Ethics of Doctor Assisted Suicide

One of the most hotly debated topics going on now is the one concerning the ethics of assisted suicide and euthanasia. Nowadays with all the progress that the medical profession has gained, people who are terminally ill have more options, and there have been continued efforts to give them the â€Å"right to die† when they choose this option. I was interested in researching this topic because I think the debate has a lot to do with politics. This dilemma has been hotly debated and I was open to seeing how this movement was progressing. In the beginning, I was a proponent on this issue, and believed people should not be denied their wishes when they wanted to end their pain. However, I was open to learning more about the opposite stance and what the reasons for opposition were. It always seemed unusual to me that suicide was not illegal, but it was illegal to assist in one even with a consenting party. I wondered how this could be, and how people could deny people this right in unending pain. There never seems to be a prosecution of doctors who participate in these acts, even though they frequently go to court. I wondered why this occurred and what the laws really said regarding this. I also wondered how people distinguished between forgoing medical interventions and actually assisting in the suicide. As I approached the research, my main questions were regarding the opposition. I really did not know all the problems that could occur. Research about this brought to light many things that are not discussed in the media, although this is a highly publicized subject. I found that it is very difficult to end the debate because all the arguments are just matters of opinion. Opposers and protestors have good arguments. No one really knows what would happen, so opinions are used to predict it. Since all the media attention, I will try not to discuss the many things that are already known. I found myself intrigued at what I did not know, and found my views profoundly affected. After reading current articles about what was going on legally and about cases, reviewing the history of this topic, and reading books showing the two opposing viewpoints, I have made my conclusions. I will show how people are currently handling this and how they are being viewed. I will discuss the main arguments on both sides. Finally, I will show what I concluded from this and how my views have been altered by information that I did not know before. I will begin by explaining how the terms are defined. Euthanasia derived from Greek roots and means â€Å"good death. † Active euthanasia is a direct and deliberate intervention to kill the patient. It is â€Å"intended to end the life of the competent, terminally ill patient who makes a fully voluntary and persistent request for aid in dying. † Voluntary euthanasia takes place when the patient requests the action and it is involuntary if the patient is not mentally competent enough to make the right choice. Passive euthanasia is withholding treatment from a patient. A physician-assisted suicide occurs when the patient does the actual act, but the physician provides either enough information or the means to do it. One source defines it as a â€Å"desperate measure, justified only in exceptional cases where every effort has first been made to care for a dying person by other means. † The terms euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide usually are used for the same thing and are not generally distinguished from one another. Typically the means of suicide is lethal doses of a poison such as pills, an injection, or gas. Motive causes euthanasia to be distinguished from murder, because its intent is merciful and is done out of kindness. The physician's intentions can make considerable differences concerning how their act will be classified. The most common reason for a patient to want this aid is a terminal illness. Unbearable suffering has caused the person to become intolerant of the physical and/or emotional pain. The other reason is a physical handicap that is debilitating and the patient would rather die than live with it. Most people are able to cope with this, but in some cases, it is impossible for the patient to do so. In ancient times, euthanasia was encountered often. However, suicide was condemned. During the sixteenth century, some people began to see it as more of a personal choice. It eventually became decriminalized, but assisted suicide and euthanasia are still crimes in most countries. The introduction of powerful analgesics caused a rise in the interest in the â€Å"right to die† movement. It was advocated in the late 1800's, and has been a topic for debate since the early 1900's. Doctors have been helping patients die for centuries. Some cultures today have people that will stop eating and wait to die when they become seriously ill. The â€Å"right to die movement† is encouraged by several factors. Modern technology has come along to extend human life. The fear of the dying process is of great concern to some people, especially when it accompanies physical and psychological suffering. Patients are becoming more in charge of their own fate and have more of a voice. Finally, there is a concern about the high health care costs. They cost more than 60 billion annually, and 1/3 of Medicaid payments go to patients in their last year of life. Medicine's main goal has always been the preservation of life. Now, this is being challenged in an attempt to change it. The two sides of the issue are being debated. On one side are the people who think it is not a physicians place to kill a patient, because he/she should only help, not harm. The opposition thinks that suffering is the real harm. The debate comes at the point of the onset of the terminal illness, when it will be time to decide on the means. This is sometimes called the â€Å"Kevorkian moment. † Proponents give examples of people who could be helped, while opponents give counterexamples of people who may be harmed. There are many moral and legal considerations. The support for a physician's participation is increasing. According to opinion polls, about 60% of people in the U. S. are supporters. About 15% of physicians practice it when it is justified. It is actually impossible to know for sure how much takes place because incidents are usually kept secret to avoid prosecution. Most people who have reported that they would consider it give reasons such as that they would not want to be a burden, would not want to live in pain, or would not want to depend on machines or others. The main argument for the support of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide is that people should have the right to control their life and death, and should be able to end their lives when they wish if they are suffering needlessly. It is argued that it is a private choice and society has no right to be concerned. They usually portray it as a case of individual liberty. One source states â€Å"euthanasia, if legalized, would be the ultimate civil liberty, since it would secure the freedom to determine and to control our own death. † Physicians must then decide if they are willing to take part in either directly killing the patient or by assisting the patient in suicide. The physician should follow the demands of the patient, even if it means killing them, because that would respect their wishes and the rights of the patient. Physicians treat patients with the purpose of restoring health. If the patient can't be restored to a reasonable level of living, it shouldn't be wrong to discontinue it. Euthanasia supporters often try to get sympathy by relating stories to make one feel like suicide is the only option in their case. The media has sparked a lot of interest, and continues to show stories like this. Simi Linton, psychologist, says, â€Å"I'm disturbed at how the media treats it, as: here are these poor folks; let's help them end their lives† (qtd. in 1). It makes it seem as if would be inhumane to deny anyone this option. Basically, it is the quality of life that is the main concern of the patient. They may feel that life is not worth living in their state. It would not be humane to insist that every means be taken to keep someone alive. A physician's main concern is to relieve suffering, so sometimes there is only one way to achieve that goal. At the time that efforts are no longer doing any good, the main concern is to make the patient comfortable and alleviate symptoms such as pain. Drugs do not always get rid of all the pain, especially when it is excruciating. Sometimes a patient will be drugged into unconscious with severe pain that cannot be controlled. This does not seem like effective pain management to me. I do not believe people will be satisfied living in such a state as that. They would want to be put out of their misery. Legalization would cause many changes. It would give rights to the person who does it, rather than the person who dies. It is about the right to kill, rather than the right to die. 9 Physicians would need to be trained in more areas regarding this, such as information about medications and dosage, and about the mentality of the patient. They will need to gain expertise in understanding patients' motivations for requesting it, assessing their mental status, diagnosing and treating depression. The medical profession is developing greater expertise in managing terminal illness but would need to develop similar expertise in responding to requests for physician-assisted suicide. The debates over assisted suicide have forced clinicians to be more aware of what can be done to relieve suffering. Doctors are improving palliative care and their own behavior. Patients are becoming more aware of their options. The problems associated with legalizing assisted suicide are usually not talked about when the proponents make their argument. The discussion of the potential for abuse, the ways it could be prevented or better helped are put on a backburner. The main argument against legalization is that human life is sacred, and it is not a human right to take it away. Some say that there is no need for suicide, because health care should resolve all problems and pain management has come a long way. Most people who commit suicide suffer from depression, so it is often debated whether this could be the reason for someone wanting assisted suicide. Often, when their depression is treated, the patient responds well, and would like to live. A regular physician cannot make the determination of whether a patient is suffering from depression. This is something that is difficult to diagnose in terminally ill patients. Just because a patient request suicide does not mean this will be an appropriate solution. Sometimes, a patient may even request suicide, but when the time draws near, they change their mind because it did not seem so imminent before. The will to request the suicide must be voluntary, but this decision is left up to the physician. How can a physician judge whether it is voluntary or not? It is also difficult to determine what terminal is. When people say that it should be reserved for people who are terminally ill, they cannot define it. It is used to mean someone whose death will occur in a relatively short time. Some people may say that if they will die in 6 months it is considered terminal, but it is difficult to determine exactly how long someone has to live. They may live much longer than that. A person could also be terminal who is in a vegitative state, but will live for years in that state with continued medicine. People cannot reach an agreement on what the definition of terminal would be, some even say old age is terminal. Marianne Smith, Program Development Director of the Death with Dying National Center defines it as â€Å"an illness in which there is no chance of recovery and that death is imminent. â€Å"15 Activists of euthanasia use the demonstration that suicide is the only means to control unbearable pain. Most pain is supposed to be able to be eliminated, or greatly reduced. Many people do not get enough pain control. 6 One reason is the underknowlege many physicians have about this, and that they are afraid the patient will become addicted. Also, too much pain medication can cause symptoms that may be worse than the disease was itself. One source says that â€Å"patients and physicians alike may be unaware of the options available in the medical system, including advances in pain control that could help patients but are not routinely provided. â€Å"3 There may be no solution to these problems, but some things can be done. Better health care education, more access to health care, and informing patients of their rights. 