Androcentrism Essay -- essays research papers

Androcentrism When I started to think about what to write for this paper I wanted to learn more about androcentrism. Well, I guess I know what it means, but I wanted to see what it means to other people. In Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 2nd Edition the definition for androcentric is centered on emphasizing, or dominated by males or masculine interests. Then I went online and mostly the same definition. The only definition that I found that said anything about women was at http://dictionary.reference .com. It read: centered or focused on men, often to the neglect or exclusion of women. I started to wonder what religious dictionary’s thought of androcentrism. So I looked up some religious dictionaries. After about 10 of them I gave up because I came empty handed. It’s like they didn’t believe it existed. But, to my surprise I did find a definition to androgyny in a few of them. And let’s not forget my personal definition: Men are better than women. A lthough I do not think this is true, that is just how I see androcentrism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now I am going to talk about the levels of androcentrism that make the study of religions difficult. I am going to refer a lot to the book Feminism and Religion by Rita M. Gross. The first level of andrcentrism is the history. â€Å"As in the study of contemporary religions, many conventional historians are most interested in those who wielded power, which means that not only women, but other disempowered groups hav...

Legal and Political Aspects of the Business

Pick an administrative agency of either the Federal or a State government. Find where the current and proposed regulation changes for that agency are located on the internet. (i.e. the Federal Register or the State Administrative Agency website.) Regulations.gov is a good place to begin your research. Pick one proposed regulation change currently under consideration (if you find one which has already closed out, but interests you, you can use that, instead) and write the following regarding it: 1. State the administrative agency which controls the regulation. Explain why this agency and your proposed regulation interests you (briefly). Will this proposed regulation affect you or the business in which you are working? If so, how? Submit a copy of the proposed regulation along with your responses to these five questions. The proposed regulation can be submitted as either a separate Word document (.doc) or Adobe file (.pdf). This means you will submit two attachments to the Week 2 Dropbox: (1) a Word doc with the questions and your answers and (2) a copy of the proposed regulation you used for this assignment. The administrative agency I choose is the Social Security Administration and the proposed regulation is â€Å"Amendments to Regulations Regarding Withdrawal of Applications and Voluntary Suspension of Benefits†.I selected this agency because as most of us deal with it and some way or the other everyone in the family will affected by the proposed rules of it. Coming to this rule ,it is so interesting that how can they limit the period of applying and taking their rights away. 2. Describe the proposal/change. Basically workers have the right to choose when to apply for old age benefits.So depending on the time they apply the number of benefits will be decreased or increased accordingly. According to this proposed regulation they are limiting the time for the withdrawal of old age benefits applications. They only allow only one withdrawal for lifetime and also limit the voluntary suspension benefits.And they say that by doing these changes to the current policies they can avoid the misuse of them. 3.Write the public comment which you would submit to this proposal. If the proposed regulation deadline has already passed, write the comment you would have submitted. Explain briefly what you wish to accomplish with your comment. I am not favor of this proposed rule because my uncle who is about to retire in few years when he is 62 and wanted to postpone to apply for old age benefits at 70.This is because it will increase the benefits.At present he is good and planning to work few more years after retiring so that he can take care of his sister who is suffering from cancer.By this proposed rule he has to apply for the benefits within 12 month period after he retires which makes him out of money when he actually is in need of it.Old age people don’t have any one to take care of them and they all expect more benefits and they know when they do need the benefits.If they think that are they proposing this rule to not make it misuse or abuse they should find out the percentage of people who are suffering from it.

