Testimony: Bible and Jesus Christ

Instead, we are to remain in Christ so that He can in turn live n us and live out His life through us. As I meditated on today's scriptural reference, I stared at some roses sitting In a vase, and it came to me. Many of us have become like roses. Stay with me†¦ Before the roses made their way into the vase, they were grafted into a vine; alive and vibrant. But someone went out and broke them off and wrapped them nicely together so that they looked pretty. For a few weeks. He roses striver to stay alive and maintain their pretty color; they worked overtime to bring pleasure to the owner, but eventually they began to wilt and whither away until they eventually succumbed. They just could not survive for too long without the vine, the true source of their strength. Many of us have become like roses sitting in a vase trying to please God, and we may even be experiencing something called spiritual burnout. This is a syndrome that causes us to be tired, bored, and unsure of what to do next In order to please God or If everything we had been doing was what we were actually called to do.Are you spiritually burned out? God is calling you to come back to Him, the true source of your strength. He is telling you today, don't live to seek my approval, instead, ‘abide in me and I will abide in you. The difference between a Christ-babbling life and a Christ-approval seeking life Is the reason behind the things they do. A Christ-approval seeking life says I am going to pray and do good deeds because I want to please God. On the other hand, a Christ- abiding life says, Christ lives in me and so I pray and do his will; I no longer live for myself but for Him.What kind of Christian are you? Do not let your fate become Like that of the roses in the vase. Abide in Him, and He will abide in you. Remain In Helm! In 1984, I was a student in Korea at a theological seminary . Along with a group of Bible Society educators, they were showing a movie called â€Å"God Makers. â⠂¬  It was very negative film against the Book of Mormon, Mornings, and the prophet, Joseph Smith, Jar. It was truly false teaching based on the incorrect lessons taught by the â€Å"God Makers. However, I believed the movie on its face value that the Book of Mormon must be a grand design conspired to develop an American pseudo-Christian cult. I wrongly believed that it is better for me not to see it, not to touch it, not to feel it, not to taste it, and not to smell it. Nevertheless, I did not have peace concerning the Book of Mormon. I was restless. I had to investigate it by myself on my own initiative. I truly wanted to test and try if the Book of Mormon was not true as it was discussed in the classroom by the participating audience as mentioned below: MORONIC 10:3.Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down unto the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts. MORONIC 10:4. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye loud ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.MORONIC 10:5. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things. Surely, I dint have peace until I investigate by myself on my own. Because, before I knew any thing about the Book of Mormon, I have had I tasted it and proved it on my own. Likewise, I wanted to test and try the Book of Mormon on my own initiative. There was no any human help to assist me. Little did I know that it was the Holy Spirit that was leading and guiding me all the way. The longing in my heart grew day by day. And the desire to know and to taste the contents of the Book of M ormon never left me.For the Psalmist said. â€Å"Oh taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trustees in him† (Psalm 34:8). And our Savior said, â€Å"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free Cohn 8:32). No body gave me any Book of Mormon but they told me it is a cultic and heretic book and don't worry about it. However, I prayed again. The Spirit of God told me from the Scripture of the Bible: Try the spirits whether they are of God (1 John 4:1; Czech. 13:9; and 1 These 2:4). They thought that they have squelched my longing to read the Book of Mormon. But I cereal out to my In prayer gall.Ana ten split AT Go spoke to me tongue ten Scriptures in the Bible. â€Å"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirit whether they are of God because many false false prophets are gone out into the world† (1 John 4:1). Finally, I got a Book of Mormon by the angel of God in the answer of my tenacious prayers. When I got it, it was a ll corroborative to the Bible. I tried to find if there is any mistake from the Spirit and the Power of Holy Bible. But I got nothing on negative correlation to the Holy Bible. Rather, it was all complementary and supplementary to the Bible. The more I read the more closer I got to grow in Christ.I read from cover to cover with a great appetite. It really gripped my heart to brim me to the fullness of Gospel of restoration. Every time I was reading, I was praying with all trembling and fears. He was restoring my soul. My cup of the heart was running over. I was thriving n the Spirit and knowledge of God. I never decreased in my faith with the Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, I grew up stronger and stronger in the power and vigor of the Lord. Before I left Korea, I bought many copies of the Book of Mormon. I would fly to Nepal with the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I would give to others freely, for Jesus said, â€Å"†¦ Rely freely you have received, freely give† (Matthew 10 :7). However, I was detained by one of the airlines agent because of excess baggage. I gave her all of the money that I had to pray for the chase of excess baggage but I was still short. I pleaded with her saying â€Å"l am carrying the restoration gospel to save the lost at any cost. † But what I was said fell in deaf ears. They did not hear any thing. Then, my flight was fully canceled. Then Satan whispered in my ear, â€Å"Leave all of these Book of Mormon boxes in trash. Then, you will fly to your house instantly. † But I answered him saying, â€Å"Get thee hence Satan.My Lord Jesus Christ in the the Book of Mormon is true! † Satan wanted me to fall back into hell with him. He tried so hard to try my faith again. He even misinterpreted the Scripture in Matthew 1 1 Inspired Version and/or King James Version Matthew 1 1:28. Satan told me to leave my load or my burden as well as my labor with the Book of Mormon. Again, I rebuked Satan vehemently by saying, â₠¬Å"Get thee hence Satan! † I would not turn away from my belief in God and the Book of Mormon. A very sweet peace came over me and took control of my heart. I knew that my God the Almighty Living One and the Holy One of Israel would solve my problem.I remembered how the faith of the Brother of Jarred was so powerful that mount Serine was removed. Likewise, in my heart and my soul, I garnered that same faith also . I took the baggage to a corner of the room. I knelt down and began supplicating my Lord in humility. â€Å"Heavenly Father, if the true gospel restores into thy heaven, please allow me to fly with these books of Mormon as it contains thy everlasting gospel. I Ana no sooner Sal a tense words, when sensually someone Deanna me sake are you doing here? † I replied: â€Å"l am praying to the heavenly Father the God Almighty if I can take His gospel baggage into Nepal. He asked: â€Å"Are you a Nepal man? † I answered: â€Å"Yes my friend. † Then he s poke with me in Nepal language. He said: â€Å"I do not want you to be embarrassed. I want you to fly with your gospel books. † Then he paused and said: â€Å"Why did that lady at the counter stop you? † I said: â€Å"Because I did not have enough money to pay for the excess baggage. † He asked: â€Å"How much money do you really need? † â€Å"Just $85,† I said hopefully. Encouragingly, he replied: â€Å"It is not a problem. So let us go to the counter. † He paid the dues and assisted me to fly with the everlasting gospel to Nepal.Thus and therefore, I bear this testimony that the Book of Mormon is a true and it came forth by the power and authority of true and living God. Is it were not so, I won't eave had an instant answer to my prayer at the airport in Korea. I prayed in faith and God answered my humble prayer immediately. He performed a miracle right before my eyes. Perhaps, the man whom God sent could have been angel. By this time, I a m blessed by reading the Book of Mormon. Consequently, we translated this Book of Mormon into Nepal language also so that many will have restored life and gospel abundantly.And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Revelation 14:6 HOW I AM SOLD OUT TO JESUS I was born in Hinduism highest caste. My father and forefathers were Hindu high priests In ten Royal Palace AT Nepal ten only Haul Oklahoman In ten world B although I first worshipped Krishna and studied the Veda, Gait, and several Hindu scriptures and labored diligently in the Hindu religion, I felt strangely empty of truth.I saw quickly that the Hindu religion with its emphasis on Karma and the endless cycle of reincarnation was not an answer to eternal life. I searched to find one true God. My quest took me from Hinduism to Buddhism, Lanais, Jansenism, Shinto's, Salamis, Schism, Taoism, Judaism, and all kind of religions Beside the religions, I have studied palmistry, astrology, soothsaying, hypnotism enchanting, snake charming, magic, necromancers, psychic reading, and all of the various offerings of idolatry, but found-them all deadly and wanting.Still I didn't know about the life giving gospel of Jesus Christ. Finally after Studying in Nepal and India, I founded a Holy Bible and began to study about Jesus Christ in 1980. I discovered the truth of Jesus that I am not righteous Just because I was born a Brahmins. In fact, I was sinner. Then I discovered that Jesus is loving and forgiver of sins and His reward is eternal life. I found Jesus in my heart when I knelt down and prayed confessing as sins and by asking His mercy and power of blood to clean my sins away.THUS, I accepted Jesus as my personal savior on May AS, 1981 without any human help. Then, I knew I didn't choose Him but He chose and ordained me to teach His truth. After my discovery of Jesus and His t ruth, I was disowned by my parents because of my conversion from Hinduism high profile priesthood caste to Christianity. On July 27, 1989, I was visiting to a hospital where my father was declared to die any minute due to lung cancer. I got a chance to speak about Jesus to has. He heard the message so well. He believed the Word of God â€Å"Arise, take your bed, and go home. Then, he left the hospital trusting in the Lord completely. Then, he broke down all the Hindu idols in the house and in temple. Thus, he never died of cancer. He is still alive. Then, by a continuous praying, love, faith, and by studying the truth–my mother, brothers, and sister also believed Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. Thus, me and my house continued serving the Lord Joshua 24:15). In the result, many of our gibbers and relatives also believed gospel one by one. Then, God's work was started by opening new fellowships in Nepal.I searched Scripture daily poring over the words that became life u nto life. I took advanced evangelical training in Singapore and studied theology in Korea. I represented Nepal in International Conference for Itinerant Evangelists at Amsterdam which was sponsored by Billy Graham Association in 1986. Beside this, studied advanced Greek and Hebrew to translate Bible into Nepal language. It took three and half years to transmits the Bible. Consequently, I had to face prison cause of Bible translation into Hindu people's national language, Nepal'.