6 Everyone has the right to pain relief. Patients should get adequate health care, and not killed. Physicians argue that if good care of the dying is being provided, then a request for suicide would be rare. 4 Some patients may want to consider suicide, but are incapable of administering medicine. Some people may also lose their mental capabilities, and will be unable to request it. It is difficult to assess fairness in cases like these. Some people use a form of advance directive and make their request before deterioration occurs. It is hard to extend the same rights to all patients without causing abuse. If someone is unable to communicate their request, it would be frightening for someone to make that decision for them and to say that their life is not worth living, so we must kill them. There is great potential for abuse if it were to be legalized. Depressed people, elderly, and very frightened people would be greatly affected. People may feel pressured into giving up. Elderly are especially vulnerable to this. Now that there are more people living longer, this problem will increase. They may tend to feel they are a burden on their families, or are selfishly consuming resources. If a physician advocates it, they also may be swayed. People may also feel distrustful of the physician's advice. This may cause a hardship in getting appropriate care. 10 Legalization will only encourage more people to take part in it. It does not seem as if we would be ready for this to occur, because we are only just beginning to explore some realms of the medical world. It took a long time to figure out about adequate care for many patients and when is the right time to withdraw life support, so it would not seem that we would be ready for this step. The â€Å"slippery slope† argument is used by opponents, saying that legalization will lead to involuntary euthanasia. My own opinion is that if assisted suicide were legalized, we may not be as inclined to advance medical progress and knowlege. It would seem easier to just put the patient out of his/her misery. They may not use their experience to increase what we know about medicine and learn how to help the illness, or better cope with it. Proponents have said that euthanasia should be considered â€Å"medical treatment. † If this is so, there could be great potential for abuse. Then it may be more likely to be administered to people who cannot make the request. Some decisions that have gone to court say that assisted suicide is a constitutional right and that someone else can make the decision for the patient. If direct killing can be legalized by someone else, someone who is not competent could be euthanized without ever expressing that wish. It seems to be inevitable that patient are going to be killed without permission if legalization occurs, even with rules about consent. The main argument of how abuse of the practice could occur is called the â€Å"slippery slope argument. † It says that â€Å"even if particular acts of killing are sometimes morally justified with particularly pain-ridden patients, sanctioning practices of killing would run serious social risks of abuse, misuse and neglect. 3 The bad consequences of legalization would occur over time as this practice became more used. Another potential form of abuse lies in the fact that it would be cheaper to euthanize a patient than to continue medical treatment. It is thought that it could become a means of health care cost containment. Some of the main supporters of euthanasia are people concerned about lowering health care costs. 6 Religion has caused many people to debate it. Most churches are adamantly opposed to the idea of suicide. However, some Christians believe that God would not want them to suffer. 9 Although most religions and churches disagree with intentionally killing a patient, many people who hold this stand will allow the withdrawal of life support. It is believed that there is a difference between killing and letting die. Someone who is against euthanasia may agree with letting someone die who is being kept alive solely by life support that is not really helping them. 3 People feel that the intent in these cases is different. The more accepted approach does not involve killing. One interpretation of the difference shows that the intent is different because actively killing is aiming at death, and withdrawing support simply accepts that we are limited to help the dying and cannot reverse the process. 8 However, some peole believe that since death is the outcome no matter what, there is no moral difference between them. Another matter of intent distiction regards what is called the â€Å"double effect. † A physician will administer a pain medication to relieve pain, but knows that it may cause death. The patient would be in pain without it, but it may cause death if it is administered. It is usually believed to be moral if the doctor's intent is to relieve the suffering, and not to cause death. It is allowed if the death is foreseen but not intended, because it is the intent that makes it wrong. Although suicide is no longer a crime, giving assistance in it is, everywhere except for Switzerland, Germany, Norway, and Uraguay. In Australia, a law was passed that allows terminally ill patients to ask for assistance by injection or taking drugs themselves. 7 There is a debate about it because Parliament wants to overturn the statute, which is the world's only voluntary euthanasia statute. In the Netherlands, it is actually a crime, but it has been ruled that physicians may assist in death under certain conditions. Some of these are that the patient must be ruled competent, and two doctors must conclude that the patient has less than 6 months to live. 8 The United States has used them as an example to see what would happen if it were to occur here. They are having problems with it, mainly with abuse. The physicians there have reported that the main reasons people request it are â€Å"low quality of life, the relatives, inability to cope, and no prospect for improvement. 0 Some sources show that people are requesting it for physical symptoms that it is almost ridiculou that they would go to such an extreme measure for. I think that the potential for abuse here may be great, because it is getting out of hand over there. People are becoming afraid to go to hospitals because euthanasia is becoming so commonplace. It now accounts for 15% of deaths. 1000 unconsenting deaths occur each year. 1. In 1994, the state of Oregon passed a ballot that gives limited physician-assisted suicide legality. This makes it the first in the nation to do so. A doctor must determine the patient has less than six months to live. A second doctor must decide that they are mentally competent and not suffering from depression. The patient must request it in writing with two witnesses, and then 48 hours before the doctor delivers the prescription the request must be repeated orally. 1 It must be a voluntary act. However, those jugements are left to the physician. So far, it has never been put into action. Other states are considering similar legislation, such as California which has proposed a law that is similar to the guidelines that the Dutch have adopted. Lawsuits in Washington State and New York were ruled by the 9th and 2nd U. S. Circuit Courts of Appeals that laws prohibiting physician-assisted suicide are unconstitutional. The legal fate will be determined by the Supreme Court. In 1990, the decision of Cruzan v. Missouri Department of Health resulted in people having the right to avoid unwanted medical treatment, including food and water. 5 It recognized the right to terminate unwanted medical treatment even when death would be the result. 14 People often use the Constitution as a basis for argument. The 14th amendment prohibits the state from depriving â€Å"any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. † So to deny a dying patient medical assistance when requested is to â€Å"threaten this patient's request for help is judged denial of constitutionally protected due process. â€Å"4 As the courts were in session to hear a case about whether terminally ill people have a constitutional right to physician assisted suicide, demonstrators sang and picketed outside a Supreme Court building. The emotions of the rights issue has been compared to that of abortion. Both of these issues dig into whether we have the right to choose such personal issues. People can feel very strongly about the issues of mercy killing, whether they oppose or support it. The lack of laws cause people to avoid prosecution for assisting in a suicide. Kevorkian has escaped prosecution because there is not a state law prohibiting it, according to a Michigan judge. 9 People are afraid that activities such as his would become widespread if assisted suicide were legalized. His actions have been opposed not because of the assistance, but because he had no real relationship with his patients and had not given them any kind of clinical evaluation. Many were also not terminally ill. 3 It seems to show what is lacking in the medical sysytem, or what could become of it. Every case of assisted suicide is not convicted or prosecuted, even in states that make it illegal. However, the fact that there are many landmark â€Å"right to die† cases, shows that the law is commited to the prohibition. However, the procedures are not described as killing. If this were the case, the act would have to be justified similar to killing someone out of self defense. 4 It is hard to define the conditions that there must be in order to make it legal, because there is so much that we do not know. For euthanasia to be ethical, there must be certain guidelines. The person must be a mature adult, and has been shown to be mentally competent and willing to make the decision. Some medical help will have already been given, and it should seem that the fight is hopeless. 9 Many organizations have beliefs on this and they try to educate the public on euthanasia and what their views are. I contacted Marianne Smith, the Program Development Director of the Death with Dignity National Center. 15 She explained to me in e-mail how the organization feels about euthanasia and what they do to educate the public about it. The organization is working toward better health care for paients. She feels that assisted suicide should be legal, but that â€Å"physician-assisted dying should be the response of last resort,† and â€Å"when all other options fail to relieve unbearable suffering, when the patient is acting on his or her own initiative, is not clinically depressed, and is capable of administering the medication personally. The people who could be elgible are â€Å"only terminally ill, competent adults with decisionmanking capacity. † I also asked whether euthanasia could be avoided with adequate pain medicine. Her response was that â€Å"Physicians, medical associations and hospices all have stated that not all pain can be controlled. † Their view, which is one I encountered a lot, is that the medical professionals have not been trained adequately in pain management. Regarding the issues of potential â€Å"slippery slope† abuse, she says that physician's aid in dying is more common than people realize, and legalization would just make it happen openly, instead of secretly. However, the state regulation should provide strict guidelines and penalties for violations. I think that it is hard to make sure that the decisions are correct, so it should be carefully thought out. We are dealing with a very serious issue, which is death. It should not be an easy decision to make or to carry out. Becaue death is the consequence, the decision to kill oneself, and carrying it out should be very difficult and carefully thought out. This would help ensure that people have thought about it enough and know that this is the best decision. I don't know how a solution can be thought of to deal with the debate, but things such as more health care education and informing patients of their rights should be a consideration. I hope that if legalization ever were to take place, that they would carefully restrict who qualified for euthanasia. After all my research, most of my questions have been answered. It is difficult to come to a conclusion because there is no right or wrong answer. I don't know how anyone can determine what should be done. Who can put a price on life and say who has the right to die? The basic choice is whether to let doctors help people die, and if so, how? I have found many great arguments either opposing or protesting this issue, which has led me to my conclusions. When I began this paper, I dove into it thinking that I was going to condone the idea of assisted suicide. I knew I could convince someone that it should be the moral and legal thing to do. I could not imagine a life without the ultimate choice or having to endure great suffering. I was going to defend this side, but also show the opposing side. Once I got into the research, I found many facts that I had not known before about why it has not yet been legalized. Many questions and opinions showed me that there were things I had not even bothered to think about before. What a surprise to me that I could begin a project as a supporter, and then turn around my views. I now see where the opposers are coming from. There are just too many problems and considerations to think about before this could ever happen, and there are alternate solutions. I cannot say that this has given me a complete turn in the opposite direction, but I am definitely leaning toward the opposing side except in extreme circumstances when nothing could ever help the patient.