Motivation and Performance Theories in Relation to New Zealand Post

A simple game of bingo, if analysed closely, can be shown to be a tedious task consisting of a repetitive action that occurs after being prompted by a repetitive stimulus. The skill level needed to make that action is low, and the variability in the rules of the game rarely changes. This game is not unlike many of the jobs that can be classified as having low motivational performance. So why do people not only enjoy playing games like bingo, but actually pay money to have the pleasure? The answer directly points to the motivating factors of monetary rewards, which is the stimulus for the individual†s performance. In this essay I will discuss the theory behind â€Å"Motivation† and â€Å"Performance† in relation to New Zealand Post and the theoretical ideals that their management should adopt with employees. There are many theories regarding motivation with the most prevalent being the theories of Abraham Maslow and Frederick Herzberg. It is important to understand these theories and their implications to accurately comment on reinforcement theories of motivation. According to Maslow†s hierarchy of needs, there are five classes: (1) physiological, (2) safety, (3) social, (4) esteem, and (5) self-actualisation. (Karen. P. Harlos Lecture Notes) each lower level need must be satisfied before an individual experiences higher level needs. Also, as Hall, Batley, Elkin, Geare, Johnston, Jones, Selsky and Sibbald (1999) found that Maslow hypothesized that as physiological, safety, social, and esteem needs were satisfied, they ceased to motivate, while the self-actualisation needs actually motivate an individual more as they are satisfied (Hall et al. 999). Herzberg used this theory as a base to build his motivation-hygiene theory, which ties Maslow†s needs to on the job achievement. The hygiene elements relate to low needs (physiological, safety, and social)(Harlos 2000). For an individual, hygiene conditions include company policy and administration, supervision, relationships with peers and supervisors, work conditions, salary, status, and security. These, according to Herzberg account for 69% of the factors that cause employee dissatisfaction or lack of motivation. The motivation conditions, which include achievement, the job itself, recognition, responsibilities, and personal growth, accounted for 81% of the factors that contributed to job satisfaction. The hygiene conditions are extrinsic factors (behaviour that is performed for material or social rewards as defined by Harlos 2000) while the motivation conditions are intrinsic factors (behaviour that is performed for its own sake not for material or social rewards as defined by Harlos 2000), and the only way to sustain motivation toward organizational goals is through the achievement of intrinsic outcomes. Each of these theories has proven to contain ideas consistent with human nature, but each also has its limitations within organizational settings. Because lower order needs are generally satisfied in the workplace today, managers have to deal with how to provide esteem and self-actualisation to their employees, and that can be a vague concept to a manager who demands results immediately. Also, studies demonstrate that different workers are motivated by different factors be them intrinsic or extrinsic. In relation to New Zealand Post the above theories can be applied to achieve an excellent level of motivation within the organization, however there are potential disadvantages also, where the employees may get over-motivated or become too empowered and thus create divisions within the organization. In terms of Maslow†s theory, the five levels of needs could be ensured by mangers of NZ Post and overall by the corporate planners of NZ Post by the following; in terms of physiological needs, money is the driving factor here as it provides the a means of achieve food, shelter, warmth and sleep, thus that management role is very limited, as it is controlled to a degree by relevant laws of the country. However those above the management who set wages must be careful not to set wages too low, otherwise workers will become grossly dissatisfied and look elsewhere to achieve their basic needs (Hall et al. 999). At the safety level NZ Post can provide their employees with agreeable contracts and work benefits such as health care. A work environment that is considered safe as well as adequate ongoing training is another aspect, also assurances of long-term employment (Hall et al. 1999). Social level issues can be resolved by NZ Post by organising teams maybe by regions and encouraging group satisfaction, or perhaps even making sure contact is established by way of team sports days, or annual picnic†s etc, any activity that ensures worker contact (Hall et al. 999). The next level is perhaps the most crucial in terms of how much NZ Post management is concerned, management may be able to fill esteem needs of the employee by showing recognition of a job well done, which may lead to a internal structure whereby levels of achievement are reached, and as the employee reaches these levels they may gain more responsibility within the organisation (Hall et al. 1999). Self actualisation needs in terms of what management can do for employees to reach this stage, entirely depend on the individual, and the previous stage, as itself esteem is realised then self actualisation becomes of more importance, and so the employee is self-motivated and the role of the NZ Management is merely one of maintenance (Hall et al. 1999). The above are all very good in theory, but in practice the implications of some of these theories for an individual and for the organisation can be crucial. NZ Post Management couldn†t be blamed if they