Sunday, January 26, 2020

Relationship between the mind and the brain

Relationship between the mind and the brain For centuries, philosophers and scientist have been trying to solve the problem of the mind-body (brain). The most prolific of the minds has wandered sleeplessly, trying to solve the mind-brain problem, yet, the mysteries behind our skulls remain hidden. This paper is an attempt to address the causality problem of the mind and the brain. Firstly, an overview over the philosophical theories will be done. Subsequently, evaluation of certain scientific findings which may hold the answer will be carried out. Finally, the essay will end with a conclusion about these findings. Part of the problem is whether one, (the mind or the brain), could plausible exist given the existence of the other. If this is the case, how are they associated? Does a relationship exist or are they two distinct realms. Many philosophers and scientists have made an attempt to explain and resolve the mind-brain problem. Two major philosophical theories have been proposed as a solution; dualism and monism. Followers of the dualistic theory argue that there are two fundamental entities mind and brain. The mind and the brain functions separately, without interchange. Conversely, monistic advocates, instead, argue that there is only one reality and the mind and the brain are formed from, or reducible to, the same ultimate substance or principle of being. The former, however, is hard to contradict and/or support scientifically and therefore is not popular amongst scientists and psychologists (Valentine, 1992). However, in recent years, a third explanation, pluralism, has emerged. Plural ism is a mix of both monism and dualism. It argues that there is one fundamental reality but it may display different aspect of the reality. In order to evaluate whether a relationship exists between the mind and the brain in the first place, we need to know if what the mind is. One explanation of the concept of mind is (1) conscious experience and (2) the system or program that governs behaviour (Valentine, 1992, pp. 21). For the simplicity, we will consider consciousness as the definition of the mind. However, we need to first explain what consciousness is. In psychology, consciousness is defined as our relative awareness of ourselves and our environments. Additionally, it is subjective for an individual, has changeable intensity and we have a sense of ourselves and our consciousness (Passer Smith, 2007). Consciousness has been studied using modern tools such as fMRI or PET. These studies have showed activation in several brain areas for a stimulus that is normally associated with a certain brain area (Dehaene Naccache 2001; Haier et al., 1992). Global workspace theory suggests that the otherwise independent brain reg ions functions as network enabled by the consciousness (Baars, 2002; Baars, 1997). Additionally, observational studies have indicated that certain brain injuries (blindsight, visual agnosia) have resulted in the loss of aspects of consciousness (Goodale, 2000; Kentridge et al., 2004; Weiskrantz, 2002). If we then assume that the mind is conscious experience, does the mind control the brain or is the mind a result of neural activity? Libet, Gleason, Wright and Pearl (1983) found that neural activity precedes conscious experience of indenting to act (the so-called readiness potential, RP). In a replication of this study by Haggard and Eimer (1999), awareness of movement followed a later module of the RP, the lateralized readiness potential (LRP). LRP represents the neural activity over the motor cortex in the hemisphere that controls the opposite side of the body. Haggard and Eimer (1999) suggested that awareness of movement may arise from neural processes linked to the selection of a n action to follow a certain goal. Additionally, part of the medial frontal cortex has been identifies as being responsible for intentional actions. Conversely, Haggard Libet (2001) note that the delay of conscious experience to the actual experience itself may be due to the P-centre phenomenon (Morton et al., 1976 c.f. Haggard Libet, 2001)., which originally refers to that the perceived onset of a acoustic words delays its actual onset, and seems to be drawn by the centre of the word. It is argued that this can be equally applied to internal events as intentions might also be extended in time. Haggard Libet (2001, pp. 7), argue that the earliest stages of that process could perhaps precede the LRP onset. However, new findings on cellular memory may oppose the notion consciousness being located only in the brain. A Japanese research group showed that an amoeba learned the patterns of a series of shocks at regular intervals and accordingly changed its behaviour in anticipation of the next one to come. Remarkably, the memory stayed for hours, even then the shocks stopped. A single renewed shock after a silent period left the plasmodia expecting another to follow in the same rhythm it learned earlier (Saigusa, Tero, Nakagaki Kuramoto, 2008). Additionally, these amoebas could also negotiate mazes and solve simple puzzles (Nakagaki, Yamada, TÃ ³th, 2000). The implications of these studies could go so far that it could be argued that consciousness may arise from some cellular or sub-cellular level of organization rather than nerve circuitry. There have been cases where organ receivers have unexplainably inherited traits which were not there prior to the transplantations. Although these cases are arbitrary and vague and there may be several other plausible explanations, the stories are interesting and may lead to some serious scientific investigation at some point in the future. On the other hand, conscious experience alone can not account for the mind as a majority of our behaviour also occur unconsciously. Jaynes (1986) listed several things such as, size, brightness, etc. that is preserved by our nervous system under widely varying environmental changes of light, distance etc. Additionally, consciousness is not necessary for learning. Conditioning, for example, is often subtly induced by some stimuli without our awareness. In fact, being conscious during conditioning hinders the effect of it once we are aware of the eventuality (Razran, 1971 c.f. Jaynes, 1986). If we, instead, discuss the concept of mind in terms of a system or program that governs behaviour (Valentine, 1993, chapter 3, pp. 20), the mind can be attributed a totally different role. It is established that the frontal lobes has a major role in our personality. The prefrontal cortex has a superior role in the neuropsychological system. It has access to a vast amount of information that is sto red and is processing in the brain. Additionally, it is able to directly and indirectly control activation of the cerebral resources. In particular, the dorsolateral region of the prefrontal cortex has been identified as being responsible for coordination, psychological control and executive functions. The motor and sensory network is closely weaved together with the area, which enables it to have full access to information about the condition of the own body and the surrounding world as well as having the opportunity to integrate with the environment. It has also a close relationship to the orbital cortex, which is associated with our thoughts, decision-making and behaviour influenced by emotional and social values of situations as it has a high number of interconnections with the limbic system. Damage to the dorsolateral region is