Self Presentation

Self presentation When you meet someone for the first time, it comes to your mind a certain impression about him or her. On the other side, that person also takes a certain impression about you. This impression might be positive or negative. It depends on how you present yourself to others. Unfortunately, the first impression is sometimes unfair because the person you meet for the first time may take a wrong impression about you. For example, my friend told me that before we became close friends, she was thinking that I am arrogant, but when she became close to me, she discovered that she took a wrong impression about me.In fact, I am not sociable and I don't take the initiative in getting to know others. That is why those who do not know me well think i am arrogant, but that is not true about me. The first impression whether it is true or not may affect the way you treat people and how they treat you forever. For example, I fall in love with someone. When we first meet each other, h e told me that he belongs to the royal family. Later, I discovered that he was lying to me. I know that he is from the upper class and he belongs to a prominent family, so there was no need to lie about his family name.Actually, because of this lie, I took an impression about him that he is not trustworthy, so we broke up. In most cases, the first impression lasts forever, so you should present yourself in a good image. To make others take a good impression about you, you must consider the following; First, be yourself. Don't tell anything that is not true about you. Show your real personality. Second, take care of your appearance. Your dress should be clean and appropriate to the customs of society in which you live. Moreover, be careful in your appointments.If you attend the meeting on time, you will get others’ respect because it shows that you care about them. In addition, smile to your audience, keep eye contact when you speak and listen and Speak clearly to let your aud ience understand what you say. Furthermore, choose your words which express what you want to say correctly. In short, we all should present ourselves in the right way to let others take a good impression about us in order to make relationships last longer. Samira Said Al Hajri. Assignment 1. Social psychology_D1.

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Photography - Coursework Example According to Alain Briot (2005), Photography is "both an art and a science". He explains that "Photography allows us to express our feeling and emotions, but to do so we need to master the scientific part of the medium. Unlike a painter, who is in direct contact with his subject and his canvas, a photographer is separated from his subject by the camera and from his "canvas" by computers and printers today and by darkroom equipment previously." (Briot, 2005). But not all of Photography can be considered to be art as Briot (2005) states that "an artistic photograph is created when technique is used to express a vision and an emotion, not when technique is used for its own sake." As we will see there has been a long and heated debate over the issue whether Photography can be considered to be an art form or not. Even in the present many people don't think that Photography can be an expression of art. But the influence of Photography has been exerted in the art world since its invention by a French lithographer called Joseph Nicephore Niepce in 1827 when he captured the view outside the window of his house on a metal plate coated with bitumen (Weiss, 2001). Its invention didn't stopped there and it was improved by Daguerre later on after Niepce's death. The French government gave away this invention as a gift to the world as Sanford L. Weiss clearly explained it in his article "A History of Photography": "In 1839 the French government purchased both the patent it had granted to Niepce and the one they had granted to Louis Jacque Mande Daguerre for a process by which he was able to capture images on silver coated copper plates. The French presented both inventions to the world as a gift and news of the discoveries spread rapidly." (Weiss, 2001). There was an evolutionary process in which Photography was highly improved, and many different inventions helped Photography be available to the masses. It was easy to capture any moment just by clicking a button, and the exposure time was greatly reduced. The popularization of Photography has enriched our lives in many ways, but the controversy around its artistic status has been very prolonged along the way. Richard Pitnick gives a detailed account of how Photography has earned a prestigious status as an art form in a long article entitled "The Emergence of Photography as Collectible Art. As we can see from this account, it has not been easy for photographers along the years to establish themselves as artists and to make their works known. It has been a long process that began in the second half of the 19th century when one photographer sued another in 1862 in France according to New York Times Photography critic Vicki Golberg, who was interviewed by Linda Grace-Kobas for a Cornel l Chronicle article. Grace-Kobas found out the following facts from this interview: "In its first decision, the French court ruled that only art could be copyrighted, and since Photography was not art, it was not subject to copyright

Hominid activity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hominid activity - Research Paper Example farensis, the â€Å"Hadar Skull† and the "First Family," all discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia in 1974, 1992 and 1975 respectively and the Laetoli Footprints discovered in Tanzania by Mary Leakey in 1978. ‘Lucy’, the first A. afarensis find at Hadar, Ethiopia,  in 1974, dated at 3.2 million years old. The primary indicator of Lucy’s sex being female was the wide pelvic opening. Lucy had both ape and human features: the creature had apelike facial proportions that included a flat nose with a protruding/projected lower jaw suspending small canine teeth; had smaller braincase (approximately 1/3 in size to that of the modern man); had bipedal characteristics with divergent big toes such as those used by the modern apes. Additionally, Lucy had an upward-pointing shoulder joint and a hand with a powerful wrist and curved fingers (PBS, Riddle of the Bones: What did they look like?). With a near-complete set of fossilized backbones as well as an intact upper leg bone, the discovery revealed that Lucy was about three-and-a-half feet tall. The creature had scars of muscle attachment on her skeleton suggesting that Lucy was strongly built. It had both ape like and human fe atures that included long dangling arms. The above features indicate clearly that Lucy (A. afarensis) was an upright walking creature, but also lived on trees-evidenced by suspensory features of the dangling arm (the upward-pointing shoulder joint as well the divergent big toes). A sensational discovery at the time, the 75 long trail of crisp Laetoli footprints- discovered by Mary Leakey in 1978 was a great deal of breakthrough in resolving the debate surrounding the bipedal nature of the early hominids. The maker of the footprints lived approximately 3.6 million years ago walking across wet ashfall. According to the records from the Matriarch of fossil hunting Leakey family, the Laetoli Footprints were footsteps of at least two (possibly three individuals) with certain apelike characteristics: had a

WILDLIFE TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

WILDLIFE TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA - Essay Example The international wildlife tourists however comprise of such people who are mainly keen of conducting tours inside Africa (Avitourism in South Africa, 2010,pp.12-13). The target market identified for the marketing plan presented here accounts for 21000 to around 40000 wildlife tourists visiting the region on an annual basis. Domestic tourists comprise the major chunk of the wildlife tourist population and range from 13 to 24 thousand while the international tourists account for 8 to 16 thousand people on an annual basis. These target groups accounting for making wildlife tourism in South Africa render around 1025 to 1975 billion rand to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product on an annual basis (Research and Analysis Report, 2010, p.9). The report therefore intends to provide a clear-cut plan to attract these tourists by strategies in marketing and promotion and therefore add to the economy in terms of revenues as well. WILDLIFE TOURISM IN SOUTH AFRICA – A Marketing Plan Ma rketing Plan for Promoting Wildlife Tourism in South Africa South Africa is home to a large amount of biodiversity spread along its natural parks and wildlife habitats and accounts for drawing visitors from a worldwide base. This activity of ecology based wildlife tourism in the region helps in drawing huge revenues for the South African economy. In South Africa the amount of tourists coming to visit the wildlife sectors accrue to about 79 percent of the total number of tourists visiting the region on an annual basis. In terms of economic value the wildlife tourism in South Africa account for around 50 percent of the total amount of income generated from tourism activities. To attract the tourists visiting the South African region for their interest in wildlife, the South African government has rendered space for the development of natural parks, which hosts a large number of flora and fauna. These natural parks help in hosting a large number of tourists in several rest camps contai ning both lodging and hotel facilities. An example of a national park in the South African region is the Kruger National Park, which helps hosting a large number of tourists in both caravan and camps along with other guesthouses and guest cottages. These latter ones are built to present to the visitors a huge variety of opportunities to live and enjoy their tour. These hotels, rest houses and guest camps are designed in such a fashion as to provide to the people dwelling and food based on international standards. Estimates made show that only the Kruger National Park in South Africa draws around 1.4 million wildlife tourists in the region. This national park also helps to accrue huge amount of revenue for the South African economy. Estimates made show that on an average annual basis the national park amounts to around 40 million dollars of revenue for the South African government (Spenceley, 2006, pp.652-653). It is found from the above discussion that the impact of wildlife tourism in South Africa has helped the development of the economy of the region. The marketing and promotional activities designed would help greatly in enhancing the growth of wildlife tourists in the region, which would thereby augment the revenue patterns of the economy. However the marketing and promotional activities that would be taken to enhance the development of wildlife tourism in South Africa by helping in attracting large number of tourists must be developed in an organized fashion to optimize the utilization of available resources. Thus the design of the marketing plan for developing wildlife tourism in South Africa must function on the basis of the following agenda. Firstly the marketing plan