African Music and Culture Creative Exploration

African music is developed largely by the civilizations in sub-Saharan Africa. Their traditions give emphasis to singing. This is because songs are used as means of communication.Many languages in Africa are â€Å"tone languages†.   Pitch level identifies meanings. Meanwhile, melodies and tempo of their songs go after the intonation and rhythms of the text of the songs. In general, African songs are in form of call-and-response, as if they are really talking. This shows the relationship between the music and linguistic in sub-Saharan Africa. (Genesis 1996-2006)One major effect of the Arab conquest in North Africa is in religious aspect. Islam proliferated immediately in that part of the continent. They were calling Muhammed, along with their god’s name Allah, five times in a day from thousands of towers near the mosque, which are called minarets. These minarets were spread in North Africa, South-Western Europe, and Western and Central Asia. But in other parts of Afric a, Islamization was quite a slow process. (Doi 1998)Africa is the birthplace of our habit of making music. The continent can be divided in five regions musically. North Africa has musical connection with the Arab and Islamic world. European colonization influenced music in West Africa.This region is known for classical and court music in sub-Saharan Africa. With their traditions, they preserved splendid musical heritage. (Africa 1996-2006)In Madagascar, generally, more metrical songs can be found on the coastline. Songs that are more soothing and slower are from the interior part of the place. In linguistics, it is quite mysterious.Their spoken language, Malagasy, is widely used in the country despite of the island’s large size and cultural diversity. In additional, Malagasy originated in Indonesia.   (WildMadagascar.org 2004-2006)After the resettlement of former African slaves, they got educational and job opportunities in urban areas. They engaged in cultural and scholarl y activities.They had published some newspapers and journals. They excelled in this field later. Examples of these successful Africans are Paul Laurence Dunbar, a poet-novelist, and Claude McKay, a black poet and novelist who first attracted a large number of white audience. (AFRICANS-AMERICANS 2006)REFERENCES:Africa 2006. National Geographic Society 1996-2006 [cited September 9 2006]. Available from http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/worldmusic/view/page.basic/region/content.region/africa_1AFRICANS-AMERICANS 2006. The History Channel website 2006 [cited September 9 2006]. Available from http://www.history.com/encyclopedia.do?articleId=200351.Doi, Prof. A. Rahman I. 2006. Islam and Africa. Dr. A. Zahoor 1998 [cited September 8 2006]. Available from http://www.cyberistan.org/islamic/islafrica.htmGenesis, African. 2006. African People & Culture africaguide.com 1996-2006 [cited September 8 2006]. Available from http://www.africaguide.com/culture/music.htm.WildMadagascar.org. 2006 . Malagasy, the language of Madagascar Rhett Butler 2004-2006 [cited September 9 2006]. Available from http://www.wildmadagascar.org/people/malagasy.html   

Impact of Sociology and Psychology Factors on Leisure/Tourism Activity Essay

Dyer, Gursoy, Sharma & Carter (2007, p. 409) argued that tourism is prominent in Australia’s economic restructuring, particularly in regional and coastal areas. There are many aspects such as history, attitudes and culture to contemplate when defining the meaning of leisure, though it is essential the participation of recreational activities free from any other obligations or responsibilities (Lynch & Veal 2006, p. 25). The issues statement provided for discussion through this essay is: â€Å"Australian governments, industry bodies and organizations work to promote leisure participation through a range of event, sport, tourism or hospitality experiences. All individuals have the opportunity to participate in these leisure experiences and can benefit from them if they make the effort†. This essay embodies psychological and sociological concepts to evaluate tourism experience. Following the essay, it will analyse two areas separately. It is divided into three parts in sociological aspect which are time, socio-economic and gender. In psychology aspect, it will emphasise on motivation and satisfaction. Through the conveyance of our study and research, the perspective held throughout this essay will agree with the statement that â€Å"All individuals have the opportunity to participate in these leisure experiences and can benefit from them if they make the effort†. Sociology Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups, and societies, sometimes defined as the study of social interactions (Osborne & Van Loon 1998, p. 3). That means all social activity is not only just individuals’, but also connects with members of groups and institution. For tourism, tourists are usually stratified by geography, age, sex and socio-economic status (Dann 1977, p. 185). While this essay will discuss the aspect of time, socio-economic and gender. Time is one of the key elements in a tourist’s decision-making and people must adapt themselves to the amount of time the tourist has available at destination (Martinez-Garcia & Josep 2008, p. 1064). Leisure time is an important factor affecting tourism activities and a tourist will consider how much leisure time to save for the future, because leisure time has its price (Gu 1995, p.239). Gu (1995, p. 239) argued that â€Å"leisure time given up today can be transformed into additional discretionary income and saved for tomorrow, because non-regular working opportunities such as overtime work, second job and summer teaching always exist, and individual has the flexibility of allocating his or her leisure time between today and tomorrow†. Stockhausen (1998, p. 1676) argued that people may be deprived of leisure as there are no time left after work and family obligations. If people have too much work or housework then they will not go to participate in tourism. Martinez-Garcia & Josep (2008, p. 1067) argued the amount of time available is limited and must be distributed, among other things, between the time dedicated to travel and the time spent for work. That means how much time people can spend for tourism depend how much time they left after work. The socio-economic also impact of tourism on destinations (Martinez-Garcia & Josep 2008, p. 1064). Tourism consumption not only requires amount of time but also requires a significant amount of money (Gu 1995, p. 242). There are some negative socio-economic impact tourism, such as high spending tourists are likely to negatively affect people’s way of living; it is likely to change our precious traditional culture; it is likely to result in unpleasantly overcrowded beaches, hiking trails, parks and other outdoor places in people’s community; it is likely to put more pressure on local services such as police and fire protection, utilities and roads; the price of goods and services are likely to increase because of tourism and construction of hotels and other tourist facilities are likely to destroy the natural environment (Dyer, Gursoy, Sharma & Carter 2006, p. 414). The role of gender, and the inequalities correlated with this ideology, is most apparent in how a particular culture perceives the role of tourism as a leisure activity (Dunning 1999, p. 222). The women’s recreation is constrained by patriarchy-the pervasive power of men in society. It is so easy to force women have no time to engage in recreation. Women always consider a range of social or environmental factors before participate in the leisure activities such as safety, their behaviour and level of control (Lynch & Veal 2006, p. 377). Tourism is one of recreation activities, so before join in it, they will consider where they will go, who they go with, there is safe for them and so on. Also, women always play the role as wife and mother, and then they should do the housework and look after children even if they got a job. In general, women lack of access to appropriate space for leisure, they usually have less leisure time than men, especially for those in paid employment, and then women have less chance to participate in tourism activities. On the other hand, men have more time and more chance to go to travel than women. Overall, gender influences individuals to participate in tourism activity. Psychology This section discusses psychological factors of tourism activities. In terms of psychology, tourism is indication of tourists’ ideas and opinions about going on trips, about where to go and what to do, and about how to relate to other tourists, locals, service personnel. (Leiper, cited in Richardson & Fluker 2008, p. 6). Nowadays, there are various choices of tourism experience which people can choose and enjoy, fulfilling their satisfaction. To explain the facts related to psychological perspective such as why people look for tour and why tourists revisit the same destination, this section discusses tourists’ motivation and needs, and cognition next. Tourists’ motivations play an important role in understanding their behaviour. According to Iso-Ahola (cited in Ryan 2003, p. 84), motivation happens when people want to satisfy their needs and achieve psychological rewards with travel. As tourists’ needs are assorted, they can meet their satisfaction in different experiences. So, their preferences of tourism choices are also different. In general, People need to escape and seek, for instance, they want to escape from routine such as home or work environment and want to experience new place (McCabe 2000). In addition, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs can be applied to tourists’ needs for tourism; physical needs at base (rest, relaxation and exercise), safety/security needs (friendship groups and youth subcultures), love/affiliation needs (family leisure activities related to sexual partnering and team sports), social and self-esteem needs (exercise of skills in sport and cultural activities) and self-actualisation at the highest level (engaged in for their own sake) (Lynch & Veal 2006). For example, some individuals travel to relax and rest in order to escape their daily life; however, others travel to gain enjoyment from tourism experiences. In short, travellers can have different goals to achieve if they tour same place. There are two factors that influence tourists’ motivations; push and pull factors (Richardson & Fluker 2008). While push factors refer to socio-psychological motives, pull factors are not from tourists themselves but the destination itself (safety, attraction, climate etc. ) (Goossens 2000). McGehee et al. (cited in Meng & Uysal 2008, p. 448) stated that male and female tourists are influenced by push and pull factors in different degrees. In Australia, women tend to be affected by society, status and opportunities for family bonding, while men regard sports and adventure as more significant when they choose their trip. According to Burnett-Wolle and Godbey (2007), there are differences and similarities of tourism motivation between young and old people; older adults are not likely to be affected by acquiring career related experience and understanding others. However, both young and old people tend to be motivated by enhancing self-esteem, reducing negative affect, exercising values, and making friends. All individuals have their own characteristics so they feel differently when they visit same destination based on their tastes. There is a satisfaction process which can be affected by expectation and disconfirmation. According to Bosque and Martin (2008, p.553), satisfaction is defined as ‘an individual’s cognitive-affective state derived from a tourist experience’. Previous destination image, past experience and fellow tourists can affect tourists’ expectation. According to Maddux (cited in Larsen 2007, p. 9), an expectation can be defined as ‘the individual’s ability to anticipate, to form beliefs about and to predict future events and states’. In pre-purchase stage, people develop their expectation based on not only the image of destination (made by previous experience) but also fellow tourists’ opinions (Neal & Gursoy 2008). A positive image of the place will have an optimistic effect on the individual’s beliefs of a future experience. Tourists are likely to rely on their beliefs or expectations. As tours are intangible, evaluations are too difficult. In post-purchase stage, travellers tend to compare the actual performance with their expectation. If the actual performance exceeds tourists’ expectation, it is possible for them to have positive disconfirmation. Conversely, they are likely to have negative disconfirmation when their actual performance does not meet their expectation (Neal & Gursoy 2008). The satisfaction is affected by disconfirmation, emotion and comparing costs with rewards. Positive disconfirmation makes tourist satisfied with their travel. And emotion can affect their satisfaction independently. The emotional states will determine tourists’ response in satisfaction process because individuals’ enjoyment is based on their own experiences (Bosque & Martin 2008). Furthermore, Oliver and Swan (cited in Neal & Gursoy 2008, p. 54) argued that tourist’ satisfaction is formed by comparing costs (price, time and efforts) with rewards (benefits from tour). If they feel their benefits exceed costs they spend, they are likely to evaluate their experiences positively. Consequently, the higher level of tourist satisfaction causes the stronger loyalty to the destination. They are willing to revisit that places and recommend to other tourists by word-of-mouth (Bosque & Martin 2008; Chi & Qu 2008). In conclusion, our society has been aware of leisure importance recently. Especially, governments and organisations are trying to help all individuals to participate in tourism activities. A number of people enjoy their tourism because they are affected by psychology and sociology factors. When people travel, they need to spend amount of time and money. People should manage their time between work and leisure, and they can afford to go on a tour as well. In addition, gender inequality of opportunities in tourism exists even though the awareness has been improved. Because women are likely to consider social factors and perform domestic responsibility. While tourists can be motivated by external factors, internal factors also affect decision-making of tourism activities. Tourists meet their needs through tourism experiences. And all individuals have different needs and motivation, so the types of tourism they pursue are diverse. Generally, tourists are satisfied with their tourism experiences based on their cognition processes, which are affected by their previous experiences and expectation. Governments and organisations need to not only motivate tourists to take part in tourism but also support all individuals to enjoy their tourism activities in society when they are willing to participate in tourism. Word count: 1818 words Reference Bosque, IR & Martin, HS 2008, ‘Tourist satisfaction a cognitive-affect model’, Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 551-573, Science Direct, viewed 2 October 2008, . Burnett-Wolle, S & Godbey, G 2007, ‘Refining research on older adults’ leisure: implications of selection, optimization, and compensation and socioemotional selectivity theories’, Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 498-513, Business Source Premier, viewed 1 October 2008, . Chi, CG & Qu, H 2008, ‘Examining the structural relationships of destination image, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty: an integrated approach’, Tourism Management, vol. 29, pp. 624-636, Science Direct, viewed 2 October 2008, . Dann, G 1977, ‘Anomie, ego-enhancement and tourism’, Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 184-194, Science Direct, viewed 2 October 2008, . Dunning, E 1999, Sport Matters: Sociological Studies of Sport, Violence and Civilisation, Taylor & Francis, London. Dyer, P, Gursoy, D, Sharma, B & Carter, J 2007, ‘Structural modelling of resident perceptions of tourism and associated development on the Sunshine Coast, Australia’, Tourism Management, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 409-422, Science Direct, viewed 2 October 2008, . Goossens, G 2000, ‘Tourism information and pleasure motivation’, Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 301-321, Science Direct, viewed 2 October 2008, . Gu, Z 1995, ‘The relationship between interest rate and tourism activities’, International Journal of Hospitality Management, vol. 14, pp. 239-243, Science Direct, viewed 2 October 2008, . Klenosky, DB 2002, ‘The pull of tourism destinations: a means-end investigation’, Journal of Travel Research, vol. 40, pp. 385-395, SAGE Publications, viewed 2 October 2008, . Larsen, S 2007, ‘Aspects of a psychology of the tourist experience’, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 7-18, Business Source Premier, viewed 1 October 2008, . Lynch, R & Veal, AJ 2006, Australian leisure, 3rd edn, Pearson, NSW. Martinez-Garcia, E & Raya, JM 2008, ‘Length of stay for low-cost tourism’, Tourism Management, vol. 29, no. 6, pp. 1064-1075, Science Direct, viewed 2 October 2008, . McCabe, AS 2000, ‘Tourism motivation process’, Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 1049-1052, Science Direct, viewed 2 October 2008, . Meng, F & Uysal, M 2008, ‘Effects on gender differences on perceptions of destination attributes, motivations, and travel values: an examination of a nature-based resort destination’, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 445-466, Business Source Premier, viewed 2 October 2008, . Neal, JD & Gursoy, D 2008, ‘A multifaceted analysis of tourism satisfaction’, Journal of Travel Research, vol, 47, no. 1, pp. 53-62, SAGE Publications, viewed 3 October 2008, . Osborne, R & Van Loon, B 1998, Introducing Sociology, Icon Books, London. Richardson, J & Fluker, M 2008, Understanding and managing tourism, Pearson, NSW. Ryan, C 2003, Recreational tourism: demand and impacts, Channel View Publications, NSW.