characterized by loss of the ability to take initiative, psychological independence and integrity. The patient becomes passive, impulsive and aimless. S he is not able to mobilize and orient attention or thoughts in an organized manner. However, as prefrontal cortex is highly complicated, it has been difficult to closely investigate exactly what sort of psychological work that bark area executes, which has made this part of the brain a riddle to be solved (Eriksson, 2001). Considering these facts and the fact that the dorsolateral cortex is highly situated in the hierarchy of the brain, it could be argued that the area is the place where the mind resides. In this sense, the mind is an extension and the superior of the brain. Evolutionary speaking, this would make sense. According to Paul MacLean, three distinct brains emerged successively in the course of evolution and co-inhabit the human skull. These are, in evolutionary-time order, reptile brain, limbic brain and the neo-cortex (Holden, 1979). These three parts do not operate independently of one another; rather, they have established numerous interconnections through which they influence another (Passer Smith, 2007). In a similar way, the mind might somehow evolved in parallel with the neo-cortex. Nevertheless, in brain surgeries on monkeys showed bluntness in all of aspects of their emotion. Myers (c.f. Eriksson, 2001) noted the animals loss of noises, facial expressions and, general, all forms of communication. The animal, generally, suffers from hyperactivity, mutism and behaves like an automat. However, the idea that the prefrontal cortex is the seat of the mind lacks any real scientific support or research as it would be very difficult to determine how it is possible as the mind is a non-physical substance. Yet, future minds, with the assistance of perhaps new and more advanced technology may find a way to tackle this issue. In sum, we have first used consciousness as the definition of the mind and tried to address the relationship of consciousness to the brain. Scientific evidence has supported the notion of brain activity causing consciousness. However, these studies have had some methodological issues which need to be dealt with. Additionally, we have established that consciousness alone may not account for the mind as many of our processes also occur outside awareness. Instead, we have identified the prefrontal cortex as the seat of the mind. However, this is hard to prove and explain at present time. In conclusion, the sort of a problem the mind and brain is makes it difficult to construe and study scientifically as it is hard to conduct decent experiments on. For now, science needs to mature further in order to answer whether a relationship exists between the mind and the brain along with the direction of the relationship.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Cohesion in English Essay

The study of cohesion in English is concerned with a relatively neglected part of the linguistic system, which is the formal understanding of text construction and the ways in which parts of the text are interrelated so that meaning can be understood as one in relation to another. It is an interesting way to see the ways in which the sentences are constructed in order to avoid ambiguity and turbidity of the conveyance of meaning (Halliday and Hasan 1976; Taboada 2004). A principal component of the study of ‘cohesion’ is that which arise from semantic relations between sentences. Reference from one to the other, repetition of word meanings, the conjunctive force of ‘but’, ‘so’, ‘then’ and the like are considered. The work describes a method for analysing and coding sentences, which is applied to specimen texts (Halliday and Hasan 1976; Taboada 2004). According to the work of Hasan and Halliday (1976) about the heuristic and semantic study of language, in terms of how the texts cohere, there are five devices of cohesion that govern the unity of a passage, sentence or an idea. The five categories of the devices of cohesion in English are namely: reference, which can be anaphoric, cataphoric and exophoric; substitution, ellipses, conjunction and lexical cohesion. These types or rules are inherent in most of the ways compositions are constructed in order that they will achieve a certain degree of unity and fluidity. In many ways, the models of cohesion, the devices and rules, allow for a mathematically tautological description of text with regards to its natural relation to some of its other parts contained within the same (Halliday and Hasan 1976). In the text provided below for analysis, the five types of cohesion occur several times if not in a lot of occasions. However, prior to dissecting the passage into any of these tools of cohesion, it is important to understand what the text is entirely about in order that the main idea is revealed to serve as guide to the discovery of the aforementioned categories of cohesion. It would appear that the passage is an autobiographical account of someone’s experiences and observations of previous visits and stay in Birmingham. On this particular occasion the author confides his own impression of the kind of hustle and bustle the city is known for and how he relates it to the image of teenager’s bedroom. Along with descriptions of disarray yet harmonic organization of the city, he recalls one of the times he has been in the city. At that point, he starts to talk about the meeting with a friend. He moves then from a general view of Birmingham into a more specific locale of the city: the neighborhood of his friend Mike Walter. Through this, the author was able to explain more of what Birmingham is like by going in-depth. Furthermore, the author tells us about the kind of culture they have in Birmingham, for instance, how the locals are ‘affectionately’ called—the ‘Brummies’, and likewise, their love for autos and highways. It is obvious the author tries to keep within his central idea or thesis in the entire narrative. He did not stray far afield his main topic, albeit some of his digressions were a bit lengthy and varied. Instead, each side-note and anecdotes only improves and completes the image of what we have about Birmingham city thus far. To go into technicalities, we now look at the model of cohesion in English. There are five devices in the model. The first device of cohesion is called reference, which has three subcategories, namely the 1) anaphoric, 2) cataphoric, 3) exophoric references. The first can be characterized as the device of reference which occurs when the writer points back to an already named or identified object with another word to avoid repetition. Instead of saying the particular term over and over, another word is used in the next phrases to mean the very same thing or object. For example, the author’s view of Birmingham is referenced by the word ‘that’ – ramshackle of factories, warehouses, container yards, transport depots, workshops, chunneys, tower blocks, offices – which are ‘all’ thrown together as if by accident. The word ‘that’ referred to the view of Birmingham, likewise, the word ‘all’ referred to the images concomitant to such a view. The second is quite like the reverse of the first where the object that is being referred to comes after the use of the word that refers it. The use of cataphoric reference is seldom used. It is usually employed to achieve a dramatic effect as if the purposeful delay in disclosing the information would heighten the feeling of suspense and intrigue (Hoey 1991). The object