Ideas of parenting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ideas of parenting - Essay Example t children should be left to be with just guidance and not using force to perfect as they are capable of making their own choices and loving them even in adulthood with just the right amount of motivation and guidance and this will build their self-esteem. A Chinese mother controls the lives of her children in every aspect. She acts like a dictator and her parenting style is that of an authoritarian parent. Her children are just supposed to listen and act as they are told and their opinion does not count. In fact according to Chua’s article, children are just supposed to accept everything they are told and not talk back or even question as this leads to negative consequences (Chua, 2011). This is the absolute opposite with the Western mother who lets her children be without using any force on them. Her parenting style can be termed as authoritative and can be compared to a democratic leader who allows the others to make suggestion and just guides them in these decisions or contributes to the ultimate final ruling after negotiations. These children raised by western mothers are allowed to state their opinion, express their likes and dislikes hence coming to a compromise with the parent (Rosin, 2011). Children raised by Chinese parents are not allowed from the word go to be children in the true definition of the term. They are not allowed sleepovers, participate in plays in school, engage in play time with others or even just be allowed to learn from their own mistakes. Their every decision and action is controlled and decided for them by their parent down to the type of musical instrument they will play, what grade they will get and nothing else. These children therefore do not get to develop a positive self-esteem. Some of them later resent their parents for their stolen childhood, they resent the music they were forced to play and even grow up bitter (Chua, 2011). The opposite is true for a western style of parenting. Children are allowed a lot of time to

Law of Torts Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Law of Torts - Coursework Example To achieve the purpose, this paper shall first trace the test that have been developed overtime through the decisions of the courts, examine their shortcomings, and finally conclude on the extent to which it is possible to establish a single duty of care. Before the plaintiff proceeds any further to elicit evidence of the carelessness, and damage resulting from the conduct of the defendant, the defendant must establish that the defendant owed him a duty of care. But how does one establish that they are owed a duty of care? The traditional approach has established the duty of care to exist in certain special relationships, such as doctor/patient, lawyer/client and manufacturer/consumer. However, for certain fresh cases, test must be applied to establish whether the duty of care exists. The court has over time developed a rich jurisprudence over the tests that are applicable to establish a common law duty of care. Several tests have been developed to apply to particular set of facts. . .. But to what extent is it possible to formulate a single test? Lord Bridge, in Caparo V Dickman2, recognized that traditionally, â€Å"law finds the existence of duty in different specific situations each exhibiting its own particular characteristics. In this way, the law has identified a wide variety of duty situations, all falling within the ambit of the tort of negligence, but sufficiently distinct to require separate definitions of all essential ingredients by which the existence of the duty is to be recognized.† Duty of Care Tests: How it Has Developed over Time Prior to Donoghue V Stevenson, duty of care, to find negligence was normally on a case by case basis. It was normally owed in only specific and defined circumstances, such as those established under a contract. The modern quest for a single general principle that can be applied to all circumstances to determine the existence of a duty of care can be traced to Brett, M.R, decision in Heaven V. Pender,3 where he stat ed that, â€Å"whenever a person is by circumstance, placed in such a position with regards to another, that every one of ordinary sense, who did think, at once recognize that if he did not use ordinary care and skill in his own conduct with regard to those circumstances, he would cause danger of injury to the person or property of the other, a duty arises to use ordinary care and skill to avoid the danger.† However, other judges did not concur with this decision fully. It was later extended by Lord Atkins in the Donoghue case. He stated that the above decision was too wide. Lord Atkin held that for a new duty to arise, it has to have a pedigree to a scenario that had already been examined and classified by the court, stating that, â€Å"when a new point emerges, one should ask not whether it is

Women Issues Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Women Issues - Assignment Example This concept of feminism is usually occupied with the activities which aim at providing knowledge on the unfairness and biasness that are experienced in the male dominated societies. For a clear execution of their duties, feminists use various theories that strive to understand the origin and structural construction of the gender inequality by examining the feminine social roles and the general women life. In this context, we can refer feminism as a social spectrum, which incorporates aspects like the pursuit of various schemes and fantasies, delusional feminist aspects to the rationality concepts, all aimed towards advocating for the recognition and application of women rights principles (Rauchut 341). The broad term of feminism can be narrowed down to address the existence of two groups; gender feminists and equity feminists. These two feminism categories differ in their principle ideologies behind governing their advocating for recognition of feminine roles in a society. The ideol ogies behind these types of feminism were first coined by Hoff Sommers in her famous writings. According to Sommers, gender feminism focuses on the interaction between the society and the cultural gender roles performed by women within the same social setting. On the other hand, equity feminism is associated with equal rights and equal treatment of women in the society. In its practical application, gender feminism has been labeled as bad feminism because it deals with the questioning of the fundamental rules of the society. On the opposite side, equity feminism is credited because it is occupied with the purpose of advocating and supporting the aspect of equal rights to every member of a society. The principles of gender feminism do not question the idea that women should stay at home and play their cultural roles. This type of feminism is only occupied with the aspects of equity and other legal issues. Contrary, gender feminism questions the ideas of cultural roles played by women within a social environment. It seeks to achieve cultural equity among women and men. At this juncture, we will focus at the equity feminism, which is the most dominant contemporary feminism at modern times (Rauchut 349). In every society, those individuals and groups fighting for gender equality con be heard complaining of numerous issues which they are not satisfied with. Therefore, equity feminists are constantly pushing forward their grievances to the relevant authorities for recognition. The equity feminist grievances are mainly centered on the economical, social and legal issues affecting the female members of the society. Some of these complains include the aspects of women reproduction like use of contraceptives and abortion, divorce, equal payment at workplaces, child custody and maternity leave in their occupational duties. Early equity feminists advocated for equal economic opportunities when it comes to divorce. The argued that a divorce should benefit the victim woman the same way the marriage benefited her. Secondly, feminists claimed that abortion was discriminatory based on the economic capabilities of women. In their campaigns, they advocated for provision of economic assistance to poor women who needed to carry out an abortion by the relevant authorities. In addition, these feminists also fought for equality in terms of salaries and wages to men and women in the economic sector. In case of a divorce of a family who had a child, the mother should not be left to bring up the child on her own. The child’s father should contribute towards the financial upbringing of the child, and the child should remain under the mother’