Why the arab countries are not paying attention to the mental health Essay

Why the arab countries are not paying attention to the mental health issues compared to the west - Essay Example However, there is no single study that has elucidated on the continued negligence of different stakeholders on the issue. Nevertheless, some research has indicated that the frequency of mental disorders does not vary much across the globe Ghodse, 2011). In this regard, it is correct to argue that Arab countries are not different. However, it is critical to review why Arab countries stand out to be distinct given that there are no disparities in terms of variation in mental illnesses between Arab countries and the west. It is apparent that the only difference in mental disorders in the Arab countries and the west is how the two different regions perceive and look at the issue. Studies have indicated that the manifestations of the mental illnesses vary with culture. In fact, in many developing countries, mental illnesses are highly characterized with the culture of those particular countries. The data, believes, and attitudes of persons in these areas dictate how the illnesses are addr essed. However, as Suad, (2006) stipulates, the problem in many Arab countries is not on how difficult it is to deal or treat mental disorders, it has to do with how well physicians or psychiatrists can be able to handle issues revolving around the illness. For example, there is a need to articulate on why people have negative attitude towards mentally ill persons. Basically, Mooney, et al. (2011) argues that, these attitudes have several and severe consequences to both the patient and the society. This is highly seen where even if the patient is well treated and attended to by the psychiatrist, the situation gets no better especially when the public view such patients as outcasts or inhuman. Therefore, even if the patient is treated, discrimination, which is mostly associated with negative attitudes in such societies, tends to manifest itself (Corrigan, et al., 2011). In light with this, the patient may continue to suffer psychologically as they try to contemplate that some people view them differently. There has also been a problem with how psychiatrists attend to persons with mental disorders in Arab countries. As McKenzie, et al. (2012) contends, this is highly attributed to the fact that the mode of treatment of persons with mental illnesses is not advanced. It is indispensible to have psychiatry programs upgraded in order to integrate modern teaching techniques, which would go a long way in bringing up more competent psychiatrists. Moreover, the upcoming doctors needs to be trained in such a way that they will be in a position to establish a rapport relationship with their patients in order to have in-depth analysis of the patient’s condition (Faraone, et al., 1999). Another major concern is on how psychiatrists can utilise the unique cultural traits that exists in these countries to counter any negative factors surrounding mental illnesses. For example, it is believed that religion and family settings can be utilised in reverting the negative att itudes towards mentally ill persons. This is arguably true because family ties in many Arab countries are strong. Therefore, they can be used to strengthen social support to issues revolving around positivity and support for mentally ill persons, rather than discriminating against them. In regard to religions, it is believed that religions can as well be utilised in impacting and preaching good deeds that induces good traits in their believers, and this can be used to protect mentally ill persons from discrimination and harm (Stuart, 2005). Discrimination is well manifested in situations where a certain religion belief insinuates that mentally ill persons are sort of coursed or outcasts. Therefore, if such religions are educated on severity and vagueness of such beliefs, then they

Linguistics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Linguistics - Essay Example The article under study reveals critical data and additional information on all aspects of English as second language (ESL) and language in education across United States. There is significant cultural diversity which is reflected in demographic distribution across various states and subsequent disparity in languages spoken by the population. According to the data from United States Bureau of Census, it is evident that there is substantial pattern of bilingualism in which the better part of the population is caught between their native language and English. Spanish and Portugal have remained the commonly spoken language which reflects increased immigration of South American and Caribbean into USA. There are other languages spoken by the multicultural minority community in the US when they are at home or areas of their ethnic dominance (Finegan and John 280). Investigation and analysis of this article therefore puts it clear that English is considered second language by a larger propo rtion of United States population. It is important to note that from the time of Theodora Roosevelt, the government stepped up campaign for multiculturism and unity through one common language which is English. This means that various immigrant languages were to be spoken but English remained the symbol of national unity. The consequences of poor mastery of English by immigrants ranged from social interaction challenges to economic obstacles. However, research still indicates that most of the immigrant communities still speak their languages at home even as they seek to shift steadily to English. In a bid to ensure that English became national language, the curriculum and general education sector was structured to be executed in English. In this respect, any child in United State that seeks to seek higher education is compelled to understand

The development of corporate governance code in UK since 1992 Essay

The development of corporate governance code in UK since 1992 - Essay Example The essay discusses that corporate failures such Maxwell Publishing Group, BCCI, Poly Peck and Coloroll in 1980s and early 1990s in UK brought the issue of corporate governance practices by publicly listed organizations. There is no set definition of corporate governance and mostly depends upon the specific country’s view and oversight of the issue. Generally, it is known as a system of rules and principles as to how an organization should be governed and controlled. The roots of corporate governance lie in ‘Agency Theory’, which explains the problem of principal-agent. The managers or agents are bestowed with the responsibility of managing the company on behalf of the company’s owners or principals. While these agents have informational advantage, the principals have to rely on the board appointed by them to oversee the agents’ management. Therefore, agency theory has had a deep influence in shaping the characteristics and reforms of corporate gover nance. A proper governance mechanism in organization was required in order to facilitate a prudent and effective entrepreneurial management to deliver the long-term success of the organization underlying assumption of corporate governance is that the board of directors is responsible for the management of business and control of risks faced by it. While the framework of an effective corporate governance is still is in development stage in most of the developed economies, the recent economic downturn has raised the doubt over the effectiveness of corporate governance can ever be achieved.... These two Codes are based on the Walker Review Committee being set up to review the corporate governance practices in banking sector. U.S. has addressed the issue of corporate governance and auditor’s independence through Sarbanes Oxley Act in 2002 in response to Enron collapse and other corporate scandals, and Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reforms along with Consumer Protection Act in 2010 (Copeland, 2010, p.1). These reforms and developments indicate that the importance of having an effective corporate governance framework in order to protect not just the shareholders’ interests but also the other stakeholders’ interests. Considering this, the development of corporate governance framework in UK and practices of the Code through the analysis of two UK-based firms Burberry and BP have been provided. Burberry is a manufacturer of luxury fashion clothing, fragrance and accessories in UK and was established in 1856 (Burberry, n.d.).Burberry is listed on London Stock Exchan ge. BP was established in 1908 through a discovery of oil well in Persia. The company is listed on London Stock Exchange and NYSE (BP, 2012). Both the firms follow the provisions of corporate governance practices in the new Code on Corporate Governance 2010 and the Company Act 2006. Corporate Governance Development The process by which the stakeholders of a company get assured that the board of directors of the company is performing their duties efficiently, which assigned to them. The board members of the company should design the process, so that the interest of the stakeholders maintained properly by the operations done by the company management. The company management should also look after that whether the company properly maintains the ethics, corporate social responsibility or not. In

Child Prostitution in India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Child Prostitution in India - Essay Example This paper is a critical evaluation of child prostitution in India as well as ways through which the dilemma can be resolved. Child Prostitution in India India is categorized as one of the most highly populated countries in the world, with majority of its citizens suffering from abject poverty. Statistics indicate that more than 300 million out of the total population of approximately 944 580 000 people are living below poverty line, as per early 1990’s reports (Shephered 62). This ratio has definitely increased based on the fact that the total population has increased significantly to hit the 1 billion mark, making it the second most populous country after China. Out of this population, 25% is believed to be living in urban areas, which is a recipe for the establishment of informal residential areas that are unsafe and unhealthy for bringing up children. Due to these factors, families have been trying all methods to make ends meet and this has resulted to numerous cases of ch ild abuse, who are introduced to child labor and prostitution at a tender age (Sahni 12). Child prostitution may be defined as the involvement of children below the age of 18, depending on the legal definition of an adult in a country or society. It is prohibited in most of the countries around the world, even in those that legalize prostitution but there is a tendency in India whereby the locals are comfortable and in fact, some sources indicate that parents, who are supposed to offer protection to these children, are the main perpetrators of this heinous activity (Sahni 39). The girl child is given little significance in most of Indian societies who view them as sex tools such that they are even sexually abused by immediate members of the family such as the father, brothers among others. Some sources indicate that this habit begins in the marital bed, where couples incorporate their children in their sexual activities and sometimes, they are ‘loaned’ to neighbors for the same purposes. Mothers are said to use masturbation as a technique to send their female children to sleep and to enhance masculinity in boys, which is according to observers (DeMause 21). By the time they reach the age of 5 or 6, these children are already aware of their sexuality and thereby will go ahead to practice what they have been experiencing at the hands of their parents. On the other hand, child prostitution in India has been observed as being motivated by cultural and religious practices by the society rather than poverty as with other third world countries. An example is the tradition whereby young girls are offered as sacrifices to gods, in a practice known as Devdasi and which is widely accepted in majority of Indian cultures. Once these girls are relocated to the temples, they become what are widely referred to as religious prostitutes, who sleep around with different priests (Gathia 51). However, this kind of prostitution is different as it does not have the comm ercial aspect in it. This is to imply that these girls are not compensated for their services and as such, they are more of sex slaves as they are not allowed to make their own decisions on how to control their sexual activities especially choosing preferred clients. Despite the banning of this tradition in 1982, the society has continued to practice it, insisting that observing the restriction would amount to