is introduced by a word that is general and later is clarified by naming the object itself. At the first paragraph, the sentence employs the same cataphoric effect in withholding whatever that ‘it’ means. Later on, its reference is revealed at the end of the paragraph whereby the ‘it’ becomes the â€Å"train† (the turn of phrase is therefore imbued with an enhanced degree of dramatic delay). The third type of reference cohesion is the exophoric—literally meaning ‘coming from the outside’. In other words, the reference is neither contained in the passage nor will the reader ever find out for certain what, who, when and where the reference word is referring to. Although the third bears some similarities with the cataphoric reference cohesion, it is largely set apart and differentiated to such by the very fact that in this device of cohesion, the reference is usually general and broad in character. Unlike cataphoric reference, exophoric takes the intrigue, so to speak, to another level by using abstract and vague terms that practically would mean anything or everyone, as the case may be. The reader will never be able to identify the object being referred to in so far as an exact name or category is not given (Hoey 1991). The phrase â€Å"there were very few of us there† in the subsequent paragraphs is a good example of exophoric reference. While the reader may infer that the word ‘us’ refers to the people whom the author met in an assembly called the Birmingham Rep—where ‘they’ exchanged casual chit-chat and intellectual ruminations to pass the time, it is never sure what sort of bunch the word ‘us’ is actually composed of. With only the exception of author himself and his friend Mike Walters, ‘us’ could virtually mean any group of two or more persons with varying and distinct personalities and localities, and perhaps hailing from across different parts of the country. All of which the author fails to mention in exact details. Another device of cohesion is called an ellipsis. It is a device that could either enhance the reader’s understanding of the text or it could perhaps confuse it. Ellipsis occurs when after a more specific mention some words are stricken off when the phrase needs to be repeated. Accordingly, long lists of the same class to describe an object may be stopped short or left to hang in the middle of the sentence thereby suspending the train of the thought of the reader and allowing him to imagine for himself the next logical addition (Hoey 1991). Following the ellipsis is the device cohesion that is a bit similar to the ellipsis but instead of leaving out the word completely, a substitute word is used. Take for instance the phrase â€Å"cities are cities, and in this one there is a lot to see†. The word ‘one’ effectively substitutes the word city and that city would refer to Birmingham. Notice that ‘one’ is general yet it still is able to represent Birmingham by means of the preceding information about cities being cities. Substitute cohesion is a double reflection of a general reference of a specific object. Put differently, substitution is two degrees away from the original object as it only substitutes, perhaps, the anaphoric reference cohesion, for example, in a text. The fourth device of cohesion is conjunction, or words that connect or divide phrase by relating them to one another through a temporal, causal, coordinating, adversative, additive or discourse markers. These are the points of the texts which prompts the reader that the following passages are merely continuation of or branches to the previous statements (Hoey 1991). Even with the usage of punctuation marks and sentence gaps, the reader is guided through the next sentences or paragraphs because of the conjunction markers. Furthermore, conjunctions are used to make sure that the sentences cohere and are not left a stranger of sorts to the other. Conjunctions connect them all in one unified piece (Hoey 1991). Conjunction occurs often times in any text. In the particular text that is to be analyzed here, the words ‘before’, ‘always’, ‘and’, ‘also’, ‘first’, ‘just as’ and so on are used generously in the entire narrative. This is so because the entire text does not disassemble itself with loosely or unconnected thoughts and ideas. Otherwise, some of the digressions would be seen as impertinent and meaningless. And lastly is the lexical device of cohesion. This is the repetition of words throughout a text, or even in a single sentence, that are ejusdem generis or under the same class or category. It can form relational patterns through the entire passage which would help the reader clearly perceive a singular theme that the author wishes to present. In most cases, this construction of the text is akin to the ideas of rhetorical parallelism, wherein repeated or similar words are said in a way that will sound naturally cohesive and unified (Hoey 1991). This device is used well in the assigned text wherein the ‘view of Birmingham city’ is referred to repeatedly as an image, example and representation. It becomes clear that the whole passage revolves around Birmingham city, and it does not lack in describing in full detail how it looks and what it is like to the author. Lexemes, in the manner it was used, made the passage appear as a solid and complete whole without insufficiencies or other facts that beg further clarification. All in all, the five devices of cohesion in the English language are excellent tools for both the writer and the reader to come up with a crystal clear understanding and appreciation of any composition with the proper use of logical connectives and semantic devices as those discussed. These rules of cohesions also help in correcting certain logical errors and clarifying ambiguities, on top of making sure that the text is readable and understandable. What is to be avoided are entire sentences and paragraphs that do not appear to belong together simply because they do not cohere. In other words, cohesion in English will prevent nonsensical and shoddy writing above and beyond anything else. However, there is the question of whether or not these devices of cohesion may be able to account for the different idioms and the modern slang of English. While it is true that the puritans have a point in preserving the formal qualities of the language, it is inevitable that certain phrases and sentence construction will evolve into strange forms of communication, conveyance and presentation which could well probably be just as comprehensible and clear as its regular counterpart in formal composition. The slang and idiom are major limitations to the model of cohesion in English precisely because they do not follow a strict logical pattern. Moreover, their usages vary from across different subcultures and multi-contexts. It would be interesting indeed to find out how these devices and categories will still be able to keep up with the ever-changing rules on grammar and semantics. Perhaps other additions to the categories would be necessary in the future to make for a better way to read and write in English. Just as other languages like Russian, German, French, Spanish (Taboada 2004) or even Chinese do not possess all of the inherent idiosyncrasies of the five categories of cohesion and may even employ other styles not mentioned by the work of Halliday and Hasan (1976), English slang may have its own nuances and jargon that must also be respected and welcomed in formal, modern rhetoric. It now remains a novel and intriguing question how this is to be achieved.