felt the offering of money to an employee over and above what the individual needs to satisfy there needs would result in that individual working harder, however what is more likely to happen is the individual isn†t motivated anymore by that factor, and is instead motivated by esteem needs, as cited in Hall et al. 2000) â€Å"A satisfied need is not a motivator† The application of the Herzberg two-factor model is in practice much more involved that I first thought, there seems to be a large amount of criticism about Herzberg, which I will attempt to briefly outline, and thus if NZ Post was to adapt this theory it may not provide the right answer to any problems they may be facing. Firstly there has been research done into the methodology of Herzberg's research, it seems that by asking the questions in the way that they did it was only natural that individuals would attribute the good things about the job to themselves and the bad things to the organisation (as suggested by Vroom 1964 cited in Thomson 1989). So the good things simply became meting challenges, getting promoted and assuming responsibility, whereas bad things were in affect always the fault of the organisation. Thus it was reasonable for individuals to attribute their lack of performance as being a result of poor organisational structure or communication, or poor wages or bad working conditions, therefore Herzberg†s findings were more a result of the way the questions were asked and not altogether an indication of what motivated individuals at work. The second criticism that arises is whether or not it is possible to clearly â€Å"distinguish between motivator and hygiene variables in the way that two factor theory does. † (Thomson 1989 pg 164). At times factors like the gender of the worker and the structure of the organisation tends to influence whether or not a job characteristics acts as a motivator or a hygiene, thus the distinction is not as clear cut as Herzberg†s theory would suggest. Finally the two-factor theory just doesn†t take into consideration the differences between individuals, its just known that individuals do not always react in a similar fashion, for the same work characteristics which will motivate one individual may not necessary motivate another. I suggest for NZ Post to be able to maintain the calibre of people they strive for, and to provide tools to develop and grow, the best way to create the desired environment and create the best management would be to adopt Maslow†s theories, as it allows for more of an individual touch to individual situations. McGregor developed an additional theory on human behaviour, motivation, and especially performance in the late 1950†³s. His theories X and Y and were based on assumptions made regarding the â€Å"system† and individuals. In short, in Theory X (the most common management practice) management organizes all elements of production, motivates and controls employee behaviour to fit the needs of the organization, and without this intervention, employees would be indifferent to changing organizational needs. McGregor further assumes that managers believe that the average employee is by nature are lazy, dislike work, want security and dislike responsibility (as cited by Harlos 2000). McGregor†s alternative to Theory X was Theory Y. This theory made the assumptions that management has the responsibility for organizing the elements of production, people are not by nature passive, but become so as a result of experiences, management should enable employees to develop their motivational characteristics, and that it is essential for management to arrange organizational conditions in a manner where employees can achieve their own goals by directing their personal effort towards organizational objectives. The contrast between X and Y solely relates to who controls human behaviour. Theory X touts external control, and Theory Y promotes a self-fulfilling prophecy and that Theory Y management will breed Theory Y employees and vice-versa. In the application of McGregor†s theories an obvious pitfall is that obviously given the choice management will opt for Theory Y, however the application can result in a very different outcome. Theory Y places an unrealistic amount of burden on the management, and thus they have to sometimes resort to Theory X as no matter how much nurturing or inspiration managers give to employees, there will always be some who just have no desire to work, and show little or no initiative. So NZ Post may run many seminars to attempt to increase performance, or empower those who management feel need a performance boost, yet inevitably those who have no desire to perform better will just not respond to any of these performance motivators and hence management will have to resort to Theory X management to get these employees to work as they should be. Another problem may be with those employees who have been part of the organisation for a number of years, and a new fresh inspirational manager comes along who has been to all the courses and seminars and has used all the theories, and yet these employees are so used to old school Theory X management, they will just simply not be able to conform to this new Theory Y management style, as suggested in Hall et al. (1999) In conclusion I have outlines both Maslow†s and Herzberg†s theories in relation to motivation and McGregor†s theories in relation to performance. I also have suggested ways in which NZ Post could apply these theories to enable them to better fulfil their corporate profile statement. I suggested that perhaps Herzberg†s theory would not be best suited to NZ Post due to the many flaws in the application of his theory and that Maslow†s theory in practice would enable a better fufilment of the corperate profile statement.