Marketing - The movie ' Valentines Day ' Term Paper

Marketing - The movie ' Valentines Day ' - Term Paper Example It is the sheer ingenuity of these marketing and promotional campaigns that sell the movies regardless of how critics evaluate them. This is best accentuated by the example of the release and eventual success of the movie ‘Valentine’s Day’ which immediately stormed up to the top of the charts and made millions of dollars despite the fact that the movie failed to offer a plot that was anything beyond appalling and was popularly disparaged by critics. Not only the gist is vague, the movie has also been criticized for being loaded with offensive, controversial and questionable content (Goodwyn). However, it managed to achieve the number one rating when it opened and caused quite a stir in the box office. The movie was marketed with the obvious yet the most selling strategy of being tied with a major and popular holiday. To title the film after Valentine’s Day is a very calculated effort to capitalize on the emotions that are elicited around this holiday and at the same time to target an audience for whom the movie becomes a prime attraction on this very particular day just because of its name as it is a perfect present as well as a ‘going-out’ event. Lucy Fisher captures this is a very sleek manner when she comments that "People are prodded to buy something for the occasion, and in this case, its a movie ticket.. it doesnt matter about the quality† (Hare, 2010). Not only that, it a clever ploy to target women who are lured into the trap of saccharine love stories, cute stuff toys, red roses and the fever of the holiday. It is in this way that the movie self-advertises itself by its name enough to drive hundreds and hundreds of love-struck couples of all age s, young group of friends or even those lonely ones who need an exciting event towards the path that leads to the theaters. Even if the movie is perceived to be of poor

The Comprehensive Meaning of Yoga Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Comprehensive Meaning of Yoga - Essay Example It may be compared with the Trojan War or War of Troy in Greek mythology. During war Lord Krishna was the charioteer of Arjuna, who was a great warrior and the most skilled person in archery. It was a time when he had to wage the dreadful war against his own siblings and his close relatives. Among them were his teachers, his cousin brothers, and his great grandfather.Footnote: *Ishwar: Ishwar is a broad term and that is why instead of calling Him God, we should call Him Ishwar i.e. Supreme Lord.When they encountered face to face on the battlefield, Arjuna was so dejected that he put down his weapons on the ground and surrendered himself. He started lamenting and told Lord Krishna that he could not fight against his close people. He does not want victory, nor does he want status, reputation and kingdom by killing his own people. And thus emerged Geeta; to counsel Arjuna, Lord Krishna explains the universal mystery and the mortal appearance of body and infinite existence of soul, which is non perishable. It teaches us to overcome the dejection and sorrow and be stoic even in the most troublesome period of our life. It is one of the truths of human birth explained by Geeta; that the life of human being is very special and differs from other species on the earth. Rosen Steven in his Bhagavad Geeta analysis says, â€Å"Man is meant to be thoughtful. Human life is meant for more than merely eating, sleeping, mating, and defending – the basic animalistic propensities.†

What is Strategic Human Resource Management Essay Example for Free

What is Strategic Human Resource Management Essay Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is concerned with establishing a specific and managed cause and effect relationship between an organisations actions to survive and grow and its HRM principle and practices. It is also concerned with the mechanism through which people in an organisation gain an understanding of the purpose of the organisation, its goals and strategic objectives. As well as how the organisation related to its external environment in order to achieve these goals and objectives (SHU International MBA, Intro to SHRM unit p. 1) Introduction Human resource management (HRM) can broadly be defined as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organizations most value asset the people work there, who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives for sustainable competitive advantage. As described by beer et al (1984): Human resource management involves all management decisions and action that affect the relationship between the organization and employees It human resource.1 The different between Strategic Human Resource management (SHRM) and Human Resource Management (HRM) can be seen as the word of Strategy, Strategy, as it has come to be applied in business, is a market-oriented concept it is fundamentally concerned with products and competitive advantage. The different between are integrated as follow: Strategic human resource management is concerned with those decisions which have a major and long -term effect on the employment and development of people in the organisation, and on the relationship which exist between its management and staff. An HR strategy will express the intention of the enterprise about how it should manage its human resources. These intentions provide the basis for plans, development and programmes for managing chance. The aim of SHRM is to ensure that the culture, style and structure of the organization, and the quality, commitment and motivation of its employees, contribute fully to the achievement of Business objective. Main features of strategic human resourse management It has been suggested by Hendry and Pettigrew (1986) that the main features of strategic human resource management are as follows: The use of planning A coherent approach to the design and management of personnel systems based on an employment policy and manpower strategy, often underpinned by a philosophy HRM activates and policies are matched to some explicit business strategy The people of the organisation are seen as a strategy resource for achieving competitive advantage Formation of Strategy To understand how the SHRM can effect the whole organisation, we need to go thought the Organisation Structure and see the how Strategy Management works. The strategic management process is typically broken down into five step: 1. mission and goals 2. environmental analysis 3. strategic formulation 4. strategy implementation 5. strategy evaluation We are not interested for Step 1 and Step 2, because at these two stages, the Strategy is not form yet. It was still in the planning process, after the Strategy had been developed, it will transfer to Step 3- Strategic Formulation. Strategic Formulation involves senior manager evaluating the interaction between strategic factors and making strategic choices that guide managers to meet their organisation goals. Some Strategies are formulated at the corporate, business and specific functional levels. Hierarchy of Strategy Another aspect of strategic management in the multidivisional business organization concerns the level to which strategic issues apply. Conventional wisdom identifies different levels of strategy a hierarchy of strategy 1.corporate 2.business 3.functional Its because we are not interested in Corporate-Level strategy Business-level strategy. The deeper explanations will be place in the appendix. Functional-level strategy Functional-level strategy pertains to the major functional operations within the business unit, including research and development, marketing, manufacturing, finance and HR. This strategy level is typically primarily concerned with maximizing resource productivity and addresses the question,  How do we support the business-level competitive strategy? Consistent with this, at the functional level, HRM policies and practices support the business strategy goals. Developing human resource strategies Human resource strategy contributes top the business strategy but is also justified by, the aim should be make it imaginative, innovative, clear and actionable. Its must also be selective, focusing on priorities, and flexible, rapidly adjusting to change. HR strategy should be formulated by s continuous process of analysing what is happening to the business and where it is going. So, we do know why we need SHRM to support organisation strategy, but how can we implement the SHRM to the organisation, and what kind of tools and practice we can use to shaping the organisation strategy in the term of Human Resource Management. The answer for this is fairly easy, we know the Top Level is the Strategy, and the bottom level is the worker on work floor. The linkage between these is a linkage mechanism, which general identify as Manager of that particular department. What is the responsibility of manager? In general, the key of a manager is to keep a good relationship with the employee, without the good relationship, the organisation will unable to run the daily task to achieve what they got to achieve. In other word a manager is trying making out the most from the employee to optimise the company performance. And the follow is what a manager should do for their duties: Ability to Motivate worker recruitment and staffing employee development employee relations Leadership Communication and culture Teamwork Ability to motivate worker Motivation is defined as the willingness to do something conditioned upon the actions ability to satisfy some need for the individual. (Robbins De Cenzo, 2001) Motivation is the key to getting the job done because without it, projects and jobs are completed with no purpose or direction. Moreover rewards and bonuses gained by employees increase their moral as well as benefiting the organization. Appraisal systems for some time have served to prove that the performance of employees is under control or to give the appearance of control Recruitment and Staffing Recruitment and Selection is a well-worn topic, which is treated fully in all major texts. Just remember that there is always a tension between getting the right person for a job and how much resource in terms of time and money is devoted to recruitment. The more accurate the recruitment, the more benefits the organization will achieve. This is because the employee will carry out their tasks more appropriately and will be ideal for the new post and will be able to take responsibilities. The more recruitment in an organization, the higher the overheads and therefore HRM needs to be effectively managing and deciding whether there is a need of recruitment or not. Training and development Training and Development are currently big issues for many businesses in most  parts of the country, especially where there are low rates of unemployment. Moreover, Increase in training and development has increased productivity as well as employees moral. This is beneficial for both, the company and the employees. Although the costs of HRM increase in the short term as training and development is very expensive but at the long term it is very beneficial for an organization as job commitment is reinforced and quality increases to Employee relations Develop and maintain effective employee relations activities and programs which you can use to help create a positive organizational culture. Handle difficult employees with confidence, and learn how to reinforce good behavior as well as discipline, and terminate properly if the need arises. In addition, you will look at ways to get your employees involved and assess their needs and opinions. Leadership The leadership is someone who exercises influence over people. The ability to influence also needs the permission of those to be influenced. The functions of Lead in organization may include Enabling people and group to achieve their objectives Setting and communication objectives. Monitoring performance and giving feedback Administering rewards and punishments Clarifying and solving problems Making decision on behalf of others Represent the group to others Providing information, advice and expertise Communication and culture Communication is very important to a manager, the purpose of the manage is get people connected together, from the top-side of the CEO to the bottom side of the Shop-floor worker, without the communication skill the manager may send the wrong message the audience. Teamwork Teamwork emphasizes the successful of business. As we know there are a lot of task cannot carried out by one people such as decision making, planning and problem solving. Teamwork can speed-up the task to achieve the goal in a efficient way. Factors to implementing change to the organisation After we understand the role of the management, but how cans a manager to implement the strategy to his department, the Keyword is CHANGE. The question is how can a manger to change the behaviour of the worker to ways that will match the organisation goals and strategy. Before the implementation of change, we should make sure the manager had got the capacity to handle the change. And there are three questions to ask the manager. Does he have the right attitude? Does he have the appropriate knowledge? Do we have the necessary skill? Right Attitude for the manager A change agent cannot succeed without great persistence. Change is a complex and laborious process that arouses strong feelings and emotions. Angry people, frustrated teammates, conflicting priorities, unforeseen problems or behind-the-scene resistance pose daily challenges. A project manager cannot lead her team through these minefields without determination and stamina. To avoid mid-course changes in leadership, the person must be fully committed to see the project through completion. A good way to ensure that is to appoint an ambitious individual who presents substantial potential for career advancement within the organization. She will look at the challenge as a terrific career-building opportunity and will be highly motivated to succeed. The benefits will actually extend well beyond the projects time horizon. Indeed, the initiative will provide this high-potential employee with a broader understanding of the business, an extended network of relationships and stronger leadership skills. Appropriate knowledge of what we going to change I am absolute sure that the developer of the strategy do know what is needed to change to meet their target. But the question is the project manager is in a functional- level of the business, he is a subject matter expert in their respective area of responsibility. Are we sure he got a detail understanding of what is going on of the strategy. An expertise of the strategic goal will be needed to assist the functional level to achieve what they should achieve The necessary skills Change is complex subject; it will generate lots of pressure due to the instability and uncertainty. And also the manager has to handle manage conflicting priorities, multiple constituencies and fast-approaching deadline; Responsible for gilding the organisation through the numerous challenge of the transition. Therefore, the project leader must possess the proven ability to remain highly effective under intense fire. Otherwise, the  breakdown will occur when that person is overseeing a critical phase, so the whole project can be failed or delayed. Which is opposing what we trying to do. Step for implementation of Strategy within the Human Resource What is implementation? Implementation means causing changes to occur somewhere in your sphere of influence as a manager. It is impossible to implement any course of action and not have something change as a result. This means that certain things must be disrupted, discontinues, or deferred and new activities must begin. But most important, it means that after you have initiated action, things will be different. The key is in creating exactly the right amount of disruption. The following guide lines should help you to accomplish the implementation of your action plan with the minimum amount of adverse disruption and maximum of success: (Responsible Managers Get results- Gerald Faust 1998) Always implement changes from the top down. Always start with the best first. Set your own example. Remember that you cant motivate people to do something they dont know how to do. Recognize and reward desired performance early. Pace implementation so that the timing is consistent with the needs of your plan. Provide coaching and follow-up consulting, and, above all, be persistent Step 1: Planning the Change Process (These step are coming from article: How to implement organisation change) Like any complex project, change management requires detailed planning. Being responsible for guiding the process, the change facilitation team must see to it that detailed but realistic planning is undertaken in order to minimize divergence from the vision. Step 2: Goal translation The executive goals need to be translating to each level of the organisation in a meaningful, achievable target to each individual person within the organisation. For example: if the executive goal is increase the sales by 15 %, but how can salesman known how much is the percentage increase for a particular product. Therefore the goals must be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Additive, Reasonable and Time-bound). Furthermore the goal must is translate to a understandable language of different level of the organisation. Step 3: Barrier identification and Removal When the goals are clearly understood, we can start identifying the barriers that are preventing the achievement of these goals. The people who actually do the work should identify the barrier. Whenever possible, we must involve these people in implementation decision where these view may be crucial. For that reason, Manager must be able to communicate effectively at all levels and across each function. Resistance of Change Employees resist change because they have to learn something new. In many case there is not a disagreement with the benefits of the new process, but rather a fear of the unknown future and about their ability to adapt to it. de Jager (2001) argues, Most people are reluctant to leave the familiar behind. We are all suspicious about the unfamiliar; we are naturally concerned about how we will get from the old to the new, especially if it involves learning something new and risking failure de Jager (2001) Step 4: System for Managing Once the goals have been translated and barrier have been identify, the next critical step will be to develop a system for managing the organisation. Traditionally it will only be measured. But now it will be much larger. Not only a metrics need to designed, but meeting need to be developed, measure automation needs to be planned and specific accountability need to be determined. As far as the metrics are concerned, they need to report on goal achievement at each organisation level. And the reporting will also translated to its specificity. So if the executive goal is improved effectiveness of 25 % then that is what the metrics needs to report on at that organisation level. Similarly the metric in the finished goods packaging area may be boxed packed per hour and so on. Step 5: Rewards Recognition Rewarding and recognizing employees is essential to any business or organization. Employees like to know that the work they do is noticed and appreciated by their employers. It is important to recognize both the effort put into getting work and projects completed and the result. Recognition is one of the most effective ways to reinforce an organizations culture, support its objectives, and retain top performers. When we remember to take care of these very human needs for recognition and appreciation, we do a great deal to create an energized workplace we need in order to succeed in todays challenging times. Short Example of implementation SHRM to an organisation Age, skills and training ASDA will have a range of employees who have worked for different lengths of time and who have different levels of skills and training. The Human  Resource planner will seek to have a balance of new people entering ASDA in order to cover those who are leaving. The Human Resource Planner will also want to make sure that skill levels are raising within ASDA, and that training programmes are devised to make sure people have the skills to meet ASDAs jobs requirements. If all ASDAs skilled employees are just about to retire, ASDA will have to spend a lot of money on training to build up a new pool of expertise. Succession Succession is the way in which one person follows another person into a particular job or role within ASDA. ASDA need to make sure it is grooming people to take on the responsibility required. If ASDA do not do this, it will suddenly find itself with a vacuum where it has not developed the people to move into the appropriate position of responsibility, and ASDA will be missing the right people in key position to hold ASDA together. Learning organisation Toyota is a classics which using a life-long learning opportunity. They understand the current worker may not be able to catch-up with the current technology. Therefore they have introduce a Paid-leave learning period for those who want to going back to study Operating as a learning organization and affording all our employees lifelong learning opportunities and equipping them with the skills and abilities to cope with and develop in an environment of constant change. Conclusion: Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is a broadness area. Meaning range from a human resource system that is tailored to the demands of the business strategy to the pattern of planned human resource activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals. Where in the first definition human resource management is a reactive management field in which human  resource management becomes a tool to implement strategy, in the latter definition it has a proactive function in which human resource activities actually create and shape the business strategy. As Strategy is equal to change, so, SHRM will be change as the changing environment. But one thing can be sure is- SHRM is a managing tool of Human factor which will assist the organization to achieve their goals, and it will controlling all the human factor, and getting the most from them, to optimize the efficiency and gain competitiveness of the organization. Reference: 1. Human Resource Management Strategy Action Michael Armstrong 2. Strategic human resource management John Bratton 3. http://adtimes.nstp.com.my/jobstory/jan20a.htm The art of people management 4. http://www.newfoundations.com/OrgTheory/Bolognese721.html- Employee Resistance to Organizational Change 5. http://www.changemanagementgroup.com/orgdevel.phtml Organizational Development and Team Building 6. Responsible Managers Get results- Gerald Faust 1998 7. Strategic human resource management, performance, alightment, management by David Baker 8. Taking a Strategic Approach to Human Resource Management by Roy Massey 9. What is human resources strategy by Mark A. Thomas 10. http://techupdate.zdnet.com/techupdate/stories/main/Implement_change_manageme