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Alphabet Fun At New York City - 1070 Words

Alphabet Fun in New York City â€Å"Hi!† Livi greeted with a smile and a wave of her hand. â€Å"I’m Livi and this is my sister Jojo.† She said, gesturing to her sister, who stood smiling beside her on the crowded sidewalk.†We’ll be your tour guides today.† Jojo said, while Livy added, â€Å"We love to travel and find things in each city that represent letters in the alphabet.† The two walked down the street, sky scrapers reaching up to the clouds on each side of them. â€Å"Today we are in New York City and you guessed it, we are starting with the letter A! Livi said excitedly. â€Å"A is for Apple – New York City is known as the Big Apple.† Jojo said, as they stopped on the corner of the street. â€Å"It’s believed that the origin of the Big Apple comes†¦show more content†¦Shortly after, they made their way back to Central Park. â€Å"C is for Central Park.† Jojo said, taking a picture of the entrance. â€Å"Central Park is an urban park in middle-upper Manhattan, within New York City. Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States, with 40 million visitors in 2013!† Livi said, watching the birds flutter from tree to tree. â€Å"It is also one of the most filmed locations in the world.† Jojo smiled, watching as a film crew went by. D is for E is for the Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on Fifth Avenue between West 33rd and 34th Streets. F is for Fifth Avenue G is for Grand Central Station Grand Central Terminal is a commuter, rapid transit railroad terminal at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. H is for I is for Island, as in Ellis Island Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, was the gateway for over 12 million immigrants to the United States as the nation s busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. J is for ` K is for L is for Liberty Island Liberty Island is a federally owned island in Upper New York Bay in the United States, best known as the location of the Statue of Liberty. M is

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

Cuban National Culture Cubas Original People - 1719 Words

The article first talks about the development and character of Cuban national culture: Cuba’s original people. It discusses the historical events that occurred in Cuba and how those historic events have shaped Cuba’s culture. It talks about the original tribes that were on Cuba’s land for decades, which were Taino and Siboney Amerindian tribes. They were originally one of the first groups to help shape the Cuban culture. After a while, Spanish invaders came to Cuba and took over the land and put its own set of rules and traditions. This is how Cuba got its mixture of cultures, between the Spanish culture, Armenian culture and African culture coming together in Cuba. Also, this section of the article talks about words that developed in Cuba from all the mixtures of countries and cultures. Kronenberg states in the article â€Å"Culture, nation and social cohesion: a scrutiny of revolutionary Cuba† (2008), that some of these words are â€Å"words like †˜hammock’, ‘manatee’, ‘yucca’, ‘hurricane’, and ‘tobacco’, which can be regarded as the ‘last surviving parting gift’ or ‘retributive curse’ the original inhabitants of the Caribbean offered to their Spanish captors†(pg. 51). This is a small interesting fact to learn about the early Cuban culture and to see where Cuba got some of its influences from and what they originally kept from those influential countries. The article â€Å"Culture, nation and social cohesion: a scrutiny of revolutionary Cuba† (2008), Kronenberg then discusses the entryShow MoreRelatedCulture, Nation And Social Cohesions : A Scrutiny Of Revolutionary Cuba1655 Words   |  7 PagesThe article, â€Å"Culture, Nation and Social Cohesions: A Scrutiny of Revolutionary Cuba† by Kronenberg (2008), first talks about the development and character of Cuban national culture: Cuba’s original people. The author discusses the historical events that occurred in Cuba and how those historic events has shaped Cuba’s culture. He talks about the original tribes that were on Cuba’s land for decades, which were Taino and Siboney Amerindian tribes. They were originally one of the first groups to helpRead MoreThe Historical And Intellectual Trends1746 Words   |  7 PagesModern Cuban culture cannot simply be defined in a singular fashion. The convergence of peoples from multiple ethnic and cultural backgrounds, ranging from the Iberia and Italy to Africa and China has significantly influenced the evolution of the unique culture of the Cuban population. However, of these, it is the Spanish and African influences that have very distinctly remained, shaping societal norms, and setting culturally artistic precedents. For Afro-Cubans however, the struggle to greater recognitionRead MoreA Summary of Cuba1975 Words   |  8 PagesHavana is one of the most architecturally diverse cities. In the beginning of the 20th century, Havana was an international influential powerhouse, enriched with art nouveau, art deco and eclectic design. This boom period was the turn in Cuba’s economical continuous changes throughout the times of change. Ever since Christopher Columbus’ arrival, Havana was the key location for shipments from the Old World and the New World. 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Action to grow in vacant lots began and resulted in what is now called organoponicos. In Micky Ellinger’s â€Å"Urban Agriculture in Cuba,† he cites that there are over 7,000 organoponicos and growing. In the city of Havana there are close to 2.1 million people, it houses more that 200 gardens and thousands of backyards and rooftops where people are practicing the sustainable food growing practice of urban agricultureRead MoreGeorge Orwells Animal Farm Essay examples2468 Words   |  10 PagesThe â€Å"more equal than others† connotates that equality can be added like a unit, and equality can essentially become unequal. The revolt’s later ideals do not align with the original idea of equality. Also in this defamatory tale, situational irony is used in an attempt to poke fun at our supreme totalitarianism. The original revolt revolved around the replacement of the â€Å"corrupt† humans with animals, but in the end, the reverse happenes. The farm animals discover that the pigs are walking on twoRead MoreBiography of a Runaway Slave3421 Words   |  14 Pagesdetailed account of a Maroon [escaped] slave in Cuban and Spanish American literature and a valuable document to historians and students of slavery (Luis, p. 200). This essay will explore how testimonial literature can help us better to understand past events. It will also examine problems inherent in interpreting personal testimony based on memories of events that occurred several decades in the past. Esteban Mesa Montejo discussed his past with the Cuban ethnologist Miguel Barnet in taped interviewsRead MoreNegotiations of the Cuban Missile Crisis6179 Words   |  25 PagesSoviet Union had limited range missiles that were only capable of being launched against Europe, but the United States possessed missiles that were capable of striking anywhere within the entire Soviet Union. 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Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Athlete compensation - 1936 Words

