, then the need to remove or minimise threats will always take precedence over the option of exploiting opportunitie s, since the drive to survive is stronger than the attraction of growth. Maslows hierarchy of needs seems to explain why both individuals and organisations are motivated to deal with threats before opportunities, since threats operate at the lower levels of the hierarchy and threaten deficiency needs, whereas opportunities exist at the higher levels and are seen as lower priority. A second useful framework for understanding the current reluctance to adopt an inclusive approach to risk management is the recently-developed hypothesis of memetics (Brodie, 1996; Blackmore, 2000). This wasintroduced by Richard Dawkins as a development of the selfish gene? approach to biology (Dawkins, 1989). Dawkins proposed an extension of this idea, applying it to information theory, postulating the existence of a hypothetical meme? as a self-replicating unit of information, analogous to a gene, which drives human behaviour and culture. From this initial innovation, the ideas of memetics mirror genetics, with such principles as survival of the fittest, competitive adaptation, mutation, replication, propagation etc. Whitty has applied the memetic approach to project management and found it to be a useful paradigm to generate new insights (Whitty, 2005). A meme is defined as a package of informational content, approximating to an idea or concept, which exists in the human brain or mind, and which seeks to replicate by transfer to other brains or minds. It is the basic unit of cultural transmission, and culture can be seen as the sum total of all memes. Clearly there are very many memes currently in existence, all of which are competing for the limited resources of human attention and absorption into current culture. The most successful memes are those which are best adapted to the environment in which they operate, which leads them to replicate and become dominant. Dawkins argues that dominant memes are not necessarily beneficial to human individuals or society, and that harmful memes can take root in the same way that viruses can cause pandemics. The important feature which determines the persistence of a particular memeis its competitive advantage when compared to the other memes against which it competes. Having created this hypothetical framework, it is possible to develop an approach called memetics?, analogous to genetics, to describe how memes operate. The term memetic engineering? can be used to describe attempts to manipulate memes in order to produce a desired outcome. While the basis for memetics is challenged by many as entirely hypothetical and unproven, the memetic paradigm offers useful insights into many aspects of human behaviour and culture, including management of risk. Solutions from Maslow Taking Maslows model first, there are three ways in which an organisation might proceed if it wishes to adopt the broader risk approach including management of opportunities equally alongside threats. Ensure effective threat management. The first is simply to make sure that all the lower-level motivators are fully satisfied all the time, allowing the organisation to move on to the higher levels. In other words, a risk process which deals effectively with threats will result in an organisation which is confident and relaxed, and which feels secure in its ability to handle both foreseen and emergent negative events and circumstances. Once these more basic deficiency needs are met, the organisation will feel free to release energy and resources to address the growth needs represented by opportunities. Develop conscious opportunity management. A positive focus within the organisational culture on the benefits available from proactive management of opportunities will create a motivational force to counter that of the lower-level need to deal with threats. If management express a requirement for projects to identify and capture opportunities, and reward such behaviour visibly, then teams will respond appropriately. Making management of opportunities both explicit and required will maximise the chances of this approach being adopted. By emphasising the value of the higher growth needs, their motivational value can be increased, even if the lower-level deficiency needs are not all met. Practice emotional literacy. Maslows hierarchy of needs is not universally accepted, and some researchers and practitioners believe the linear hierarchy oversimplifies human motivation (for example Wahba Bridgewell, 1976). The reality of human motivation is like to be much more complex. Studies of disadvantaged communities where deficiency needs are clearly unmet often find unexpectedly high levels of contentment and fulfilment, indicative of the higher needs being met. For example the Kingdom of Bhutan is renowned for its high Gross National Happiness (GNH), introduced as a key national measure by King Jigme Singye Wangchuck in 1972 (Kinga et al., 1999), despite its low development status. Maslows hierarchy of needs seems to explain why both individuals and organisations are motivated to deal with threats before opportunities, since threats operate at the lower levels of the hierarchy and threaten deficiency needs, whereas opportunities exist at the higher levels and are seen as lower priority. A second useful framework for understanding the current reluctance to adopt an inclusive approach to risk management is the recently-developed hypothesis of memetics (Brodie, 1996; Blackmore, 2000). This wasintroduced by Richard Dawkins as a development of the selfish gene? approach