Critique of how to fix financial reporting

Critique of how to fix financial reporting This report has been taken from businessweek and is written by David Bogoslaw. He is a graduate form the University of Columbia. His main field of research and reporting includes energy, chemical industry, science and culture. The basic aim of this report is to identify the loopholes in financial reporting and find solutions to improve the transparency in it. In the wake of current crisis the report has much importance as some of the causes of this recent turmoil I context of financial reporting are discussed. The report suggests that a major overhaul of the global financial reporting frame work is required. Although many reforms and some basic structural make over are needed but main focus of the report remains the transparency and accuracy in financial information. Bogoslaw claims that one of the major fact behind this financial crisis is the risky investments which has forced the paper based financial derivative economy to collapse. Banks and mortgage landing companies are the worst victim of this current financial crisis as they have failed to recognise the risk in their products because of the complex nature of the products. The report also tells that some confusing accounting practices have misled the investor by giving wrong and biased information. Most of the financial annalists are regulators are agreed on the basic principle to get the investors confidence back all the financial institutions will have to improve transparency in their reporting structure. The author has focused in four major areas where he believes that the financial management of any firm have to look for loopholes and work out the possible solutions to fix them. According to Professor Paul Miller who teaches accounting at the University of Colorado, its time for companies to change their view about capital markets. In the past three decades they have successfully identified some of the major elements for their growth and success but they have failed to recognise the importance of one very important factor. They have managed to build customer loyalty and employee support through better care and incentives. They have also adopted just-in-time supply chain management and effective use of information technology has developed good communication with their suppliers. But he thinks that most of the companies have failed to recognise the importance the forth factor which is capital market. Miller argues that a firm must inform capital market about prospective cash flow and intended use of the gained capital. He argues that little or biased information will have negative effect of firms reputation. In his views managers in the capital markets are competent enough to figure out any doubtful financial information provided by the company and are in a better position to take decision about the investment. William Isaac who has been chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in mid 1980s blames FABSs 15 years old rule which requires assets to be valued at their current market value. He believes that this rule puts companies in a difficult position to use this rule when the value of their assets has a temporary decline. This further forces the company to write down their asset values and thus equity is destroyed. But SEC and FASB have developed a new way to over come this by allowing companys top management to use their own financial models to value assets when their value has a huge decline in the market. Miller also focuses on making derivatives more transparent. He argues that its time to regain the investors confidence for financial stability. He believes that some of the financial reporting practices have to be reformed. Off -balance-sheet financing and pension fund accounting practices under U.S GAAP have to be reformed. IASB and FASB are working together to improve the qualitative characteristics of financial reports, they have successful in the formation of FAS 158 under which pension fund assets and liabilities are shown on the firms balance sheet as net amount instead of in footnotes. In his views, banks now have to introduce plain-vanilla investment products. Kenneth Scott who is a professor at Stanford University thinks that trust for securitized assets like CMO,s can only be gained by improving transparency among these assets as the current structure of these assets is very complex e.g;CMO,s CDO,s and CDO squared mixed up and they confuse the investor. The complex structure almost made it impossible for asset managers to calculate the losses in all these assets. Scotts suggests that to improve the transparency for these complex structured securitized asset there is need of a basic data bank. He thinks that this is the time for us to realise the need of an electronic financial reporting system. A data base which get all the related financial information and process it to make information more accurate and useful, this will further reduce the uncertainty. To achieve this, credit rating agencies can contribute much as they already have data collected which they use to identify the amount of risk associated with individuals and companies when it comes to financial decision making process. Philip Moyer who is chief executive of EDGAR online, emphasis the use of electronic data base formats. According to him this will give analyst and regulators more time and freedom to analyze the data. XBRL is one the most successful software used by many countries to analyze and compare companys financial data with much ease. One the other hand Cindy Fornelli, who is executive director of the Washington based Centre for Audit Quality, says that investors need to get more access to tools which can help them to understand deeply the financial statements of any company before making any investment decision. CQA has recently completed a year and half long study which was focused on the possible ways to improve the financial reporting structure. The key participants were investors, company officials former chairman of SEC and a state Attorney General. They suggests that financial reports should identify the key performance indicators for the industry in which the firm is trading. This will enable the investor to compare this with other companies and the overall condition of the industry. Introduction I have been asked to write a critique on David Bogoslaw report how to fix financial reporting. This report has been published in Business Week Online and is important in context of recent financial crisis. Bogoslaw has carefully presented the views of some of the major finance and accounting professionals. Almost 95% of the report is based on the views of these professionals. This report is also a study in the financial crisis and the role of financial reporting in this regard. First I will analyze the key substantive issues raised by the article and then will check the overall reliability of the stated facts and criticism about financial reporting. Substantive Issues The report How to Fix Financial Reporting has four main substantive issue to look at and they are as follows: Complexity in derivatives Capital market ignorance Role of electronic financial reporting Off balance sheet financing Complexity in derivatives One of the major element which has shaken the investors trust in the capital market is the complexity which lies in the derivatives. They confuse the investor and it becomes almost impossible for an investor to judge the risk involve in these products. On the other hand Kenneth Scott who is a professor at Stanford University thinks that trust for securitized assets like CMO,s can only be gained by improving transparency among these assets. The current structure of these assets is very complex as CMO,s CDO,s and CDO squared are pooled together. The complex structure almost made it impossible for asset managers to calculate the losses in all these assets. Bogle et al (2009),suggests that in a risk aware culture banks and other lending or mortgage originators must consider the creditworthiness of the borrower. Transparency enables investors to have a reasonable basis for their views and reveals existing and potential conflicts of interest. It is suggested by the report that to get the investors back on track banks now have to introduce plain-vanilla investment products for a short period of time. This seems obvious as banks are mostly hit by this global economics slow down. According to Derman (2009), banks now have to take time to consider the risk involve with any kind of decision. This can be achieved by reducing the complexity in the financial products. As plain vanilla products are less complex so the investors are more attracted to less complex products as they believe that they are well aware of the risk involved in these products. Scotts suggests that to improve the transparency for all these complex structured securitized asset there is need of basic data bank. To get such a data bank which have all the information regarding all these asset pools is very difficult. Capital Market Ignorance The report suggests that companies have failed to recognise the real importance of the capital market. The relationship between firms financial management and the capital market is very important for the success of any firm. According to Professor Paul Miller who teaches accounting at the University of Colorado, its time for companies to change their view about capital markets. In the past three decades they have successfully identified some of the major elements for their growth and success but they have failed to recognise the importance of one very important factor. They have managed to build customer loyalty and employee support through better care and incentives. They have also adopted just-in-time supply chain management and effective use of information technology has developed good communication with their suppliers. But he thinks that most of the companies have failed to recognise the importance the forth factor which is capital market. Miller argues that a firm must inform c apital market about prospective cash flow and intended use of the gained capital. He argues that little or biased information will have negative effect of firms reputation. In his views managers in the capital markets are competent enough to figure out any doubtful financial information provided by the company and are in a better position to take decision about the investment. Role of electronic financial reporting This has been suggested in the report by Scotts that one of the possible way to achieve transparency in some complex structured securitized assets is by using a basic data bank. He thinks that this is the time for us to realise the need of an electronic financial reporting system. A data base which get all the related financial information and process it to make information more accurate and useful, this will further reduce the uncertainty. To achieve this, credit rating agencies can contribute much as they already have data collected which they use to identify the amount of risk associated with individuals and companies when it comes to financial decision making process. Philip Moyer who is chief executive of EDGAR online, emphasis the use of electronic data base formats. According to him this will give analyst and regulators more time and freedom to analyze the data. XBRL is one the most successful software used by many countries to analyze and compare companys financial data with much ease .most finance executive accepted the Sec mandate on XBRL. Although this software is really helpful in representation of financial data but company has to consider some critical issues in using these products. According to Stuart(2009), its companys own responsibility to validate data. Finance staff should make sure that the tags in XBRL should match taxonomy and the underlying 10-Q or 10-K before it goes off to SEC. XBRL has a framework which guides companies to prepare financial statements according International Accounting Standard. This has been shown in the fig1. source: http://www.xbrl.org/taxonomy/int/fr/ias/ Off-balance sheet financing and operating lease Off-balance-sheet financing has been criticised by Miller in this report. He believes that companies take advantage of the current GAAP rules when it comes to the operating lease. He believes that some of the financial reporting practices have to be reformed. Off -balance-sheet financing and pension fund accounting practices under U.S GAAP have to be reformed. IASB and FASB are working together to improve the qualitative characteristics of financial reports, they have successful in the formation of FAS 158 under which pension fund assets and liabilities are shown on the firms balance sheet as net amount instead of in footnotes. Finance directors prefer operating lease as it makes their balance sheet shrink. As a general rule-of-thumb a lease does not have to be capitalised so long as the net present value of the lease liabilities