Athlete Compensation The idea of paying college athletes has been an ongoing debate since the early 1900s. With current television revenue resulting from NCAA football bowl games and March Madness in basketball, there is now a commotion for compensating both football and basketball players beyond that of an athletic scholarship. Because of the title â€Å"Student-athlete†, college athletes have the obligation to be a student first, and an athlete second and should not be paid to play. There have been ongoing arguments for the past decade of whether or not college athletes should be paid to play. Many argue that they do not have the time to get real jobs because the requirements for the sports that they participate in are far too†¦show more content†¦But frankly, the details of this agreement are well known by all involved, and rather strangely, no one seems to mind when signing them. Throughout the history of the NCAA, college athletes have always, in some way, received compensation beyond that of a full college scholarship (e.g., room and board, tuition, books). While such compensation is illegal, athletes like Reggie Bush and others receive under-the-table benefits as evidenced in the Slack survey (Sack). The public knows that this is happening, the other non-athlete students of the college know that it is happening, but if your team is doing goo people tend to just turn a blind eye. Aside of compensation, these athletes receive special attention and privileges from the school staff. Privileges that non-athlete students would not get, such as later due dates on assignments, extra help on work, or just exempting them from a project or assignment all together. Then adding on a dollar amount compensation to that would just add to the frustration that non-student-athletes feel. 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Everyone enjoys sports but does anyone ever stop to wonder how much goes into the preparation for those games? There’s much more effort that’s put into it other than just showing up for practice.Read MoreCollege Athletes Financial Compensation4427 Words   |  18 PagesNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) panel, to include its president Mr. Mark Emmert to modify the current NCAA amateurism by law 12.02.1 making it feasible for college athletes to receive financial compensation. The primary issue with the current regulation is that because of the rule many student athletes are living in poverty like conditions. The current by law is also affecting various aspects of domestic and Internati onal students ability to continue to meet eligibility requirementsRead MoreThe Ban On Student Athlete Compensation1426 Words   |  6 PagesRight now the ban on student-athlete compensation is insufficient and is not doing the student-athlete any good. Student-athletes should be paid for their efforts no matter what the rule has always been. These athletes hard work is being taken advantage of by the people around them. A change to a competitive labor market with less restrictions on student-athlete compensation might be a necessity (Sanderson and Siegfried). In 2013 a man by the name of Jay Bilas, an ESPN basketball analyst, loggedRead MoreFair Compensation For Student Athletes1554 Words   |  7 PagesResearch Paper: Fair Compensation for Student-Athletes It’s early fall 2014 and this year’s NCAA collegiate sports season has taken off like a full court press. Dedicated fans of collegiate football and basketball will crowd into stadiums or huddle around their TV to proclaim their allegiance to a school of their choice. Regardless of their declarations, many fans and spectators will be pleased by the seasons end when only a handful of schools are declared the winners and able to clutch one of theRead MoreCollege Athletes Receiving Compensation For Their Efforts1644 Words   |  7 Pages Emily Zatopek once said, â€Å"An athlete cannot run with money in his pockets. He must run with hope in his heart and dreams in his head.† This is relevant to the controversy that surrounds college athletes receiving compensation for their efforts in sports. College athletics have gained much attention and popularity over the past few decades. Due to these actions by sports fans across the United States, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is bringing in huge amounts of money yearRead MoreCollege Athletes Deserve Compensation Essay861 Words   |  4 Pagesprefer college. The only difference between professional and college athletics is the lack of payment to student athletes. The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) receives millions of dollars in revenue from college mens basketball and football, and college coaches of top schools are paid the same amount as professional coaches. Fans of both college and professional athletes can proudly show their commitment by purchasing jerseys or other merchandise. College basketball and footballRead MoreCollege Athletes Need Support Not Compensation1284 Words   |  6 Pages College Athletes Need Support Not Compensation Before entering college, high school athletes work very hard honing their skills, hoping for college recruiters come to their games to scout them. Parents are hoping that their athlete child gets a full scholarship to college which will unburden their parents and give their child an open door of opportunities to become successful. Once in college, the student works even harder training sometimes multiple times a day and even playing on a nationalRead MoreShould Colledge Athletes Receive Compensation for Playing? Essay756 Words   |  4 PagesAthletic Association, there are over 400,000 student athletes attending a university this year. Its a debate that has been going on for the last twenty years, Should student-athletes receive compensation for playing? This argument has gone on for a while, but recently received media attention, when the O’Bannon v. NCAA started taking place. Athletes believed that they were being exploited on video games, and believed that they deserved compensation for that. Now there are multiple sides to this debate

Monday, December 16, 2019

Selecting, Developing, Managing and Retaining Knowledge Workers Free Essays

Do HR departments have the right strategies to select, develop, manage and retain knowledge workers? As Peter Drucker recently quoted, the new knowledge economy will rely heavily on knowledge workers who are not, as a rule, much better paid than traditional skilled workers but also see themselves as professionals. Knowledge technologists are likely to become the dominant social and perhaps, political force over the next decades. Thus, it is very important to have the right strategies in place to select, develop, manage and retain knowledge workers. We will write a custom essay sample on Selecting, Developing, Managing and Retaining Knowledge Workers or any similar topic only for you Order Now But before we proceed to analyze if HR departments do have these strategies, we need to understand what the term ‘knowledge workers’ means. A knowledge worker is one who works primarily with information or one who develops and uses knowledge in the workplace. In a knowledge-driven economy, a knowledge worker is oriented more towards research, analysis and manipulation of the symbols, as in information, rather than the mechanical tools. These individuals have domain knowledge expertise and may include broadly: architects, finance experts, graphic designers, fashion designers, pharmaceutical scientists, researchers, teachers, and policy analysts, to name but a few. In order to focus on strategically critical knowledge workers, it is necessary to move beyond merely creating a supportive culture or a best place to work. Top innovators understand their worth. These workers are independent and entrepreneurial, for instance like the originators of eBay, Google and Facebook. To keep such people, it is necessary to make them feel like they are building their own businesses within the larger organization. This can be achieved partly by recognizing their status as thought leaders but it is also important to give them a stake in the new lines of business they develop. The bottom line is that organizations need to view key talent as partners, rather than as employees or â€Å"resources†. The balance of power has shifted such that highly skilled innovators need to be seen as partners or they are gone. In the past, human resources, training, and labor relations managers and specialists performed the administrative function of an