The Meanings of Like

The Meanings of Like The Meanings of â€Å"Like† The Meanings of â€Å"Like† By Mark Nichol What’s not to like about like? It’s a versatile word, but one easily misused and abused. Like is a preposition: â€Å"He is like me in that regard†; â€Å"Like him, I fail to see the humor.† Take care to use me and us (and, in the third person, them), rather than I and we (and they) in association with it. Like is also frequently employed as a conjunction: â€Å"Like I told you before, we’re running out of boxes†; â€Å"Like we’ve seen before, it depends on the situation†; â€Å"It looks like it’s going to rain.† However, this usage, once common, fell out of favor long ago, and it’s still considered a colloquialism that is out of place in formal writing. In each of these examples, as is the better choice. In addition, like is employed as a comparative term (â€Å"I’ve seen something like that before†) and is often seen as a substitute for â€Å"as if.† (â€Å"She looked like she might cry at any moment.†) The word has overtaken the more formal and, as explained below, slightly different usage â€Å"such as† to make comparisons: â€Å"I prefer more dynamic sports like soccer,† rather than â€Å"I prefer more dynamic sports such as soccer.† The argument against considering like and â€Å"such as† interchangeable is that â€Å"such as† suggests inclusion (soccer is one of the sports the writer prefers), whereas like implies exclusion (soccer is representative of the type of sport the writer prefers but is not one of them). However, the indiscriminate appearance of either usage and many writers, myself included, have used both in the same piece of content is ubiquitous, and the interchangeability is unlikely to change. Over the last few decades, the word has persisted as a filler, especially among young people (â€Å"I was, like, totally confused†), or again, especially among younger members of the population as a conversational substitute for said (â€Å"And he was like, ‘Go for it’†). I admit without embarrassment that although I am not young, I freely employ like in both usages when I speak. In writing, I would use them only for humorous effect. The first usage is adverbial, similar to colloquial usage like (I mean, â€Å"such as†) â€Å"It’s true, like enough† (as a substitute for likely). Other adverbial uses are as an alternative to altogether or rather (â€Å"All this time, I was calm, like†) or to about or nearly: â€Å"It’s more like a hundred dollars,† â€Å"It took, like, four hours.† (The latter usage is likely the inspiration for the use of like as an interjection.) Like serves as a noun: â€Å"I’ve never met his like since†; â€Å"I have no patience with her like.† A similar usage is â€Å"the likes of†: â€Å"I hope we’ve seen the last of the likes of him.† (The sense for the latter usage, and the one previous to that, is often pejorative.) Recently, too, it has acquired the meaning of â€Å"something one likes,† such as a social-networking Web page. And, of course, it functions as a verb, meaning â€Å"To choose or prefer,† â€Å"to enjoy, or to thrive,† â€Å"to regard,† or â€Å"to want.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Program vs. Programme3 Types of Headings20 Tips to Improve your Writing Productivity

A Summary Of The Movie Jarvis Lorry

A Summary Of The Movie Jarvis Lorry In the movie Jarvis Lorry, an employee of Tellsons Bank, was sent to find Dr. Manette, an unjustly imprisoned physician, in Paris and bring him back to England. Lucie, Manettes daughter who thought that he was dead, accompanied Mr. Lorry. Upon arriving at Defarges wine shop in Paris, they found Mr. Manette in a very bad state and took him back to London with them. In 1780, five years later, Lucie, Mr. Lorry and Dr. Manette were called to testify against Charles Darnay, a tutor who made constant trips between France and England and was thus accused of treason, but Darnay was acquitted when a lawyer, named Sydney Carton, looked much like him and an eye witness faltered to positively distinguish between them. Carton loved Lucie but he was a drunk. Knowing that their relationship was hopeless, he stated that he would sacrifice himself for her or anyone she loved in an emotional conversation. Darnay ended up marrying Lucie. Darnays uncle, the Marquiuis St. Evremonde, was assassinated by the father of a child he ran over and Darnay inherited the title, Marquiuis St. Evermonde, Now along with this title came power. Darnay would not take it because he did not want to exploit the French people as his uncle did. Around 1790, while the French Revolution was in full swing, Darnay decided to go to France to save a family servant. Upon his arrival, he was i mmediately jailed. Lucie and Dr. Manette soon showed up in Paris at the doorstep of Tellsons French office, where Lorry already was present. Dr. Manette managed to get Darnay released after a year, yet he was re-jailed the same day by Madame Defarge because his family, the Evremondes, had previously killed off her family. Darnay was tried the next day and sentenced to death. Manette went back into his demented state with hopelessness. Carton arrived in Paris and heard a plot to also kill Lucie and Dr. Manette. Quickly, he made his way into the prison with the help of spies and, with his close resemblance, switched places with Darnay. Carton had arranged for the escape of Lucie, Darnay, and Dr. Manette. Madame Defarge had been killed by Miss Pross, a sort of nanny to Lucie, and escaped with Lucie. Carton sacrificed his life for Lucie, her father, and Darnay at the guillotine and then died in victory. Dickens attempted to show his readers the power and dangers of a revolution in the origonial novel, and it is even shown more in the movie. He had a clear underlying theme that oppression and exploitation by an aristocracy will cause a revolt by those being miss treated, a fact that made the French Revolution inescapeable. Throughout this movie, it was visible that Dickens drew a connection between cruelty and disorder. Yet the power of love and sacrifice wer e, in the end, linked with a renewal of society. The harsh treatment of the aristocracy towards the poor was constantly shown. In one case, the Marquis St. Evremonde ran over a peasant child and just through a few coins at the father to make up for this loss. The anarchy of the revolution was shown by the many mobs that roamed the streets of Paris. Many nobles had left France and there was no powerful government. Therefore a direct connection was drawn between the cruelty by the high society and the outbreak of revolution turning quickly into chaos. Dickens was biased with a sympathy for the fooled, especially for children. The idea that the victimized, when forced for long enough, would revolt was a central idea behind this Dickins plot. The unjust imprisonment of Dr. Manette tore him apart. He could never truly escape from his prison experience and in moments of great stress he went back to the insanity which Mr. Lorry and Lucie had found him in at Book report.. 12thgrade. A tale of 2 citiesDefarges. Darnay had been tried often and came close to conviction a number of times all due to the past actions of h is family. He was a mere victim of the past. Dickens clearly showed strong support for Darnay and Dr. Manette not only in the outcome, where they successfully escaped France, but also throughout the story. When the peasant child was run over by Marquis St. Evremonde, Dickens showed a great deal of contempt for Evremonde, when he merely offered a few coins as his remorse, and created a sense that this was a terrible act. I have learned a great deal about life during the early French Revolution and viewed the anarchy with much inner thought while watching this movie. Members of the upper aristocracy were, in general, more conceited that I had previously thought them to be. The numerous mobs were more unstable then I had expected. They roamed, destroying at random, and went on to a new task with little persuasion. Many mobs cheered in joy for Darnay when he was acquitted at his first trial in France but were just as excited when he was condemned to death the second time. Society in general during the French Revolution has become much clearer to me. The movie it self was originally a little difficult to understand until I became aware of the plot, and with help from you. At that point I had no problem following the plot, which actually became quite interesting. The French Revolution was very well displayed in all of its violence and anarchy. The underlying ideas of oppression and anarchy made it enjoyable to see how the characters interacted. I found Carton especially interesting. He knew that Lucie would never seek after him, before and after her marriage to Darnay, yet he devoted his life to her and gave it up in the end for her. Despite all of the depressing aspects of the movie, Dickens theme of renewl became much more visible towards the end and actually was quite inspiring. As Carton gave his life for Darnay and Lucie, his final vision of a better society,wich was stated in the origonal novel left me with a hopeful attitude and seemed to be an v ery good way to close.