Midterm Learning Reflection Essay Example for Free

Midterm Learning Reflection Essay Introduction. You should print this out, although you may also use it as a template to type over. You will be writing two reflections this term: a midterm reflection and a final reflection. The final reflection is the one you want to have ultimately on your portfolio. Both your midterm and final learning reflections must be 700 to 1000 words, which is approximately two to three MLA-formatted pages. You can check your word count by going to Tools/Word Count on the menu bar. Style and Format. The writing style of the learning reflection is primarily expressive, but will also contain narrative elements. You do not need a Works Cited page unless you cite something. So, if, for example, you cite song lyrics, one of our texts, a poem, or even a work of art, then you need a Works Cited page. I’ve included one here to serve you for formatting purposes. File formats. We are going to be learning how to convert Word documents to pdf format so that they load more easily in a browser window. If you can, please practice with one or both of the following two methods, which are what I use (they are free). 1. Install a free pdf converter. These are not truly â€Å"free† in that they either force you to look at some advertising or they add a line on each page advertising the manufacturer of the software. I don’t have a problem with either of these and gladly suffer through the free advertising every time I convert a file to pdf, which I do all the time. The one I use to create all the pdf files for my classes is at http://www.pdf995.com/download.html. Download both the Pdf995 Printer Driver and the Free Converter (they are both free; they are required to work together, but for some reason, they are two separate downloads). After you go through the download and installation process, every time you want to create a pdf file from Word, all you need to do is select File/Print and then chose PDF995, which will show up as a â€Å"printer.† When you initiate this process of creating a pdf file, you will be prompted for a place to save the file, as well as a file name. Be careful to save the file to your H: drive or, if to your C: drive, to ftp (transfer) it over to your H: drive later. You will notice that some advertisements come up as the conversion process occurs. That’s the â€Å"price† you pay for the free conversion software. 2. The other pdf-conversion method I like is to use the free OpenOffice word processing software. This software should be in our labs. You can also download it for free on your own computer, from http://www.openoffice.org/. This is basically an open-source version of Microsoft Office. Once you’ve installed it (it’s large and takes a while to install), you can open any Word document with the OpenOffice word processing program (Open Document). Some of the original Word formatting may be lost – especially the header information with your last name and page number. You will need to add that back in; be sure you do it correctly. When you’re satisfied with the format, there is a little pdf icon on the toolbar that you can click, and that will automatically convert the document to pdf format. Learning Reflection Content. What should you discuss in your reflection? In general, you discuss what you’ve learned, what you’ve done especially well, what you’ve enjoyed – and the challenges you’ve encountered and how you might make changes in the future. Here are some suggestions for what to write about: †¢ Your experience transitioning from high school (or wherever you were previously) to a freshman in college, focusing on how you have grown as an individual and an independent student. †¢ Your experience in this particular course – your year-long freshman inquiry. In this regard, you should probably focus on the University Studies goals and the ways in which you have grown and developed with respect to those goals. I would expect that other courses have also contributed to the goal areas, so you might want to highlight any that have been particularly useful in that regard. †¢ Other experiences as a student here at Portland State. Portland State University’s mission is â€Å"Let Knowledge Serve the City,† which reflects the fact that we are an urban university. What have you learned with respect to community, diversity, and the connection between a learning community (the university) and the city in which it is located? Keep in mind that you may have acquired valuable experiences outside of the classroom, but still connected to your identity as a student. o Perhaps you have learned important lessons about discipline and time management as a student athlete, which may serve you well when you enter the workforce. o Maybe your involvement in activities with other students – such as taking dance classes or playing in the band or spending hours in an art studio or toughing out chemistry and physics labs – has improved your personal skills and brought to light new areas of interest, which you’ve pursued in your free time. o Or perhaps you’ve found out that you are a loner, that you haven’t connected very well with a lot of the people in your classes. As you reflect on this (or any other conclusions that some – maybe you – might consider, well, depressing), think of this is an opportunity to think of ways to make some changes in the future. †¢ A reflection, in other words, should include a self-assessment element as well as thinking along the lines of â€Å"What could I do better or differently in the future?† Consider the challenges you’ve faced, how you’ve overcome them, or how you’d like to overcome them in the future. Conclusion. Your reflection should end in a way that gives the reader the sense that you are closing up a chapter in your life and ready to move on, with some ideas in mind of what you might do differently. My suggestion is that you do not spend a lot of time critiquing the world around you; after all, you can’t change that very much. Confine your reflection to you and what you have learned and experienced. Dwelling on what you don’t like about a given course or program is not a reflection about you, but about something else. Works Cited Eakin, Paul John. How Our Lives Become Stories: Making Selves. Ithaca and London: Cornell UP, 1999. Fiske, John. â€Å"Popular Culture.† Critical Terms for Literary Study. Ed. Frank Lentricchia and Thomas McLaughlin. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. 321 335. Harrison, Claire. â€Å"Hypertext Links: Whither Thou Goest, and Why.† First Monday. 7 Oct. 2002. 10 Feb. 2004 .