organization, such as handling employee benefits questions or recruiting, interviewing, and hiring new staff in accordance with policies established by top management. Their task was to attract, motivate, and retain the most qualified employees and match them to jobs for which they are best suited. Today the role of human resources workers is more than just managing these tasks, but, increasingly, that of strategic planning in consultation with top executives. They have moved from behind-the-scenes staff work to leading the company in suggesting and changing policies. Many organizations claim to have a commitment to developing their employees and phrases such as â€Å"our people are our most valuable assets† are often spotted on motivational posters in companies. In my opinion, however, very few companies embrace a structured approach to training and retention programmes. HR departments may claim to have several strategies to select, develop, manage and retain employees, but what is important is that the psychological contract, which is vital to building and sustaining a win-win relationship, needs to be reinforced. Research shows that several well-intended training and development initiatives fail to deliver the desired results. In fact, during economic slowdowns the budget which is often the first to be cut back on is the training budget. Adopting a structured approach to employee training and retention requires a change in mindset at the very top-level of the organization. The entire issue of staff retention needs to be treated in a strategic way and this is where most organizations lack. The first step in the development of an employee retention strategy is identifying the pinch points for the organization, the areas where the company regularly suffers from a high staff turnover and the particular concerns and problems of the targeted staff groups. It is also important to have a clear understanding of the expectations and aspirations of your employees; only then can you develop the strategies needed to meet some of these aspirations and begin to develop a workplace that is a great place to work and employees who see the company as a good company to work for. A good retention strategy should address issues such as:   support in the workplace, progression, opportunities for development, remuneration, working time, and flexible working. The focus should be on retaining existing talent and keeping the available organizational knowledge intact rather than searching for new talents. The key to success will be the integration of training and development within the retention strategy. Training and development provides the means of supporting staff to operate effectively and enabling staff to access the opportunities provided by the retention strategy. Levels of remuneration and flexible working will signal the right environment but it is through using training and development as a mechanism to demonstrate investment in employees on an on-going basis that will turn an organizational commitment into a reality. The techniques and processes that help new hires learn quickly are also the techniques and processes that help retain organizational knowledge. Knowledge sharing techniques such as communities of practice, mentoring, lunch and learn sessions, business process maps, expertise directories of staff are just as useful for retaining organizational knowledge as they are for fast learning by new employees. A good knowledge sharing technique should address questions such as ‘What does it offer me? ’ ‘What does it offer us? ’ ‘What does it offer to the organization? Once these techniques fill the personal and group learning needs of staff, they will also evolve to sharing strategic information. Techniques such as communities of practice can be HR’s role in strategic information management for the organization. The success of an organization in its strategy will be judged ultimately by its success in engaging individuals in development activities, not in simply having them available. The key to success will be how relevant and appropriate the development activity is and how accessible it is to employees. It requires talent to retain talent. The successful employer of the future will be a keen competitor in the skills market. They will compete for the best recruits but not in terms of purely financial rewards but by offering them the best working experience, one that offers security as well as progression and personal growth. They will focus on retaining the available organizational knowledge and harnessing it to the maximum rather than on hunting for new talents. How to cite Selecting, Developing, Managing and Retaining Knowledge Workers, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

Environmental Sustainability Human Health -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Environmental Sustainability Human Health? Answer: Introduction Nike, Inc. is an American footwear manufacturing company that does business worldwide. 47% of the global sports shoes market is covered by the company and it is at the top of its business. The company generated 6% more revenue in 2016 than 2015 as total amount of 32.4 billion dollars were earned from worldwide revenue. In 1964 Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman founded the Blue Ribbon Sports that transformed into Nike in 1972 (Gibson, 2012). The company effectively promotes a strategic management and marketing campaign that primarily focuses on innovating and inspiring athletes shoes (About.nike.com, 2017). The organization operates in 700 stores in 45 countries outside USA. Their marketing strategies focus on maximizing the number of buyers so they offer various ranges of products for diverse number of people of different ages and background. Though the company promotes that everyone is an athlete and their products are suitable for everyone but the price ranges mostly highlights that th e company aims for the high income groups. Reebok and Adidas are two main competitors in the footwear market that demonstrates high competition for the company (Team, 2017). Strategic Foundations Nike, Inc. is leading the global corporate market in the footwear manufacturing area through their programs that are values their service providers, stakeholders, employees and customers. Nike claims to be the biggest seller of sports footwear in the world (Kell, 2016). The company acts as competitive enough in all the necessary areas footwear competition like reliability, price, product, quality, marketing, promotion, customer- employee support and performance. The mission statement of Nike says "To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world."The mission statement echoes what the founder Bill Bowerman said If you have a body, you are an athlete. The strategic goal of the company is well reflected by their mission statement as it aims to reach out to maximum number of global consumers with their sports apparel, shoes and equipments (Brohi et al., 2016). The analysis of the mission statement highlights that the main three components of the mission statement are inn ovation, inspiration and satisfying every athletes in the world. The management leadership sets a winner mindset for all the team members through their inspirational goal that reflects the slogan Just Do It (Anegon, 2014). Company strategic management involves continuous improvement of their service through applying innovative technologies and bringing new products at regular intervals. Vision Statement The company is also careful about its corporate social responsibilities as the CRS vision highlights that Nike is working in order to develop a sustainable economy that keeps the balance among the profit, people and planet (Newell, 2015). The company highlights that in the process of achieving desired sustainable profit the consumers takes a major role. The vision statement can be broken down in three parts where the initial part focuses