to biology (Dawkins, 1989). Dawkins proposed an extension of this idea, applying it to information theory, postulating the existence of a hypothetical meme? as a self-replicating unit of information, analogous to a gene, which drives human behaviour and culture. From this initial innovation, the ideas of memetics mirror genetics, with such principles as survival of the fittest, competitive adaptation, mutation, replication, propagation etc. Whitty has applied the memetic approach to project management and found it to be a useful paradigm to generate new insights (Whitty, 2005). A meme is defined as a package of informational content, approximating to an idea or concept, which exists in the human brain or mind, and which seeks to replicate by transfer to other brains or minds. It is the basic unit of cultural transmission, and culture can be seen as the sum total of all memes. Clearly there are very many memes currently in existence, all of which are competing for the limited resources of human attention and absorption into current culture. The most successful memes are those which are best adapted to the environment in which they operate, which leads them to replicate and become dominant. Dawkins argues that dominant memes are not necessarily beneficial to human individuals or society, and that harmful memes can take root in the same way that viruses can cause pandemics. The important feature which determines the persistence of a particular memeis its competitive advantage when compared to the other memes against which it competes. Having created this hypothetical framework, it is possible to develop an approach called memetics?, analogous to genetics, to describe how memes operate. The term memetic engineering? can be used to describe attempts to manipulate memes in order to produce a desired outcome. While the basis for memetics is challenged by many as entirely hypothetical and unproven, the memetic paradigm offers useful insights into many aspects of human behaviour and culture, including management of risk. Solutions from Maslow Theoretical framework, population sample, data collection, data analysis The researcher visited the different libraries for journals, articles and studies needed for the research. The researchers gathered time-series data from different Banking institutions to assure of its validity and consistency. The researchers would also gathered different news and articles regarding the past events that involves or has consistent customer interaction as its main issue. It would tackle evidences of how proper services, awareness serves as the means affect the profit and increase the margin for more clients. The researcher has also researched data of the banks that have similar situations with CIMD The researcher would gather data from 2007-2009 to be able to assure consistency and reliability. This study will took place within CIMB BANK BERHAD in Malaysia. Participants will be selected according to their desire to participate in this study. Narrative data will be generated from all researched studies such as journals, articles, academic references, etc. The data analysis will Quantitative research enables the researcher to generate new theories from gathering descriptive data about the research topic. Quantitative research process involves the result of a certain procedure. The type of qualitative research studies undertaken are ethnographical, which refers to the description of a phenomenon from a cultural group or society, grounded theory, which focuses on real life settings and phenomenological which describes different experiences. Quantitative research is used to identify the specific effect which leads to using statistical evidence and appropriate statistical tools. It is also used for intervention studies and randomized control trials, which is the gold standard, ob servational and cohort studies. The quantitative approach is applicable to smaller sample group to generate rich data. Hopkins (2008) defined quantitative research method in the following words, In quantitative research your aspire is to settle on the relationship flanked by one thing (an independent variable) and another (a dependent result variable) in a population. Isolated research design is either evocative (subjects usually measured once) or new (subject for assessment before and after a treatment). A evocative study establish only relations between variables.?Hopkins (2008) defined quantitative research method in the following words, In quantitative research your aspire is to settle on the relationship flanked by one thing (an independent variable) different (a dependent or outcome variable) in a population. Quantitative research design are either evocative (subjects usually measured once) or new evocative study establish only relations between variables.? RESEARCH METHODOLOGY The research methodology used in the study is an analytical survey that measures consumer satisfaction of CIMB BANK BERHAD. The analytical survey through the use of statistics and data measures the correlation of consumer satisfaction with company measures that ensure employee satisfaction and delivers customer service. This research explores the possible correlation of customer satisfaction with factors such as employee motivation, company values, services rendered, and policies affecting its efficiency. In order to carry out the analytical survey, a questionnaire was developed that measures the level of customer satisfaction for CIMB BANK BERHARD, how the company is perceived by costumers, and what factors affect its customer service. The interview recipients of the study were composed of a cross-sectional group that represents different consumers from different age groups, sexes and income level. Interview questions were also distributed among employees and managers of CIMB BANK BERHARD and their response was correlated with the responses culled from the customers of the company. The survey also used open ended questions that is unstructured and which was administered personally by the researcher to ensure rapport, and elicit immediate responses from the interviewees. The data gathered was analyzed by determining the level of customer satisfaction, and what aspect of customer satisfaction cuts across different income and age groups. The survey also analyzed the response of CIMB BANK BERHARD employees and managers to questions pertaining to their role