Impact of Information Technology Outsourcing

Impact of Information Technology Outsourcing Introduction Information Technology Outsourcing (ITO) will continue to have a major impact on all organizations and will over time increasingly becomes an integral part of the organizations strategy. Various aspects within the metamorphosis of ITO will be covered but not necessarily detailed. ITO has become a global phenomenon. Globalization with some distinct drivers in technology evolution has reshaped the market place and given rise to the advent of the digital age. Sustainable competitive business strategy will need to embrace this opportunity and will need to seek enablers to exploit it. IT, by virtue of the web and broadband communications in particular, allows an organization to fulfill this need. Further decrease in costs communication, increase in broadband capacity and web collaborations accelerates the process. Definitions Outsourcing has variously been defined by scholars in the Information Systems (IS) literature as follows: â€Å"The significant contribution of external suppliers in the physical and/or human resources associated with the entire or specific component of the IT infrastructure in the user organization.†(Loh and Venkataraman,1997) Outsourcing occurs when third party vendors are responsible for managing the Information Technology components on behalf of their clients. IT Outsourcing means handing over the management of some or all of an organization’s information technology (IT), systems (IS) and related services to a third party.†(Willcocks et al.,1998) †¦business practice in which a company contracts all or part of its information systems operations to one or more outside information service suppliers (Hu et al., 1997, p. 288) â€Å"Outsourcing is the handover of an activity to an external supplier. It is an alternative to internal production†(Aubert et al.,2003) â€Å"IS sourcing† is the organizational arrangement instituted for obtaining IS services and the management of resources and activities required for producing these services (Dibbern et al., 2004 , p. 11). Therefore outsourcing involves the transfer of the responsibility for carrying out an activity (previously carried on internally) to an external service provider against agreed service levels at an agreed charge. History ITO has received great attention for scholars and researchers since the mid 1990’s but it’s been around for a while as per the examples below: 1963 – Electronic Data Systems (EDS under Ross Perot) signs an agreement with Blue Cross for handling of its data processing services. Mid-1980s EDS signed contracts with Continental Airlines, First City Bank and Enron. 1989 – Kodak outsources its IS function to IBM, DEC Businessland (â€Å"Kodak Effect†) being the most notable example. More recent developments (Kern and Willcocks 2000, Ross and Westerman 2004, Kishore 2003, Kaiser 2004, Lander 2004, IBM 2004, Smith and McKeen 2004), suggests motivation is more strategic in nature with the goal of improving the business’ competitive advantage. It’s clear that ITO is not quite a new phenomenon but increasingly more prominent in this era where it is prevalent in almost every facet of business. The industry evolved from monolithic mainframe to pervasive computing. A survey of the London Stock Exchange FTSE Index over a period of three years found a generally positive relationship between high levels of outsourcing and enhanced stock market performance. Reasons for outsourcing Organizations adopt ITO for various reasons (Turban et al, 2006). The ever dynamic evolution within the IT sector grants great opportunity to business. The following reasons were invariably most common as per numerous surveys done and researched globally: Cost reduction This has been the foremost reason to outsource as senior executives’ only views the IT function as a noncore activity and a necessary cost to be minimized. Economic pressures are also external factors that lead to advent of ITO. Lacity and Willcocks(2001) explains that cost savings are no longer a major reason for outsourcing. Focus on core competency Business deems IT as a cost centre and excludes it from its core strategy. With increased shareholder demands organisations feel they need to refocus on broader business issues other than technology. Organizations places more focus on their â€Å"core competency† business (Field, 1999). Access to specialist expertise and technology Highly skilled labour comes at a cost and also the technology and is also not readily available. ITO is not only for cost savings but as a tool for utilizing state of the art expertise and technology through their service providers (Field, 1999). However of late, the companies with strong IT capabilities, such as IBM, Microsoft and SUN, are also outsourcing some of their IT functions to concentrate on their core-responsibilities and reduce costs to the economies of scale. Decision Making In the past, organizations used frameworks and models as guidelines for assessing their current state and determining future strategic actions (Gorry and Scott-Morton 1971, Nolan 1973, Luftman 1999, Venkatraman and Henderson 1993). More organizations are considering ITO as part of their strategic thinking. Organizations use ITO as a method to reduce costs, achieve efficiency and flexibility but many don’t realize the benefits due to bad decision making. ITO decision-making is a process and requires careful scrutiny before being finalized. ITO decision making process addresses a wide range of issues, such as economical (eg., financial feasibility), technological and political .This process starts with an in-house assessment of the IT capabilities which should highlight to management activities that can potentially be outsourced. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity, Threats) analysis could be used to substantiate the need whether ITO can possibly be used to negate those threats and weaknesses or whether at all necessary to explore ITO. The facts gathered should include a baseline and evaluation of the current environment which should be made available for executive management approval. Knowledge within the strategic decision at this higher level can thus be descriptive (know-what), procedural (know-how) or reasoning (know-why) (Fahey et al., 2001; Holsapple Singh, 2000). Case studies within surveys conducted by M.C.Lacity,L.P.Willcocks and D.F.Feeny published in the Sloan Management Review(Spring 1996) summarizes the ITO process. The abovementioned reasons were most common in their samples. Scope of sourcing Sourcing is often referred to in IT literature as outsourcing. The research delineates four categories of sourcing: Total outsourcing is where all IT activities including assets and management become the responsibility of a third-party vendor. Total insourcing refers to the in-house management of IT activities where external or internal staff is used with the buying in of the vendor resources to meet a temporary need. Vendor resources are only used to supplement the internally managed teams. Selective sourcing locates selected IT activities to vendors while the customer remained responsible for delivering the result and will be held accountable. De facto insourcing uses internal IT departments to provide products and services that arise from historical precedent, rather than from a reasoned evaluation of the IT service market. Considerations of sourcing Critical review of above categories found that the all-or-nothing approach ( total outsourcing) characterized by long-term(5 years or more) deals can lead to trouble after a few years as exemplified in the case studies due to: Senior Management approach ITO like any other make-or-buy decision where ubiquitous IT applications across business functions complicate matters. Lost alignment between business and IT strategies. Failed promises to access new technologies. Processing power cost depreciates at an average of 20 percent annually due the IT capabilities evolvement. And contractual costs soared greater than market prices. Termination of such contracts was found to be prohibitively expense. Research found that those who approach ITO in all-or-nothing terms either incur great risks or forego the potential benefits of selective sourcing. Reasons for ITO can be categorized as two dimensional and based on: Purchasing style refers to contracts to either be once off or an expectation of business for many years. Purchasing focus refers to companies buying resources from vendors, such as hardware,etc, and manage the delivery of IT themselves or vendors manage the IT activity and the organization expect the specified results. The result is four distinct categories will be representative of whether ITO is required as figure 1 represents. The figure also represents a decision matrix for business and guide for an effective strategy. A decision in selecting what can be outsourced usually distinguish between the contribution that IT makes to the business operations and it’s impact on competitive advantage. ITO was primarily domestic but has now evolved due to globalization and can also be categorized now by variance of service provider distance. The same reasons apply globally for ITO. On-shoring refers to the outsource vendor located in the same country of the customer. Near-shoring refers to the outsource vendor located geographically close but not in the same country. Off-shoring refers to the outsource vendor located offshore and possibly on a different continent and time-zone. Managing ITO Once the scope and type has been identified,the vendor selection process will be initiated by soliciting via Request for Proposal(RFP). Not all service providers are equal as all offer different types of services like: IS consultancies/solutions providers services in all IS functions Systems houses system integration Hardware vendors – hardware platform Ex-IS departments industry specific sourcing Development houses – develop software Generic outsourcers manage functions, especially infrastructure Freelancers There are also important criteria to look for in your service provider. Appropriate outsourcing experience and proven customer satisfaction track record. Accredited in application of best practices such as ITIL with the necessary evidence. Adequate numbers of skilled labor. Scale and geography to fulfill the organizations needs. Prepared to be flexible to you organizations needs, ie plan with current staff. Upon selection of the ITO partner, an outsourcing contract provides a legally bound, institutional framework in which each party’s rights, duties and responsibilities are codified and the goals, policies, and strategies underlying the arrangement are specified. Selective sourcing allows for flexibility within the short contracts. While some organizations realized their benefits in ITO, others have not been able to achieve benefits due to poor staffing of the IT function, poorly written service level agreements (SLA), lack of outsourcing experience on the client side, poor project management skill, poor technical infrastructure (especially in some offshore cases), and lack of trust (Jennex and Adelakum 2003, Lacity and Willcocks 2001). A contract alone is insufficient to guide outsourcing evolution and performance since it involves repeated inter-organizational exchanges that become socially embedded over time.This is why ICT outsourcing is very challenging and often a painful process!! Governance is fundamental to outsourcing relationships. Tracking SLAs and ensuring compliance to contracts are critical to controlling costs and setting minimum performance requirements. It is therefore important to ensure that the ITIL framework,starting with support management, are implemented to ensure that the IT aligns with business with the necessary metrics in place. Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology (COBIT) framework will ensure that all policies should be enforced, especially adherence to security. Critical Success Factors in an outsourcing relationship that should mitigate risk: Define a strategy with measurable goals within your SLA to ensure the relationship don’t lose momentum over time. Exercise due diligence to establish a baseline for the relationship. With the adoption of the ITIL Framework,adopt a comprehensive change management strategy. Always keep senior management involved to ensure that adherence to policies and procedures. The right metrics and regular reporting build confidence and help sustain relations. As per the Tuckman’s stage model the relationship should grow like a team and evolve in stages. Stage one is the Insourcing stage where organizations buy only a few IT functions or services from external vendors on short term contractual agreements. Only a few IT activities are bought from outside parties, generally less than 5% of the entire IT operation. Stage two is the Forming, or experimenting, stage. In this stage organizations engage in sporadic outsourcing of IT activities. Sourcing activities may be between 10-20% of the entire IT needs in the organization. Stage three is the Storming stage; it is regarded as a transition stage. At stage three organizations need to make a decision either to pursue outsourcing actively or to keep on experimenting. Stage four is the Norming stage. At this stage organization have already made a decision to pursue IT outsourcing actively and have established some norms, methods or processes for IT outsourcing within the organization. The reason for outsourcing could be either cost focus or desire to improve internal efficiency. Outsourcing could account for up to 40% of IT activities. The last stage is the strategic focus stage. In this stage IT outsourcing is part of the corporate strategy and it is not based just on cost reduction or IT improvement but is a strategic decision to use IT outsourcing within the entire organization as part of corporate strategy. Benefits from ITO Offshore outsourcing holds more advantages than disadvantages with: IT outsourcing to India helps to leverage from immensely intelligent, skilled and dedicated resources at reduced labor. Opportunity to expand service levels beyond ordinary. 24/7 Productivity has given rise to the â€Å"global delivery system† where development in particular could be done around the clock or â€Å"overnight† in a collaborative model. Choice of accredited vendors indicates that best practices are applied which should result in increase quality of service. Best-of-breed technologies accompanied by best practices should decrease the latency on time-to-market. Conclusion All factors for outsourcing was highlighted in would thus mitigate risks and highlight benefits.The future of outsourcing include service-oriented architecture (SOA), green IT, the changing role of practitioners and what the future holds for convergence of technology and business process. The ITO market would thus become more specialized and modular. Offshore ITO has also grown due to the bandwagon effect where other organizations just take advantage of the options prompted by others. Numerous surveys in outsourcing indicates that Offshore Leaders are Canada, India, Ireland, Israel, Philippines Up-and-comers are Brazil, China, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa. Rookies are Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Thailand, Ukraine Reverse sourcing is a new trend in global business where offshore outsourcing is reversed to near-shore outsourcing but not primarily for cost factors. This trend is more evident in call-centers as customers prefer dealing with agents proficient in their language and culture. References Apte, U. M., Sobol, M. G., Hanaoka, S., Shimada, T., Saarinen, T., Salmela, T. and Vepsalainen, A. P. J. (1997). IS Outsourcing Practices in the USA, Japan and Finland: A Comparative Study, Journal of Information Technology, Vol. 12, pp. 289-304. Bansal, V. and Pandey, V. (2003). A decision-making framework for IT Outsourcing using Analytical Hierarchy Process, Kampur, Indian Institute of Technology Buchanan, Steven (2006). â€Å"A framework for business continuity management† International Journal of Information Management, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 128-141, Apr 2006 Corbett MF (2004)- The outsourcing revolution, Dearborn Trade Pub Dibbern, J, Goles,T, Hirschheim, R, Jayatilaka, B (2004). Information Systems Outsourcing: A Survey and Analysis of the Literature. The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems – 2004 (Vol. 35, No. 4). Felton JD (2008)- The Art of Outsourcing Information Technology,AuthorHouse Gallivan, M. J. and Oh, W. (1999). Analyzing IT Outsourcing Relationships as Alliances among Multiple Clients and Vendors, Proceedings of the 32nd Annual International Conference on System Sciences, Hawaii. Gottschalk P (2006)- Knowledge Management Systems: Value Shop Creation,Idea Group Inc (IGI) Greaver MF (1999)- Strategic outsourcing: a structured approach to outsourcing decisions and initiatives,AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn Gupta A (2008)- Outsourcing and Offshoring of Professional Services,Idea Group Inc (IGI) http://is2.lse.ac.uk/asp/aspecis/20040001.pdf http://sloanreview.mit.edu/the-magazine/articles/1997/spring/3834/beyond-outsourcing-managing-it-resources-as-a-value-center/ http://www.eds.com/about/history/timeline.aspx http://www.iitk.ac.in/ime/veena/PAPERS/icsci04.pdf Hu, Q., Saunders, C. and Gebelt, M. (1997). Research Report: Diffusion of Information Systems Outsourcing: A Re-evaluation of Influence Sources, Information Systems Research, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 288-301. Khosrowpour M(2003)-Advanced Topics in Information Resources Management,Idea Group Inc (IGI) MC Lacity, LP Willcocks, DF Feeny (1996)- Sloan Management Review http://hickeyj.googlepages.com/p5.pdf Mcivor R (2005)- The Outsourcing Process,Cambridge University Press Michaelides P -Reasons Leading to the Ineffectiveness of Information Systems Outsourcing in Minimising Costs,Universal-Publishers Schniederjans AM,Schniederjans DG(2007) Outsourcing management information systems,Idea Group Inc (IGI)