on the consumer importance and satisfaction, then the stress is on the sustainable economy and third part is keeping the balance in the business (Teckchandani Schultz, 2014). The company ensures that it is not just the company that benefits from the business but everyone gets the benefits as well. Strategic Managers Nike, Incs Board of Directors includes multiple internal and independent directors like Philip Knight as chairman, Mark Parker as CEO and other independent directors like Timothy Cook and John Donahoe (Investors.nike.com, 2016). There are both independent directors and management directors present in the board of directors of Nike, Inc. the combination of both kinds of director helps the company to gain internal and external experiences (Burgelman, 2015). The outside helps the company to implement experiment and encourages the management to think outside the box. In the formulation and implementation of the designed and proposed strategies the board of directors plays the most significant role. Products Nike, Inc. produces various sports foot wears, sports related lifestyle apparel and other sports equipments. The initial product was just the running shoes but now the company makes shoes, shorts, and jerseys for various sports like Cricket, Football, Basket Ball, base ball and Hockey. Few most popular products by the company are Nike 6.0, Nike Air Max, Air Jordon and many others (Store.nike.com, 2017). The brand related itself with premium performance. Nike, Inc owns various other important companies like Converse, Hurley X, Jordon, Cole Haan and Bauer Hockey they together cover a significant part of the company annual revenue. Future plan By 2020 the company aims to generate 50 billion of revenue. In last 5 years Nike, Inc has increased its sales revenue by 18 billion as it reached to 30 billion in 2015, therefore almost 4 billion sales increase in each year (Forbes.com, 2017). The company had set their goal of 36 billion revenue for the year 2017 which is about to get fulfilled as predicted by the market analysts. The management has employed Adam Sussman as their first CDO or Chief Digital Officer who the company expects that will help to increase the revenue in e-commerce by 6 billion by 2020 (GalbRaith, 2014). The company has designed various apps like Nike+ and other fuel band apps that will help them to maximize the customer satisfaction through measuring it properly. The womens apparel is another area where the company aims to grow to 11 billion within coming 4 years. PESTLE analysis of Nike The macro environment which is external to any organizational structure is evaluated and scanned through the PESTLE framework (Gillam Siriwardena, 2013). Factors like political, social, economic, technological, environmental and legal form the PESTLE framework. Political Factors For any large organization the political factors play signification role in their survival and performance. The home country of the company that is USA government has always engaged in growth oriented policies that helped the company to get benefitted from the nations market. The American Government incorporates tax arrangements that are suitable for international competitive market, stability in currency exchange and the effective low interest rates (Whitehead, 2012). The government support is ever improving and supporting the organizational infrastructure. The free trade policies are expanding as well that helps the company to utilize the opportunity well (Houlihan, 2013). Most major markets where the company operates are politically stable that helps the company to business smoothly. However as Nike manufactures and sells physical materials, the changes in manufacturing or related tax laws are capable of affecting the business. The rising political conflicts in certain countries a ffect the process of importing and exporting difficult. Economic Factors The business performance of Nike, Inc. largely depends on the economic stability of the business location. There are three aspects of the economic domain that influence the companys performance. The developed market like the economy of USA provides the company with economic stability that develops a sustainable economic opportunity for the company (Summers, 2014). The developing countries like India is growing rapidly that creates opportunity for the company financial benefits as well (Maddison, 2013). However the Chinese economys fluctuation proves the company to become a threat for the company (Lu, Liu Rahman, 2017). The company utilizes the ever growing consumer demand through establishing brand equity. The local labors are given financial opportunities in underdeveloped nations by providing job opportunities and maintaining corporate social responsibilities (Whitehead, 2012). Social factors The world wide social awareness regarding health consciousness ensures the demand for the sports foot wears are ever increasing (Tilman Clark, 2014). The public wealth is expanding in the developing countries which are creating great opportunities for the company. In the Asia Pacific regions the company has exported most of its manufacturing. The use of labors with minimum wages including children affected the company reputation and CSR (Plambeck Taylor, 2015). To resolve and minimize such issues the company has engaged itself in greater transparency in keeping the manufacturing and human resource records and provides certain facilities to the manufacturers of certain locations. Also the company had published Memorandum of Understanding that clarifies its objectives and conducts to its subcontractors and suppliers (Child, Rodrigues Tse, 2012). In the modern globalized era of internet any wrong doing or ethical misconduct is likely to reach global public rapidly. Technological factors Nike, Inc. is incorporating innovative technologies in their marketing activities in order to ensure the sustainability of the good performance. The website like Nike iD assist the consumers with the opportunity to compare the foot wears at various prices and help them to choose the most suitable one (Yu Park, 2014). The website has proved to be the top personalization website in the sports wear industry (Nike.com, 2017). As the world has transformed itself into a more digital based system so the online payment system via mobile phones, help the company to achieve more customers (Purkayastha Rao, 2015). The digitalization enhances the work speed but also capable of reducing the employment and deteriorating the organizational work force. Legal aspects In countries like USA or UK the legislative framework is common for the whole nation so the organization has to face less intervention from the government in their organizational activities. However in countries like France or Germany the states operate in code based legal systems so the organization there has to consider interests of wider stakeholders (Legendre Coderre, 2012). The health-safety regulations and the consumer laws are expanding in the developing countries that are creating better opportunity for the company to perform better in the developing countries. The legal challenges from the past help the company to analyze certain situation and take precaution from any legal damages (Jennings, 2015). Environmental factors Most European countries and USA and in countries like Japan the environmental consciousness is really high. Nike, Inc. appointed multiple sustainability champions who are responsible to monitor the elimination of wastes and carbon emission in their projects in the home country and in the overseas (Kaplan Montiel, 2016). Most countries where the company is operating are improving and expanding their environmental laws that create huge opportunities for Nike. The climate changes also affect the lifestyle of the people that is potential to increase the demand of the companys products. SWOT Analysis of Nike, Inc. Nike has always proved to be a highly competitive organization