amounts to less than 90% of the actual value of the asset. According to Andrew Lennard of Britians Accounting Board the distinction between operating lease and finance lease is a fine line. If a lease is giving the company control like of ownership then the accounts should reflect that. So all the lease should be on the balance sheet. This can misled the investors and other stake holders like credit companies as if they capitalise their operating lease their gearing ratios will shoot up. But off-balance-sheet financing can be a useful tool. This compels the investors to look deeply into the some kind of off-the-book deals. But many companies are reluctant to provide such kind of information. So the key issue remains the disclosure (Feldman, Amy 2002). Validity of the implied criticism of corporate financial reporting To validate any of the criticism made in this article we have to look into the related literature and some the regulation which govern the financial practices in the market. The most important things to consider in this regard is the conceptual framework and qualitative characteristics of financial information. The qualitative characteristics of financial information defines four main characteristics in any financial information namely; reliability, comparability, understanding and relevance. The reports says that investors confidence in markets can only be regained by improving the financial transparency. So basically the author suggests that reliability of the financial information has to be achieved. For financial information to be reliable it must be free from errors. The presentation should be faithful and neutral. It has to be prudent and complete(Elliott Elliott 2008). The author believes that many companies have failed to provide accurate and complete information about their financial standing which is against the qualitative characteristics of financial information. The report also discuss the off-balance sheet finance and operating leases as the current structure of financial reporting makes it hard for a common investor to recognise and understand the firms real financial position. We again look this fact from the perspective of qualitative characteristics of financial reporting and come up with the answer that these practices reduce the understandbility of the information. The report emphasis that it is basic responsibility of firms management to keep capital markets informed about their financial standing. Deliberately biased information will effect the companys reputation and will have a negative effect on their over all performance. This comes under the objectives of financial reporting as governments and other agencies like capital markets are also the come under one the main user group of firms financial information in the form of financial statements(Elliott Elliott 2008) Conclusions: Although finance has never been a previous reporting filed for David Bogoslaw but he has produced a very good and comprehensive report on a very complex subject with the help of professional approach. The major part of the report consists of financial and accounting personalities of decent repute which makes this report more attractive. The report basically emphasis the need of more transparency in financial reporting structure. The four major areas of concern in this report are short shrift to capital markets, restructuring of complex derivatives, need for electronic financial reporting and some basic changes in accounting techniques. The author has been successful in sending his message out about the role of financial reporting in current financial crisis. Need for a basic financial data base has been conveyed in the report. This data base will not only speed up the process of financial reporting but also make this information more timely and reliable.

Chips Are Down For Gambling Industry

Chips Are Down For Gambling Industry Recent events in global finance have impacted heavily on Australias gambling industry. As Australian consumes reduce their discretionary spending, gambling providers have witnessed a commensurate decline in revenues. The phenomenon is not limited to Australia, with gaming facilities in Las Vegas, Macau and Japan also reporting significant declines in revenues. This downturn has also revising profit forecasts for the future. The decline in revenues extends beyond casinos to other forms of gambling, such as Tattslotto, Keno and horse racing. Other forces are also challenging the viability of the industry, such as government moves to deregulate the industry, and the growth in online gambling, and the equine influenza outbreak. Q1: The general and environment conditions: Organisations have both an external and an internal environment. The external environment consists of two layers the general environment and task environment. General environment of broad dimension and forces in an organisation that created its overall context. The general environment of most organisations has economic technological, sociocultural political-legal and international dimension. The task environment specific organisation of group affects the organisation. It includes competitors customers, suppliers, regulators and increasingly, strategic allies. There are five parts in the general environment, economic. Global financial crisis challenging economic conditions, crown casino revenue is down and increased household cost so less money for gambling. Technological internet gambling does not need licence international. Trends in gambling decline in Las Vegas, Macau revenue down Political-legal government laws. There are five parts in the task environment, suppliers less on ever ything its competitors Q2: Porters Five Forces: Since the early 1980s, Michael Porters Five Forces (Porter, 1980) has brought break through for the concept of normal business strategy, and became the bible to guide business leaders nearly every industry effective implementation of strategic analysis. Five forces model is generic and applying sufficient to explain the behaviour of many different market. Peters five forces model views the business from outside. It focuses on assessing competitive position within industry. Peters 5 forces model, they are barriers to entry, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power if suppliers and rivalry among the existing players. Force 1: The extent to which switching costs and brand loyalty affect the likelihood of customers adopting substitutes products and services. The ease or difficulty with which new competitors can enter an industry. Barriers to entry, what measures are easy or how difficult. It is for new entrants into industries related to government policies and taxes, which require access to productive inputs and finance. Furthermore, patents branding and image also falls into this category. A barrier to entry is the only industry characteristics that determine industry. Barriers reduce the rate of entry of new firms, thus maintaining a level of profit for those already in the industry. Barriers to entry arise from several sources such as government created barriers; Patents and proprietary knowledge serve to restrict entry into an industry, asset specific inhibition of an industry scale and organization of the local economy. The possible use of patents and other resources owned property specialty firms (Porter, 1980, 1985) Forces 2: The extent to which switching costs and brand loyalty affect the likelihood of customers adopting substitutes products and services. Threat of substitutes, if a produce can be easily substituted, then it is a threat to the company because it can complete with price only. Therefore, price elasticity of products affected by substitute products as more substitutes become available, demand becomes elastic since customers have alternatives more. A close substitute product manufacturing capabilities of companies in the industry to increase prices. The competition engendered by a threat of substitute products from outside the industry. For example, the revenue of casinos is limited by financial crisis. Internet gambling itself started as a replacement of the casinos it provides other facilities and resources for similar services, or information (Kyle, 2002) Force 3: The degree to which buyers have the market strength to hold sway over and influence competitors in an industry. In general, when buyer power has strong associations with industry production is close to what an economic on a monophony a market which has many suppliers and buyers. Force 4: The number of buyers relative to suppliers and the threat of replacement and new areas affecting the relationship buyer-supplier and the power of the state provides virtually no current because the gambling industry is not bad consumers want to buy their machines. They can only be completed together with prices can prolong the life of their business but not for profit does not sell well and gaming machines. Forces 5: Intensity of competition between the increase in growth when industry demand, slow down, good products and prices. Rivalry among existing players. It analyzes the level of competition between existing players in the industry. In this force, it analyzes the speed of industry development, how your customers with your brand identity. Do you think the gambling industry is an attractive industry for new entrants? Gambling industry is always attractive to new entrant because it can earn big money. They always get money in and win as long as they have customers come to their business in a fair amount. It is big cheese cake but participant is limited due to capital, government legislation and regulations. At present, it is still attractive but people do not have enough confidence and requirement money to step in this industry. It needs sufficient capital to subsidize their operating business and start up of business life. They need good relationship elsewhere and government support to be able to open it. Recently, financial crisis has caused the decline of gambling industry. People spend less and gamble less. In fact they do not have strong financial standing and stable income, job as before. Furthermore, the increasing of internet gamble has become a big obstacle for gambling business as people tend to play though the net while sitting at home. There is no pressure or camera when playing at home. Consequently, at this stage financial world has gone down and affected every business around. It used to be a good market but not anymore at current stage. Its recovery is only better when peoples financial get better which they have more stable money to spend. Q3: Advice: I would like to advice the casino to offer same free products or services to the customers such as if there is a customer who plays a huge budget for gambling, the casino should offer a hotel bedroom for the customer. Due to the internet is flooding the market, the casino should advertise the advantages of gambling face to face in the casino, such as gambling face to face is much more stimulating. At the same time, point out the disadvantages of gambling on the interest such as gambling online may get hacked. How should they weather the storm of the global economic downturn? At the moment, it is a bad time for gambling industry but this does not mean an end to this industry. People in the industry whom own business face a huge chance of making loss but to be survive through this period, they have to be steady and liquidity. The might have to face corruption but if they use efficiency their money on other cash flow activities such as investing. For example, during bad financial period, people are inability to pay the household mortgage. Moreover, it could be good time to reduce cost and wait for the storm to be gone. In fact, they have to keep their own business in low performance as well. It would be a cut-off of wages, sections (if business is large and multifunctional). Flatten management level, reduce waste and increase efficiency. Do right thing for advertising to attract more customer. Business is a battle; to be able to survive other has to be terminated. However, self-development is required. They have to open more services or link to expand to ne w trend. Q4: discuss another organisation that has been impact on a similar way to the gambling industry by the current economic trends. Steel industry has been impacted on similar way to the gambling industry in the development of situation due to financial crisis is unshared in a positive factor. The financial crisis effects the real economy development and damaged to market confidence. The domestic economic slowdown in the growth of steel industry production growth rates a downward trend in steel exports. The domestic market caused by a certain degree of stress excessive market competition order irregularities are caused by factor such as domestic steel prices plummeted by the main factors. In addition, steel prices have fallen substantially by the impact of iron and steel production by price.