The Islamic communication

The Islamic communication Overview of the Theory: The theory basically points out the defects that are present in the existing theories of media and communications, they being predominantly western and secular in their approach have certain inconsistencies when applied in the Islamic world. It talks about the establishment of a professional association of Muslim journalists to give the Islamic world a voice that they consider to be appropriate in the media. Fundamentally the Islamic view of the world is based on five principles of (1) tawhid, (2) amrbi al-maruf wa nahyan al munkar, (3) ummah, (4) taqwa, and (5) amanat which are also explained in the theory. These five principles are not only the basic governing and guiding factor based on faith for the common Muslims but also for an Islamic state and hence will also be the elements that if an establishment of Muslims journalists is formed will use. The theory also then explains how the Muslim state or the Ummah is different from the present understanding of a nation state or politic al entity in the western world. From an Islamic perspective, therefore, this theory concludes that linguistic and political vocabularies and concepts, now at the centre of global politics, both celebrate the arrival of a new communication age and hold the key to ultimate information control (Mowlana, 2007). The Principles of an Islamic State and Media Theory Tawhid (Faith) Tawhid or faith as understood in the literal sense of the word implies the same thing in Islam. Even though the term has a deeper meaning than the regular interpretation. Tawhid in Islam means the acceptance of the Oneness of God. This implies in the religious context that there is no other power capable of doing anything without the will of God and hence it mandates the total submission of will to God. Since Islam is not just a religion, but an entire way of life. What this basically means is that, the spiritual aspects of the religion are not separate from the social, political, economic as well as personal aspects of a persons life. Hence, while in some other religions, which are classified as spiritual and a separation between the religious aspect of life and all the others can be established, in Islam it cannot be so. A Muslim is not considered a Muslim if he just following the spiritual aspect and not the social, economic and political aspects of the religion. It stands for the necessity of exclusive servitude to God, and it negates any communication and messages, intellectual, cultural, economic, or political, that subjugates humankind to creatures. The principle of Tawhid also negates any right of sovereignty and guardianship of anyone over human society except God. Society can be expected to be free from all deviations and excesses only when the affairs of society are delegated by a Power Transcendental to an individual or a council of rulers, with a power commensurate with responsibilities within the Islamic legal framework. Thus, all man-made laws and ethical codes that arrogate judgment to them, or to any authority or institution other than in obedience or enforcement of Allahs Own Judgment, are void. Therefore, all man-made laws, communication contents, mass media, and public forums that attempt to put restraints upon Allahs sovereignty must be void. Under the principle of Tawhid, another fundamental ethical consideration in tabligh becomes clear: the destruction of thought structures based on dualism, racialism, tribalism, and familial superiority. The function of communication order in Islamic society, according to the principle, is to break idols, to break the dependence on the outsiders, and to set the ummah or community in motion toward the future. Thus, one of the important functions of tabligh is to destroy myths. In our contemporary world, these myths may include power, progress, and modernization. Personalities as they represent these must not be super-humanized and super-defined. One of this dualism, according to this principle, is the secular notion of the separation of religion and politics. (Mowlana, 2007). Amr bi al-maruf wa nahyan al munkar A second principle guiding the ethical boundaries of tabligh in Islam is the doctrine of amr bi al-maruf wa nahyan al munkar or commanding to the right and prohibiting from the wrong. Implicit and explicit in this principle is the notion of individual and group responsibility for preparing the succeeding generation to accept the Islamic precepts and make use of them. Muslims have the responsibility of guiding one another, and each generation has the responsibility of guiding the next. The Quranic verse explains this: Call people to the path of your Lord with wisdom and mild exhortation. Reason with them in the most courteous manner. Your Lord best knows those who stray from His path and best knows those who are rightly guided (16:125). These points out the responsibilities of Muslims in guiding each other, especially those individuals and institutions that are charged with the responsibilities of leadership and propagation of Islamic ideals. This includes all the institutions of soci al communication such as the press, radio, television, and cinema, as well as the individual citizens of each community. Thus, a special concept of social responsibility theory is designed around the ethical doctrine of commanding to the right and prohibiting from the wrong. This concept has taken on an extra dimension of its own in the Islamic communities and societies through history since Islam as an all-inclusive systematic religion is an interrelated set of ideas and realities covering the entire area of human notion and action, beliefs and practices, thought, word, and deed. This is particularly important in light of the fact that Islam is not only a set of theological propositions, as are many other religions, but is also a set of comprehensive legal frameworks that govern every action of the individual in society and in the world at large (Mowlana, 2007). Ummah (Community) A third fundamental concept in determining the nature and boundaries of tabligh and that of social ethics, particularly as it might relate to the political life of the individual and Islamic society, is ummah or community. The concept of ummah transcends national borders and political boundaries. Islamic community transcends the notion of the modern nation-state system: an Islamic community is a religio-economic concept and is only present when it is nourished and governed by Islam. The notion of community in Islam makes no sharp distinction between public and private; therefore, what is required of the community at large is likewise required of every individual member. Accordingly, the ummah must be exemplary, setting the highest standards of performance and the reference point for others. In the Islamic ummah, the sovereignty of the state belongs to God, and not to the ruler nor even to the people themselves. The ruler or leaders are only acting executives chosen by the people to serve them according to the Law of Islam and the concept of Tawhid. Under the ummah, Islam has a new concept of community. One of the most important aspects of ummah is that Islam does not differentiate between the individuals as members of its community. Race, ethnicity, tribalism, nationalism, have no place to distinguish one member of the community from the rest. Nationalities, cultural differences, and geographical factors are recognized, but domination based on nationality is rejected. It is the individual and its relations to the community that is valued; however, this relationship alone is not the sole purpose in itself, both the individual and society must make their relationship clear to God: Are the individuals in society against God or under God? Taqwa (piety) A fourth principle outlined here to explain the ethical framework of journalism in Islamic societies is the concept of Taqwa or, roughly translated, piety. In Islamic societies, Taqwa is commonly used in reference to individual fear of God and the ability to guard oneself against the unethical forces which might surrender the environment; however, the concept of Taqwa goes beyond this common notion of piety. It is the individual, spiritual, moral, ethical, and psychological capacity to raise oneself to that higher level, which makes a person almost immune from the excessive material desires of the world, elevating the individual to a higher level of prophetic self-consciousness. The assumption is that human beings possess in their nature a set of divine elements which are other than the material constituents that exist in animals, plants, and inanimate objects. Human beings are endowed with innate greatness and dignity. Recognizing that freedom of choice is a condition for the fulfilment of obligation, the person is held responsible to perform his or her obligations within the Islamic framework of ethics. In short, it is recognized that human beings perform some of their actions only under the influence of a series of ethical emotions rather than with an intention of gaining a benefit or of repelling harm. Thus, as a virtue and as an important element in the ethical framework of Islamic communication both on the individual and community levels, Taqwa should be the underpinning ingredient in almost every action of a Muslim. Amanat (Responsibility) The fifth and final principle outlined in this article is the concept of Amanat. The term Amanat signifies great responsibility which the Almighty God has imposed on the human being for his or her deeds in this world. The most relevant view of this concept as it may apply to the conduct of the press and the media is that Amanat refers to Divine Vicegerency for which human beings alone are fit and none else can share this honour with him. The Holy Quran says: Surely, we offered the Amanat into the heavens and the earth and the hills, but they refused to hear it and were afraid of it, and man took it up. Verily, he (human beings) as unjust and ignorant (xxxiii: 72). Thus, human beings fitness for Divine Vicegerange is lower, conditioned by the fact that he or she must practice the lofty code morality which brings him or her to the Supreme Being. Off all the created beings, human beings are certainly the best and noblest (Ashraf-ul-makhlughat). Here, it may be noted that rights and obligations are interdependent. Serving the public interest, therefore, becomes one of the principal ethical duties of the media. Amanat means obligatory duties (faraiz). One aspect of Amanat is that is can only be given to one who has the capability and power to shoulder the burden of its responsibilities and fulfil the commandments of Allah. Thus, in Islam, real progress of moral and not just material, for the latter refers to the transitory things of life. The liberty in Islam has quite a different meaning from that understood in the West. It is neither a prerogative nor an absolute right of the individual. Hamid Mowlanas Take on Communication A number of studies on international communication over the last several decades reveal two essential characteristics. One is the ethnocentric orientation of mass communication systems of the highly developed and industrialized nations, and the second is the asymmetric circulation of information in the world. These two characteristics dominate the world mass media system and indeed are responsible for uneven treatment of events, imbalances in news and information, and also the unequal distribution of power in the world system. It is precisely here that a need for professional code of ethics among Muslim journalists around the world seems imperative, and their creation of a network of professional world associations both timely and inevitable. From the Islamic Revolution in Iran to the occupation of Afghanistan by the former Soviet Union, from the Persian Gulf War to the American invasion of Iraq, the last two decades have witnessed profound and worldwide revolutionary movements of an Islamic nature as well as systematic and continuous conflicts which have embraced Muslim lands. The developments in the Islamic world not only have been reported during this period with a good deal of bias, distortion, and ethnocentrism by non-Muslim media but also the great portion of what has been reported has been provided mainly by the Western media and journalists. Research shows that 99 per cent of world events do not come to the attention of readers simply because they are eliminated and considered as unimportant or irrelevant by the media. The Islamic world, in particular, has been on the receiving end of a good share of this modus operandi. A cursory look at the list of existing media and journalist associations around the world quickly shows how the media are organized and mobilized on the basis of nationality, regionalism, ethnicity, and even religious premises and are among the most active nongovernmental organizations around the world. Yet, remarkably, today, there are no professional associations of Islamic journalists which can set professional and ethical criteria for news reporting, protect the rights of individual Muslim journalists, and promote education and training of young men and women who represent a major source of human resources for Islamic culture and civilization. Why should there be an organization of Muslim journalists? Islam is not only a religion but also a total way of life for millions of people around the world. Unlike other major cultural systems, Islam transcends geographical as well as racial and ethnic boundaries and strives for universality of human kind. In short, the socio-cultural elements inherent in and among the Islamic community, ummah, provide a common ground and outline a necessity for the type of news reporting that is vital to understanding events in the world community. Such a network of Muslim journalist and media associations and professional organizations also can play an important role as vanguards and promoters of professional aims within the existing systems of international organizations. A network of professional associations, thus, not only can enhance the exchange of information among and between various geographical areas known as the Islamic world but also can stimulate the ongoing mobilization of journalists and their common interests. Principles of the Association It must be recalled that news values in the Islamic world differ considerably from the general news values in the non-Islamic world and, more specifically, the West. For example, take the concept of so-called hard news common in the Western media with its five Ws syndrome of what, when, where, why, and who which is promoted as universal. The real problem is that the recipient of such five Ws news never is allowed to conceive of news as a whole but only in fragments because the structure of the whole is at odds with what is considered hard facts. The priorities given to news values in the West, such as human interests, proximity, novelty, consequence, and prominence, are totally different from those valued in Islamic contexts. For example, the notion of proximity in the Western media primarily is a geographical as well as spatial concept. To apply this concept, in its orthodox sense, to the Islamic world would eliminate news coming from distant places such as Indonesia, China, Africa, or Latin America when the media and its audiences are located somewhere in the United States or the Middle East. Proximity in an Islamic context is neither geographical nor spatial but rather cultural-that is to say, events of the Islamic community of ummah are and must be relevant to the entire Muslim world regardless of nationalities and countries. The factors of human interest or prominence are by themselves not adequate justification for reporting of news in the Islamic context. News and information for the ummah are social commodities and not cultural industries. Analysis of the Propositions Even though the idea of having a unified singular association of Muslim journalists as proposed by Hamid Mowlana does seem appealing, there are certain points which if not taken into context can result in more chaos and instability than the pre-existing conditions. Mowlana emphasis the establishment of the association on the basis of Islam however, he fails to mention which form of Islam that is being followed currently will be the guiding factor for this association. Since it is pretty clear that there are more than 70 different sects of Islam currently being followed in the world and mostly the political scenarios are shaped by them, it will be difficult to come to a consensus. Since this is a matter of religion, it will be going against Ones faith if any of the principles are compromised upon. The predominant clash can be seen between the Shia and the Sunni. And we can see the problems that are happening on the political scenario in Iraq due to this very difference. Also, then there are variation of within the Sunnis and the Shias. This problem as he proposes can be taken care of by establishing it on the basis of the Quran and the Sunnah. That however, will also leave us with at least five different interpretations of Islam. Which can be se en in his own works Although the official religion of Iran is Islam and the Twelver Jfari school of Shia thought, other Islamic schools of thought, including the Hanafi, Shafii, Maliki, and Yazdi schools, are to be accorded full respect, and their followers are free to act in accordance with their own jurisprudence in performing their religious devotions. (Mowlana, 1996: 175) Another important issue that Mowlana has not tackled properly in his theory is the various cultural differences that are there due to the geo-political scattering of the Muslims. Since by its very nature the association will be established to cater the need of the Muslim population throughout the globe, it is necessary to take into account the differences that are there in the Muslim world. Perhaps the closest we have to anything called a Muslim news network is Al Jazira, and I say close as it is also primarily not a Muslim news organization, we can see that it also again focuses on the issues that are there at the core of the Arab population and hence is not directly catering to the needs of the Muslims in the world. How he proposes to solve such a problem is not clear in any of his works. With the other parts of the theory of Mowlana that there should be an Islamic view of communication is what I agree with. Since, as explained above the Islamic community is an Ummah and unlike other religions Islam is a complete way of life. Conclusions With a few reservations that I have to the theory of Mowlana and those are also with the establishement of the association of the journalists that he proposes. I also feel that perhaps taking the Islamic point of view on communication and especially the differentiation between Tabligh and Propoganda is necessary for the world that we are living in. We are currently facing a crisis as to where Islam is being targeted as a religion that is one of the primary reasons for the absence of peace in the world and hence it is necessary that we show the Muslim perspective on the various events occurring in the world. References Khiabany, Gholam (2003) De-westernizing Media Theory, or Reverse Orientalism: `Islamic Communication as Theorized by Hamid Mowlana, Media Culture Society 2003; 25; 415 Mowlana, Hamid (1979) Technology versus Tradition: Communication in the Iranian Revolution, Journal of Communication 29(3): 107-12. Mowlana, Hamid (1989) The Islamization of Iranian Television, Intermedia 7(5): 35-9. Mowlana, Hamid (1993) The New Global Order and Cultural Ecology, Media, Culture Society 15(1): 9-27. Mowlana, Hamid (1996) Global Communication in Transition: The end of Diversity? Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Mowlana, Hamid (2007) Theoretical Perspectives on Islam and Communication, China Media Research, 3(4), 2007 Mowlana, Hamid (1997) Islamicising the Media in a Global Era: The State- Community Perspective in Iranian Broadcasting, in Kevin Robins (ed.) Programming for People: From Cultural Rights to Cultural Responsibilities. United Nations Television Forum, New York, 19-21 November. Report presented by RAI-Radiotelevisione Italiana. Mowlana, Hamid and Laurie Wilson (1990) The Passing of Modernity. London: Longman.