with their innovative management and marketing strategies. The just do it slogan is reflects their strong attitude towards the business for maximizing the profit (About.nike.com, 2017). The company does not own any manufacturing unit as it outsource all its manufacturing activities overseas that helps them to gain maximum human and material resources at the cheapest price. By saving the high labor cost the management focuses more on the research and development for innovating and improving new services. The brand of Nike is globally recognized which proves to be a great strength for the company. The consumers trust easily on the brand so do the stakeholders. The resilience and quality of the Nike products is well known to the athletes and to the common man. When its competitors suffer from the market fragmentation the Unique Selling Proposition of the company helps it to race ahead of its competitors. Weakness The company majorly depends on the footwear this might prove to be problematic for the companies as dependence on limited service makes the options for revenue generation are limited. The outsourcing of manufacturing is strength for the company, but Nike, Inc has often being criticized because of its labor management in foreign countries (Baldassarre Campo, 2014). The sweatshops or the sweat labors have criticized by the global media that affected the companies brand image. The company has not included retailers that are exclusive as their business strategy but the retailers play major role in the business so the exclusivity might get sacrificed. The products are often been criticized as too premium or expensive. Opportunities In the emerging markets of India and China Nike is seeing greatest opportunity to expand its business. The consumers in such developing countries are in billions of number who are adapting western lifestyle increasingly (Sun, DAlessandro Johnson, 2014). This provides the company great platform to expand their business. The company is also expanding their business in various other products going beyond just the foot wear and producing other diverse products. The company engages in continuous modification of the existing designs that also creates great opportunity for business expansion. The affordable price products are being offered by the company though in limited numbers which bringing newer consumers to the company. Threats The trade laws and practices in the international market greatly influence Nikes international business. The international trade laws and regulations are subject to change so the changes can prove to be threats for the company. The unethical business practices affected the companys reputation and brand and as the company performs on a global scale the similar issues can arise. The competitors like Reebok or Adidas are also capturing the global market rapidly that is becoming bigger threat for the company. Suppliers bargaining power The suppliers bargaining power in the case Of Nike is low. It operates in more than forty five countries in more than 700 stores but the individual suppliers are not strong enough compared to the company. That reduces the challenges from the supplier for the company. Nikes RSL or the restricted substance list and the codes and conducts have to b obliged by the suppliers. Buyers bargaining power Buyers bargaining power is moderate for the company. The consumers switching cost is low as there are other influential companies like Adidas and Reebok or Puma but there are other local brands as well. However the quality of the companys product is well known to global consumers. Threat of substitute Threat of substitute is high for Nike. There are large numbers of competitive brands in the market. There are competitors like Fila, Puma, and Converse, Under Armour, New Balance, ASICS, Li Ning and K-Swiss. Except the main competitors Nike is experiencing challenges from substitute sports footwear that are cheaper and gaining popularity. Threat of new entrants Threat of new entrants for the company is low to moderate. The company is quite influential in the global market however there are still requirements that are yet to be fulfilled. Te competitors might take advantage of it. However the supply chain management requires huge investment that is in favor of the company. For a new entry it is quite difficult to create such level of brand easily. Competition Rivalry Competition rivalry is strong for Nike in both home and international market. The other two top sports footwear companies that are present in the market are Adidas and Reebok (Team 2017). Adidas earned revenue of more than 19 billion where Reebok earned 3 billion (Adidas-group.com 2017). Though the strong rivals are in fewer numbers but they are expanding their business fast as well. Struggling Apparel Business The apparel industry in this case the apparel related to sports or footwear is struggling in global market. The consumers in most countries do not want to spend much money on purchasing apparels. The apparel stores of Nike are suffering the challenges as well. A recent report by Morgan Stanely demonstrated that the growth in the apparel stores will decrease by -5% (Botter, 2017). Losing demand for certain products The company has created its brand over the years mostly based on certain high quality products like Nike Air Jordon shoes. However the demand for the most popular products are getting decreased day by day as the style is considered to be out of style and the newer substitutes are failing to match their standard. Like the apparels for basket ball is alarmingly losing its popularity. Woman products market The woman products are facing more challenges as many companies only produce these products focusing more on the better quality and cheaper price. The companies like Lululemon or Under Armour are dominating the global market in most of the global market in this domain other niche brands like Bandier or Sweatbetty promotes more fun than the competition that Nike products promote (Schlossberg Lutz, 2017). Conclusion The money that the company spends in the signature footwear must be balanced with the money that is spend in the non footwear products as the company is clearly struggling in keeping the same standard in those products. Another good strategy could be manufacturing casual footwear along with the sports foot wear. Building professional relationship Nike should build a personal and professional relationship with the world known influential athletes that will bring more customer loyalty and new consumers as most consumers idolize their favorite athletes. Internet and social media The internet and social media platform could be used more effectively by the company to establish consumer relationship and retain customer sustainability. The company can implement certain innovative technologies where dedicated consumers can design their own foot wears online and the company should evaluate them and consider the most feasible one. Remuneration and rewards The employee satisfaction could be achieved through remuneration and rewards for the deserving employees. The company must monitor and evaluate their organizatio0nal management practice to eliminate any ethical misconduct within the organizational structure. The company is leading the global market in the footwear business if the company resolves the issues by implementing discussed strategies it will effectively maintain its competitive edge in the global market with the assurance of improved business performance. Reference Adidas-group.com. (2017).Adidas with record sales and earnings in 2016. [online] Available at: https://www.adidas-group.com/en/media/news-archive/press-releases/2017/adidas-record-sales-and-earnings-2016/ [Accessed 03 Oct. 2017]. Anegon, I. (2014). Preface: In 2013 gene therapy is a Nike; for 2014, just do it!.Current gene therapy,14(1), 1-1. Baldassarre, F., Campo, R. (2014). 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