Anger and Aggression Essay -- essays research papers fc

Everyone has felt anger or aggression many times in there life. It happens all of the time. We all face the same challenge of trying to control our temper. It may be easier for some people than it is for others. Many studies show that it is healthy for a person to let out their anger once in a while. They believe that it will help in your relationship with others and that it will increase your self-esteem. They also believe that holding anger in is bad and unhealthy for your body. If you let the anger build up it could go from just being a verbal argument to a point in which someone or something is hurt or destroyed. To control your anger you should release your aggression in a way that is not harmful to others or yourself. People that look into a problem more closely can control their anger better. These people get all of the facts and make a proactive decision. Also by looking into the problem your may find out that it wasn't as bad as you first thought. Looking into the probl em will also help you look at the consequences of the action you are going to take. Researchers also believe that tv and movies have an impact on the ways we release our aggression. They believe that in some way we are all influenced in some way by movies and tv shows that we watch. If we can learn to control our anger we will see that our life, and everyone else's life is a lot safer and more peaceful. Some people may ask, "What causes a person to feel angry?" There are two answers to the question. The first is that you may feel angry with yourself or something that you may have done. The second is that you may be angry at another person or object. Some people may refer to feeling angry with yourself as internal anger and anger towards another person as external anger. An example of internal anger is that you did not do as good as you wanted to do on your test. An example of external anger is getting into an argument with a friend. There are different ways of dealing with your anger. The best way is to go right to the person that you are feeling angry with and talk to them about it. Although this is the best way it may not always be an option for the situation you are in. If you are angry with yourself you should find a friend and talk to them about it and get it off your mind so you don't build up your anger. Bu... ...elp the teen control their aggressions and help them let it out in healthy ways. They can show them different ways to deal with anger. They can use prevention and try to stop the problem before it gets to far. They can also use crisis management such as a sitting down and talking about the problem with the child. Another method is time-outs this will help give the parents and the child a chance to cool down. The best method for parents is to be a good role model for the children. If they show good ways of dealing with anger their children may do the same. A parent is the person who children look up to as they are growing up. Bibliography 1. Dealing with anger http://www.allsands.com/Lifestyles/dealingwitha_apn_gn.htm 2. Dealing with anger http://www.counsel.ufl.edu/selfHelp/dealingWithAnger.asp 3. Adolescent Anger and Aggression http://www.mi-pathways.org/brochures/adolescent_agression.html

HIV and Its Coreceptors Outline Essay -- Biology AIDS

What is HIV? The Human Immune System * In order to understand HIV, one must understand the human immune system. The first line of defense is a person’s skin, mucous membranes, and other secretions which prevent pathogens from ever entering your body. Pathogens are considered things your body does not want, for example bacteria and viruses. * The second line of defense includes nonspecific mechanisms which attempt to contain the spread of pathogens throughout one’s body. The second line of defense relies heavily on the use of white blood cells, which ingest invading organisms. About 5% of white blood cells are made of monocytes, which develop into macrophages. The role of these macrophages is vital to the human immune system, as they are able to engulf pathogens without having to self destruct. * The body’s third line of defense is a highly specific means of distinguishing â€Å"self† from â€Å"non-self† and destroying all â€Å"non-self†. All of one person’s cells are marked with a unique set of proteins which label them as â€Å"self†. Certain cells in the body are capable of recognizing every antigen (molecules belonging to viruses/bacteria) that may enter one’s body over a lifetime. These cells include macrophages, T-Cells, B Cells, and interior thymus cells. These cells rely on Helper T-Cells to alert them of antigens in the body, thus creating an immune response. Once recognized, Killer T-Cells actively destroy pathogens and even the body’s own cells if that have been invaded by a pathogen. How HIV attacks the Body * As commonly known, HIV cannot penetrate your immune systems first line of defense. You cannot contract HIV by breathing bad air or by holding the hand of somebody who is HIV positive. You have to wo... ... lymphocytes. Phipps and Branch observed Fyn Kinase activity in patients with and without HIV. Those with HIV contained high Fyn Kinase activity and low levels of Fyn protein. They also found that Fyn Kinase activity increases within 30 minutes of infection of the CD4+ T cells. This new-found information revolutionized the way testing for HIV occurs. References: Alkhatib, G. et al, "CC CKR5: A RANTES, MIP-alpha, MIP-1 beta Receptor as a Fusion Cofactor for macrophage-tropic HIV-1." Science 272, 1955 (1996). Grimes, W., R. Hallick, M. Hewlett, J. Aronson, and B. Fishel. Biology 181 Laboratory Manual 2002. Hayden-McNeil Publishing, Inc. Moore, J.P. "Co-receptors: Implications for HIV Pathogenesis and Therapy." Science 276, 51, 1997. Purves, W., D. Sadava, G. Orians, and H. Heller. Life: The Science of Biology , Sixth Edition 2001. Sinauer Associates, Inc.