Applying Platos Allegory of the Cave Essay -- Plato, Philosophy, Phil

Applying Plato's Allegory of the Cave to Oedipus Rex, Hamlet,and Thomas Becket Plato was one of the greatest philosophers of all time. He is recognized all over the world as one of the greatest minds of all time. Knowledge is required under compulsion has not hold on the mind.(Durant 24). Plato's dialogues are the fruit of a rare mind; but the could not have kept their perennial freshness if they had not somehow succeeded in expressing he problems and the convictions that are common to Plato's age and to all later ages. Genius alone is not enough; or perhaps it were wiser to say that we recognize genius only in the power of divination that overleaps the boundaries of a special time and place.(Jowett xi). Although Plato did not come up with the Allegory of the Cave, Socrates did, he transcribed it. In their own ways, Oedipus Rex, Hamlet, and Thomas Becket, prove that one must break the chains of the cave to discover the truth. In view of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, several literary works contain characters who break from the shadows of the cave to witn ess "the real world". Plato's Allegory of the Cave, presents Socrates instructing one of his students to imagine that there was a cave that was totally dark, except from the light that comes from the entrance and from a fire. The student was instructed then to imagine that the inhabitants of the cave have their necks and legs chained to the wall, impossible for the inhabitants to move. The people who control the cave place objects in front of the fire so that the inhabitants of the cave only see the shadows of the objects that the people want them to see. The chained inhabitants never get to see the real objects, only the distorted images of the objects. Furthermore, the inhabitants of the cave perceive the distorted objects as real, not the actual objects as being real. Socrates, then tells the student to imagine if the inhabitants of the cave were suddenly freed of the chains. The inhabitants would be in agonizing pain, for the first time in their lives the individuals can stand and move their heads. Their bodies are not used to being in such positions. The inhabitants of the cave, now are able to behold the light glimmering outside the cave. The inhabitants who were only adapted to only darkness, perceive light. The light stabs at their eyes, it is too painful for these individ... ...the cave and witness the light of the real world, one will never get to see the harsh truth of their destiny. Works Cited Gibson, Anna Lee, "Allegory of the Cave." Advanced Placement English Writing Manual and Literary Guide. Ed. Jewell Worley and Frank Gentry. Wise: Wise County Vocational-Technical Center. 1992. The Canterbury Story. Anglicans Online. Http://www.anglican.org/online/uk-europe/lambeth/canterbury.html. 3 Dec., 1997. Jowett, Benjamin. The Dialogues of Plato. Ed. William Chase Green. New York: Liveright Publishing Company. 1954. Durant, Will. "The live and opinions of the greater philosophers." The Story of Philosophy. New York: Simon and Schuster Rockefeller Center. 1961. Shakespeare, William. "Hamlet." England in Literature. Illinois: Scott, Foresman, and Company. 1987. Becket Murder. Hyperhistory. Online. Http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/ppersons5_n2/beck.html Stravinsky, Igor. Oedipus Rex . Online. Http://www.coc.ca/98stra-synopsis.htm. Jaspers, Carl. "Plato." The Great Philosophers. Ed. Hannah Arendt. New York: harcourt, Brace & World, Inc. 1962. Jowett, B. The Dialogues of Plato. New York: Random House. 1937.

Childhood Memories in My Papas Waltz by Theodore Roethke and Piano by

Childhood Memories in "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke and "Piano" by D.H. Lawrence "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke and "Piano" by D.H. Lawrence are two poems in which grown men recall memories of their childhood. "My Papa's Waltz" has a quietly sad, almost resigned tone as Roethke relives his nightly dances with his father as a young boy. Lawrence's "Piano" is somewhat dreamy as a man is taken back by a song to his childhood. While both are presented to us through similar personas, striking differences are apparent throughout the two poems. "My Papa's Waltz" is the pensive recollection of a boy's nightly waltz around the house in the arms of his father. Roethke's poem gives a voice to the often silent internal conflict that the children of addicts struggle with. The sad resignation of the young boy is solidified early on in the poem. In the first stanza Roethke sets a tone of both pain and loyalty with the line, "But I hung on like death: Such waltzing was not easy" (479). "My Papa's Waltz" provides readers with the opportunity to see life through the eyes of...