Titus Andronicus Questions, Civility vs Barbarity Assignment

Titus Andronicus Questions, Civility vs Barbarity - Assignment Example en intervenes in an argument between Saturninus and Bassianus which he saw would lead to violence saying that that was not the way the Romans should behave. Titus also murders Tamora’s son despite her pleadings and this is a show of barbarism. He also shows civility by pleading with Titus to allow Mutius be buried within the family grave . This all happens before Tamora is married by Titus to become the queen. Tamora has all along planned to have her revenge on Titus. In the forest, Aaron and Tamora discuss of the revenge they were plotting of killing Bassianus and raping his bride Lavinia who was Titus most treasured daughter. After this act, lavinia is mutilated in the arms and tongue so that she cannot report the people who had raped her. When Titus finds his daughter in this state, he murders her because she had been raped which is quite uncivilized. This happens during the feast. This act is again followed by a series of other murders where Titus kills Tamora and is killed by Saturninus. Lucia then kills Saturninus to avenge the death of his father. At this point Lucia becomes the emperor asking for Saturninus to be given a state burial, Tamora body is thrown to be fed by the Beast and Aeron is buried alive. All these events are a revelation of the barbarism that exists in Rome despite their claim of being a civil

Managing Emerging Technologies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Managing Emerging Technologies - Essay Example ERP systems data mining options help the research and development ‎department, marketing department, customer relations department and public relations department. ‎This results in high customer satisfaction level but also help to increase the profitability of the ‎organization. But with the introduction of this ERP systems there are number of challenges which ‎come as a curse to the organization. An organization needs to counter all these challenge to get the ‎most out of this technology (Leon, 2007). It is crucial to understand that what is innovative in this ERP ‎system. Is this just a myth or it really works? If an idea is not workable then it is not ‎innovation. Ideas come to mind frequently but making those ideas work for the betterment of ‎organizations is innovation in real sense (Denning, 2004). If an employee find ways to give better customer service but ‎his finding are just a research and not workable in real environment than the idea worth nothing. ‎ There are various things which an organization has to keep in mind in order to generate innovative ‎ideas and let those ideas work for them for a longer period of time. ‎First of all the organization should be aware of all technological enhancements and updates in the ‎industry and relevant environment. In case of ERP system our organization has strategically analyzed different ‎opportunities which can be availed and also the problems which we have to encounter. ‎ The other important thing is focus and persistence. Once the opportunities are identified and they are ‎tested in different environment and situations the organization may stay firm on its decision. ‎Organization needs to focus on their target and avoid all kind of distractions and opposition. Every ‎good idea is opposed initially. Organization must concentrate on implementation of ideas. Once the ‎idea is triggered and start benefiting the people will