Writing: Dependent Clause and Topic Sentence

contents entries found. PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for choosing the topic: The ongoing process of regional and global integration in Vietnam has resulted in an increasing demand for English language teaching across the country. Learning English is currently not only an interest but also a practical thing for many people. Learning English means learning four related skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. In teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam, writing has always received a great deal of attention.This is understandable, English is learnt and taught in non-English environment, therefore writing is not only one of the four language skills that students of English need to acquire but also a means of further study. Carrell (1981) stated that â€Å"For many students, writing is by far the most important of the four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second or foreign language† (p. 1). Writing in general is one of th e most important skills for English learners, and academic writing in particular plays key role in helping learners to master the language.Learners of English language need to know how to write academically through the way they answer questions, discuss subjects or report research results. However, academic writing is never ever an easy task because it is the combinations of relation among audience, writer, organization and presentation (according to Swale, 1997). It can be understood that learners should keep in their mind to discover typical questions: â€Å"who are they going to write for? †, â€Å"what is the purpose of writing? † (What are the topic, position and argument? , how is the writing going to be organized and presented? It is also quite important to define â€Å"academic writing† to find which is necessary and sufficient. Academic writing normally starts from words, to phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, and then essay. This assignment concentrat es on theory of academic paragraph writing including the definition and structure of a paragraph, parts of paragraph, mistakes ESL often make in writing paragraph academically. It is tried to find out and to compare typical non-academic and academic words and phrases using in paragraph writing.As teachers of English, we ourselves think that it is essential to do a research on the topic â€Å"Academic paragraph writing†. 2. Aims and objectives: 2. 1 Aims: This assignment concentrates on theory of academic paragraph writing. Findings will be studied to suggest appropriate instructional support to help learners improve their academic writing skill. 2. 2. Objectives: To be more specific, the objectives of this study are: – to investigate the theory towards academic paragraph writing. – to find out the common mistakes in academic writing to suggest ways to reduce the difficulties and help learners improve their writing skill by giving out example academic words and p hrases It is hoped that the findings from this study will be some benefits to teachers and students in universities. 3. Methodology In order to carry out the writing of this paper, we ourselves have based on the following methods. * The combination of diachronic and synchronic approaches * The teacher’s advice * The book reference In short, it is hoped that the paper will provide an introduction to the ways how to write academic paragraph writing.We are grateful to any comments on the paper. PART B: DEVELOPMENT I/ Theory of paragraph: 1. Definition of a paragraph: It is quite easy for learners to find out what is a paragraph. There are many ways to define this basing on different viewpoints. Followings are some of popular paragraph definitions. A paragraph is: – a distinct section of a piece of writing, usually dealing with a single theme and indicated by a new line, indentation, or numbering (Oxford Advanced learner Dictionary) – is a group of related sentences that discuss one main idea.A paragraph can be as short as one sentence or as long as ten sentences. The number of sentences is unimportant; however, the paragraph should be long enough to develop the main idea clearly. (Writing academic English – Alice Oshima and Alice Hogue – Longman, third edition) – a distinct portion of written or printed matter dealing with a particular idea, usually beginning with an indentation on a new line. It is one of a series of subsections each usually devoted to one idea and each usually marked by the beginning of a new line, indentation, and increases interlinear space. World English dictionary – Collins) It can be shortly understood that a paragraph is one part of a text which express one complete idea. 2. Structure of a paragraph: A paragraph normally includes a topic sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentence. The topic sentence states the main idea of the paragraph. It not only names the topic of the para graph, but it also limits the topic to one specific area that can be discussed completely in the space of a single paragraph. Supporting sentences develop the topic sentence.That is, they explain or prove the topic sentence by giving more information about it. The concluding sentence signals the end of the paragraph and leaves the reader with important points to remember. Concluding sentence is customary for stand-alone paragraph. However, paragraphs that are parts of a longer piece of writing usually do not concluding sentences. 2. 1. The topic sentence: 2. 1. 1. What is topic sentence? Topic sentence is the most important sentence in a paragraph which clearly states the topic and the controlling idea of a paragraph, and briefly indicates what the paragraph is going to discuss.For this reason, the topic sentence is a helpful guide to both the writer and the reader. The writer can see what information to include. The reader can see what the paragraph is going to be about and is ther efore better prepared to understand it. 2. 1. 2. Position of topic sentences: The topic sentence is usually the first sentence in a paragraph. It can be placed in other locations depending on writers; however, the beginning of the paragraph seems to be the best spot. One of possible location for the topic sentence is at the end. 2. 1. 3. The two parts of a topic sentenceAs mentioned above, topic sentence has two essential parts: the topic and the controlling idea in which the topic names the subject of the paragraph, the controlling idea limits or controls the topic to a specific area to be discuss in the space of a single paragraph. Here is an example: Delicious foods are easy to prepare. TOPICCONTROLLING IDEA Following notices are expected to somehow help learners write good topic sentence: Firstly, the topic sentence should control or guide the whole paragraph. Topic sentence is good if it meet the readers’ need about what they expect to read in the paragraph.Secondly, a g ood topic sentence is not a general fact that everyone accepts as a true thing. An example illustrating this point can be seen through a bad topic like: â€Å"Libraries have books. † The information in this sentence is true; however, it is a general fact and is not a good choice for a topic sentence. Thirdly, a good topic sentence should be specific. For example, â€Å"Coffee is delicious. † is not a good topic sentence because the information in the sentence is too general. The reader does not know what to expect in the paragraph.The sentence can become better when it is written in a specific way, such as: â€Å"Black coffee has many benefits for your mentality. † However, it is important to know that topic sentence should not be too specific. Finally, a good topic sentence has controlling ideas which guide all the supporting sentences and give readers general expectation about what they are going to read about throughout the paragraph. 2. 2. Supporting sentenc es: 2. 2. 1. What is a good supporting sentence? Supporting sentences explain or prove the topic sentence. Good supporting entences are related to the topic sentence and its controlling ideas. They give information that supports and explains the topic of the paragraph. They answer questions – who? what? when? why? and how? – and give details. 2. 2. 2. Kinds of supporting sentences: There are several different kinds of supporting sentences going as follows with suitable examples: – explain: People move from village to big cities for economic reasons. – describe: They live in a nice house surrounded by fields of flowers. – give reasons: Tom finally drops from school because of bad results. give facts: About five percent of the A town’s population is immigrant. – give examples: Sugar cane and banana grow in South Africa. – define: My mother has a samovar, which is a large cooper tea urn. 2. 3. The concluding sentence: 2. 3. 1. Wha t is concluding sentence? Concluding sentence serves two purposes: – It signals the end of the paragraph. – It leaves the reader with the most important ideas to remember. It can do this in two ways: by summarizing the main points of the paragraph, or by repeating the topic sentence in different words.A paragraph does not always need a concluding sentence. For single paragraphs, especially long ones, a concluding sentence is helpful to the reader because it is a reminder of the important points. However, a concluding sentence is not needed for every paragraph in a multi-paragraph essay. 2. 3. 2. What are good concluding sentences? To come up with the idea of a good concluding sentence, it is necessary for writer to think about some questions: – What is a good concluding sentence? – How do the concluding sentences relate to the topic sentence and to the supporting sentences?The concluding sentence’s job is to bring the paragraph to a logical conclus ion. The paragraph can be brought to an end with some formal signals: Finally, In brief, In conclusion, Indeed, In short, To sum up, All in all, Lastly†¦ It can end with some structures: The evidence suggests that†¦, There can be no doubt that†¦, These examples show that†¦, We can see that†¦ 2. 3. 3. Kinds of concluding sentences There are many different types of concluding sentences: restatement, suggestion, opinion, prediction. Restate the main idea is one of the easiest ways to write concluding sentence. Writers restate the main idea or summarize the main point of the paragraph. †¢ Offer a suggestion, give an opinion, or make a prediction are some of ways to write a concluding sentences, sometimes writers can do a combination of these options. 3. How to write a good paragraph academically? Academic paragraph writing needs good unity and coherence. †¢ Unity: â€Å"A paragraph is a group of sentences which relate to the topic and develop the cont rolling idea.If a sentence does not relate to or develop that idea, it is irrelevant of place and should be omitted. A good paragraph must be unified. †; â€Å"A paragraph has unity when all of its sentences, including the topic sentence support, and conclusion, relate to the same main idea. (Cited from â€Å"Let’s write 2† by Dang Ngoc Huong, 2007) It is clear to see that an important element of a good paragraph is unity. Unity means that a paragraph discusses one and only one main idea from beginning to end.The second part of unity is that every supporting sentence must directly explain or prove the main idea. †¢ Coherence: â€Å"A paragraph must have unity: all its ideas must refer to the topic (as above presented), moreover, another element of a good paragraph is coherence; coherence is an important quality of writing: all the ideas are presented logically and smoothly so that it is easy for the reader to follow the writer’s progression of ideas . In other words, a coherent paragraph contains sentences that are logically ordered and that flow smoothly.In order to achieve coherence of a paragraph, writers can use several ways in writing. † (According to Dang Ngoc Huong, Let’s write 2, 2007) For coherence in writing, the sentences must hold together; that is, the movement from one sentence to the next must be logical and smooth. There must be no sudden jumps. Each sentence should flow smoothly into the next one. There are four ways to achieve coherence: 1. Repeat key nouns. 2. Use consistent pronouns. 3. Use transition signals to link ideas. 4. Arrange ideas in logical order.II/ Findings on academic paragraph writing There are many necessary things to form a good academic writing. English learners sometimes find it difficult to write in English, especially in academic style. It is our try to find out the three common mistakes in paragraph writing: run-on sentence, fragment and parallel structure; and academic equ ivalents of words or phrases to be helpful for learners to write academically. 1. Learners’ common mistakes in paragraph writing: As mentioned in the introduction, writing is always a not-easy task with most of English learners.It is due to the need for combining various skills and background knowledge when they do writing. This part is going to show common mistakes that learners often have in academic writing in general, and in paragraph writing in particular. 1. 1. Run-on sentence: A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses (i. e. , complete sentences) are joined without appropriate punctuation or conjunction. This is one of the most common mistakes appeared in academic writing. Following are suggested approaches to avoid the error: †¢ Use separate sentences.However, this may disconnect related independent clauses and cause some of the meaning to be lost: o It is nearly half past five. We cannot reach town before dark. †¢ Use a semico lon. This maintains the connection between the clauses while ensuring a pause between the two ideas: o It is nearly half past five; we cannot reach town before dark. †¢ Use a coordinating conjunction. o It is nearly half past five, so we cannot reach town before dark. 1. 2. Fragment: Fragment is a sentence which does not contain a subject or a predicate.A sentence fragment fails to be a sentence in the sense that it cannot stand by itself. It does not contain even one independent clause. There are several reasons why a group of words may seem to act like a sentence but not have the wherewithal to make it as a complete thought. †¢ It may locate something in time and place with a prepositional phrase or a series of such phrases, but it's still lacking a proper subject-verb relationship within an independent clause: †¢ It describes something, but there is no subject-verb relationship: Example: In Japan, during the last war and just before the armistice.This sentence acco mplishes a great deal in terms of placing the reader in time and place, but there is no subject, no verb. Example: Working far into the night in an effort to salvage her little boat. This is a verbal phrase that wants to modify something, the real subject of the sentence (about to come up), probably the she who was working so hard. †¢ It may have most of the makings of a sentence but still be missing an important part of a verb string: Example: Some of the students working in Professor Espinoza's laboratory last semester. It may even have a subject-verb relationship, but it has been subordinated to another idea by a dependent word and so cannot stand by itself: Example: Even though he had the better arguments and was by far the more powerful speaker. This sentence fragment has a subject, he, and two verbs, had and was, but it cannot stand by itself because of the dependent word (subordinating conjunction) even though. We need an independent clause to follow up this dependent cl ause: . . . the more powerful speaker, he lost the case because he didn't understand the jury. 1. 3.Parallel structure: This principle of parallel construction requires that expressions of similar content and function should be outwardly similar. The likeness of form enables the reader to recognize more readily the likeness of content and function. Unskillful writers often violate this principle, from a mistaken belief that they should constantly vary the form of their expressions. It is true that in repeating a statement in order to emphasize it writers may need to vary its form. But apart from this, writers should follow carefully the principle of parallel construction. Faulty Parallelism |Corrected Version | |Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method, while now the |Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now it is | |laboratory method is employed. |taught by the laboratory method. | The left-hand version gives the impression that the writer is undecided or timid; he seems unable or afraid to choose one form of expression and hold to it. The right-hand version shows that the writer has at least made his choice and abided by it.By this principle, an article or a preposition applying to all the members of a series must either be used only before the first term or else be repeated before each term. |Faulty Parallelism |Corrected Version | |The French, the Italians, Spanish, and Portuguese |The French, the Italians, the Spanish, and the Portuguese | |In spring, summer, or in winter |In spring, summer, or winter (In spring, in summer, or in winter) |Correlative expressions (both, and; not, but; not only, but also; either, or; first, second, third; and the like) should be followed by the same grammatical construction. Many violations of this rule can be corrected by rearranging the sentence. |Faulty Parallelism |Corrected Version | |It was both a long ceremony and very tedious. |The ceremony was both long and tedious. | |A time not for wo rds, but action |A ime not for words, but for action | |Either you must grant his request or incur his ill will. |You must either grant his request or incur his ill will. | |My objections are, first, the injustice of the measure; second, that |My objections are, first, that the measure is unjust; second, that | |it is unconstitutional. |it is unconstitutional. | When making comparisons, the things which are compared should be couched in parallel structures whenever that is possible and appropriate. Faulty Parallelism |Corrected Version | |My income is smaller than my wife. |My income is smaller than my wife's. | 2. Non-academic words and academic equivalents: It is necessary for learners to use academic words in academic paragraph writing. Because of limited space and time, our group just suggests example words and phrases in their simple form and academic equivalents as below. |Meaning |Simple word |Academic word | |Y tu? g / khai ni? m |idea |Concept / notion | |D? |enough |Suffic ient / adequate | |Phuong phap |way |Approach | |Thu du? c |get |obtain | |K? t qu? result |Consequence / outcomes | |Duy tri / gi? |keep |retain | |mua |buy |Purchase | |Duy nh? t |only |Unique / solely | |C? i thi? n |improve |enhance | |B? d? u |start |commence | |D? doan |predict |anticipate | |T? p trung |focus |concentrate | |Cu? i cung |final |Ultimately / eventually | |D? g |Stop / end / finish |Terminate / cease | |Tri hoan |Postpone / delay |Suspend | |R? i b? |Quit / give up |Abandon | |Ph? n |Part |Portion |PART C: CONCLUSION It is of the importance for English learners to discover definition of a paragraph, paragraph structure (topic sentence, supporting sentences, and concluding sentence) in academic style along with the way of writing paragraph academically. Due to limited space, time and the limitation of writers’ knowledge, this assignment concentrates on theory of paragraph and discovers popular mistakes (run-on sentence, fragment, and parallel structure ) which learners normally make in writing paragraph academically.In addition, it is our try to take example and compare words in both non-academic and academic style with the hope that learners have awareness of using correct writing style. REFERENCES 1. Arnaudet, M. L. & Barrett, M. E. (1984). Approaches to Academic Writing. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. 2. Brook, A. & Grunby, P. (1990). Writing for study purposes: a teacher’s guide to developing individual writing skills. CUP. 3. Campbell D. Better Sentence-Writing in 30 minutes a Day. Career Press 4. Doff, A. (1988). Teaching: a training course for teachers. Cambridge : CUP 5.Fries, C. (1945). Teaching and learning English as a Foreign Language. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 6. Hennessy, B. (1994). How to write an essay. Plimbridge House. 7. Henry, J. & Pender, J. (1997). English for academic purposes: writing. Toowoomba, Qld: USQ Press for the Centre for Language Learning and Teaching 8. Huong, D. N (200 7). Let’s write: HOU 9. Murray, R. (2003). How to write a thesis. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press. 10. White, R. & McGovern, D. (1994). Writing. New York: Prentice Hall. 11. Grammar. ccc. commnet. edu/grammar/parallelism. htm