Right to Housing Under the Constitution of Kenya

RIGHT TO HOUSING UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF KENYA The right to housing comprises an intricate part in the realization of one of the most basic needs of a human being, shelter. Everyone has the right to a decent standard of living as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document that has attained the status of jus cogens due to its wide acceptance. Essential to the achievement of this standard is access to adequate housing. It has been said that housing fulfills physical needs by providing security and shelter from weather and climate.It fulfills psychological needs by providing a sense of personal space and privacy. It fulfills social needs by providing a gathering area and communal space for the human family, the basic unit of society. It also fulfills economic needs by functioning as a center for commercial production. Due to various factors including insufficient financial and natural resources, population growth, political upheavals, and rural- urban migration, a vast population of Kenyans especially those living in urban areas end up homeless or in informal settlements. Dr. P. L.O Lumumba in his speech during the World Habitat forum in 2004 described the lengths to which people unable to afford adequate housing go to provide shelter to themselves and their families. He said that some of them end up seeking refuge in, â€Å"slums areas, squatting in informal settlements, old buses, roadside embankments, cellars, staircases, rooftops, elevator enclosures, cages, cardboard boxes, plastic sheets, aluminum and tin shelter. † According to a UN Habitat study done in 2008, 60-80 percent of residents in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu, live in informal settlements.In fact, the same study shows that while 60 percent of Nairobi’s populations live in informal settlements, their homes occupy only 5 percent of the total land area of the city and its environs. Although right to adequate shelter is a human right, this does not imply that the gov ernment is obliged to provide each of their citizens with land and an appropriate house to live in. This is dependent on the laws and policies of each individual country. In Kenya, the debate about the justifiability of housing and some other socio-economic rights seems to be over with the passing of the 2010 Constitution.This is because the constitution has provisions that seek to protect the provision of these rights to every citizen as will be discussed in the next part. 1. 1 The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 When Kenya gained independence in 1963, every Kenyan was relieved to have finally been freed from the yoke of colonialism. The independent Kenya adopted a constitution that had majorly British influence but that seemed to suffice during those early ‘teething years’. But as years passed by, the biting reality that the country had been taken over by neo-colonialists hit home.The independence constitution was not sufficient to protect the general public from the vici ous acts and decisions of those in power. There was need for constitutional reform. Kenyans have long struggled for constitutional reform. They struggled because they suffered under an oppressive system of government. Their human rights were suppressed. The power of the state was concentrated in one person, the president. First regions and then local governments were stripped of all their powers. At the center, the president dominated all institutions of the state. Cronyism substituted for politics.Merit counted for little. The law was frequently abused by the government and the exercise of power was unpredictable and arbitrary. The judiciary had failed to protect the constitution and the rights of the people. The civil service and other executive organs lost independence. There was corruption, plundering both of the state and a captive private sector, on a massive scale. The new constitution therefore had to be a document that remedies the shortcomings of the independence constitut ion. The drafters of the new Constitution aimed to restore the confidence of the citizens with their government.One of the salient features of the 2010 constitution is the incorporation of a strong and comprehensive Bill of Rights. It contains a number of rights, which were missing from the independence constitution, including rights to official information, environment, economic and social rights, and rights of consumers, et cetera. The 2010 Constitution strengthens the achievement of the human rights by limiting the restrictions that may be placed on rights and by establishing a strong mechanism for the enforcement of rights. It also provides for an independent commission of human rights to protect and promote rights and freedoms.Of importance to this research are the Economic and Social rights. Article 43 provides for each person’s right to: a) The highest attainable standard of health b) Accessibility and adequate housing and to reasonable standards of sanitation. c) Free dom from hunger and to have adequate food of acceptable quality. d) Clean and safe water in adequate quantities. e) Social Security. f) Education. Amongst this list of rights is the right to housing. Forced evictions of persons living in unplanned settlements and slums are a common feature of urban development.People living in these informal settlements live at the margins of society. Land is generally an expensive investment in Kenya therefore only a few can afford it. Those who cannot afford it opt to rent apartments or houses or rooms from property owners but there are some who cannot still afford this kind of arrangements and so set up their housing structures on any free land that they come across, regardless of whether it is private land or public land set out for other purposes. This latter group of people is the ones who fall victim to forced evictions.Article 2(5) and (6) of the constitution general rules of international law and any treaty or convention ratified by Kenya f orm part of the laws of Kenya. Kenya ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) on 3/1/1976 and consequently became bound to respect, protect and enforce the rights therein, including the right to adequate housing and the related prohibition of forced evictions. It is with this backing of the law that victims of forced evictions that are not conducted in the manner stipulated in both domestic law and international law are able to defend their right to housing through the courts. ——————————————- [ 2 ]. Article 25(1) which states in part, â€Å"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care†¦Ã¢â‚¬  [ 3 ]. Nicholas Okemwa, Forceful Evictions and the Right to Adequate Housing(2011)16 ; The Bench Bulletin 58 [ 4 ]. Dr. P. L. O Lumumba, Powers of Urban Authorities over Settlement Control: The Kenyan Case. He presented this paper during the world habitat forum organized by un-habitat held on the 13th –17th September 2004 at the Barcelona, Spain [ 5 ].Preliminary Results of the 2009, National Population and Housing Census. [ 6 ]. Draft Eviction an Resettlement Guidelines, 2010. [ 7 ]. Commentary on the Kenyan Constitution, (Consolidation of 15 articles in the East African Standard). [ 8 ]. Article 35 [ 9 ]. Article 42 [ 10 ]. Article 43 [ 11 ]. Article 46 [ 12 ]. Article 24 is the only article that provides for the specific procedure to be followed for a right contained in the Bill of Rights to be limited. This is unlike in the independence constitution where each right was immediately followed by a claw-back clause. [ 13 ]. Article 11