What is Asbestos? Essay -- Environment, Minerals

INTRODUCTION Asbestos has been used since prehistoric times and there is archaeological evidence from Finland, pottery containing asbestos fibres dating from 2500 BC (Mcculloch, 1986). Where asbestos fibres were mixed with clay to form stronger ceramic utensils and pots (Benarde, 1990), the ancient Greeks used it to make lamp wicks and other fireproof items. However, the romans wove asbestos fibres into fabrics to make towels, nets and even head coverings for women (Asbestos Diseases Society of Australia, 1995, p.10). The substance was known to be inextinguishable or unquenchable. Though, asbestos had been around for thousands of years, mass use of the product became popular in the 1800s (Mcculloch, 1986). It was made up of non-flammable fibres and was very sturdy. Also, it was used in homes, businesses, and schools. Asbestos is a dangerous fibre, because its fibres become airborne and can be inhaled or swallowed (Lu & Kacew, 2009). Over time, it can cause both chronic lung conditions and fatal f orms of asbestos cancer. (Benarde, 1990; Mcculloch, 1986). In the early 1900s to 1980s doctors in Europe discovered that workers were suffering from the respiratory diseases (Benarde, 1990), for the reason that they worked in heavily polluted asbestos containing atmospheres, excessive numbers of them became cases of asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma, because the workers were exposed directly or indirectly in virtually any occupation, even those who worked in offices (Benarde, 1990; Mcculloch, 1986). Furthermore, employees who worked for asbestos ship building, construction, mining, and other factories whose products used asbestos were also getting ill (Mcculloch, 1986), asbestos fibres were also being brought home on employee's cl... ...ially in asbestos mining. A lot of the victims of the disease had worked directly with asbestos; nevertheless, these people got their exposures in the shipyard, construction trades, and buildings as well as from the contamination of their homes and communities. As a result it occurred that nearly the uncontrolled use of asbestos progressively increased the population at risk from few thousand asbestos workers to millions of people in the general population. The employers and employees who worked in the asbestos reduction industry continued to alert on the handling of the human carcinogen. However, the rules and regulations were put in place to ensure safety and protection of the workers. Sufficiency protective equipment and training were provided, medical surveillance programs by conducting routine examination of all the workers who worked with asbestos.