Managing Performance – Top Trucking Company Case Study

Question: Discuss about the Case Study for Managing Performance of Top Trucking Company . Answer: Introduction Human resource management is a critical function in any organization and thus requires an organization to pay a lot intention to the aspects that may affect the performance of the employees. Human resource is the most fundamental resource in the firm(Brad Jia, 2008). This is because it organizes the other organizational resources so that the company may realize its desired goals. Therefore, the management of this critical resource requires the managers to have essential skills and attitude to be able to execute their functions effectively. It also should be noted that the responsibility for ensuring the welfare of the employees is catered should not be solemnly centered to the human resource department rather it should be a collective responsibility for all the organizational leaders ranging from the supervisors to the top management of the company(Uzonna, 2013). Employee relations mainly entails how the employers relate to the employees at the workplace (Chandrasekar, 2011). The po or employee relations results to the several consequences for the organization. For example, in the event of weak relations between the employer and the employees: the overall organization performance may drop; the conflicts between both the employer and the employees as well as the trade unions can become a continuous affair. Despite, poor employer-employee relationship having the adverse effects some of the organization are not aware what it entails an effective human resource management. They still have the traditional ideology of treating the employees as the only resource which can be used for the benefit of the organization and disposed of when it loses value. However, the organizations adopting this ideology have continued to supper greatly due to low employee performance as well court litigations cost resulting the cases filed by the trade unions. For the further and comprehensive discussion of how poor employee relations can have serious consequences for the performance of the organization, this report uses the case study Top Trucking Company. Top Trucking Company Employee Relations Overview Top Trucking Company had been a great performer in the local market. However, the employees welfare was not appropriately addressed. Additionally, the manager was rude and authoritative when issuing orders and directives to the drivers. This means that drivers were not supposed to offer or suggest creative ideas as they were supposed to follow the manager's directives strictly. The worsening was that the trucks were wearing out, and the company was not ready to re-invest in the new trucks. The results of this poor management and leadership style were the creation of hardcore drivers, poor performance among the employees and trade union conflicts. However, the things changed dramatically when the company was purchased by the National Transport Group. The new investors were willing to venture into the business heavily so as to raise its performance above the bar. The new management adopted transformative leadership and also, it was willing to improve the welfare of the employees. As th e result, the company performance improved its reputation grew bigger. Besides, the drivers become appreciative of the new management, and even the positive relations between the company and the trade union was enhanced. Therefore, this report seeks to use the Top Trucking Company case study to answer the following three questions. First, how the transformative workplace practices brought by the new management complimented each other. Second, the risk of sustaining the company new workplace changes. Third, comparison of blue collar union with the public sector unions regarding workplace changes. The complement of the New Workplace Practices. The new management introduced the changes which were deemed to improve the welfare of the drivers. For example, the new uniform and the trucks bought for the drivers enhanced their motivation and the company performance also increased. In addition to the new working facilities, also the health and safety of the drivers were improved. From several perspectives, it can be argued that the company management was meeting the employees rights as well encouraging them to improve their performance. As Lee (2006) noted the crucial responsibility of the manager at the organizational workplace is to get the task executed through the efforts of the employees. To achieve this vital objective, the employees have to be propelled by a driving force called motivation. However, Ganta (2014) argued that the term motivation is easily said within the organizational workplace environment but rarely practiced. The Top Trucking Management recognized the importance of motivation and initiated the changes whi ch could help the company attain competitive advantage in the market. The overview and the analysis of the Top Trucking Company human resource management under the two different managements portray how the human nature can be complex and sometimes very simple. Dobre (2013) noted the understanding of the human nature at different scenarios is the prerequisite to efficient employee motivation as well as effective leadership and management. The drivers under the company old management were treated badly, and the motivation incentives were not forthcoming. Besides, the manager adopted the autocratic leadership style an act which drivers felt it regarded them as unimportant. They felt that the company was only focused on fulfilling its objectives without putting the welfare and the interests of the drivers into consideration. However, under the new leadership, the manager seems to understand the importance of the employee motivation. The new manager seems to adopt transformational leadership style whereby his decisions, whenever there were grievances among the employees, were based on the rational approach. Importance of Employee Motivation Principles Research findings indicate the motivated employees improve their creativity and productivity (Zafar, Ishaq, Shoukat, Rizwan, 2014). Again, Safiullah (2015) argued that it is beneficial and morally right to treat human dignity on all scenarios. Relating to the Top Trucking Company old management, the drivers felt that the arrogance and autocratic behavior of their manager was disrespectful. As a result, the performance as well the reputation of the company started to decline. As Ganta (2014) noted if the employees are not motivated the total contribution of the employees on the organization success declines. This is because the employees do not channel all their energies and efforts in alignment with the desired goals of the organization. This phenomenon has been briefly illustrated using the diagram below. Source: Accel-Team (2015) Motivation and Performance The performance of the employees will majorly depend on how they are motivated(Mohsan, Nawaz, Khan, Shaukat, Aslam, 2011). The sources of motivation may either come internally or externally. The employees major sources of internal motivation are job satisfaction, challenging task and the importance of the job. On the other side, the external motivation comes from the management of the organization. Some employees have the self-motivation drive and other who have to be driven by the motivation to perform(Manzoor, 2014). However, both group of employees needs to be motivated to improve their performance. For effective management of the employee performance, leaders should base their motivation mechanisms on the following strategies: positive reinforcement; appropriate punishment and discipline; treating all the employees well; meeting the employees demands; restructuring jobs and rewarding employees based on the performance. Motivation being a critical factor in determining employee p erformance, the majority of the managers do not know what motivation mechanism to adopt. In one of the major study of Minneapolis Gas Company which involved forty-four thousand potential employees with the aim of determining what the employees desire most from a job(Hafiza, Shah, Jamsheed, 2011). The study which was carried for the period of twenty years found out that job security, work itself, development and proud of the company to work for were the main factors resulting in employee motivation. This was in contrast to paying that majority of the managers' believed was the core foundation of employees motivation. This explains why under the old management of the Top Trucking Company the drivers were always in conflict with the management despite being paid. However, the new workplace practices under the management of the company new investors contribute to the total motivation of the employees. Despite, being paid the drivers other needs such as improved working conditions and health and safety are catered for. Risk of Sustaining New Workplace Changes Different stakeholders ranging from the employees to government discourage the organizations to establish unsustainable workplace practices(Ouye, 2011). As it has always been the case developing, the workplaces changes are not the tough; the task is maintaining the same. Always the changes in the organization come up with modification of the employees' behavior and attitudes to adopt the desired change(ONeill, 2013). For the new changes to be implemented the human resource manager has to reinforce the employees to adopt the right behavior(Carey Parsons, 2009). However, this comes with a big challenge among the managers. This is because during the implementation of the new practices the employees may be influenced to adopt a certain behavior. However, when the influence is no longer available, the employees may reverse to the earlier behavior and thus putting the sustainability of the new practices at risk(Reid, 2012). Top Trucking Company is faced with the same risk. The company employees have adopted the new change under the new management. However, it should be noted the organizations are separate entities and thus have perpetual existence, unlike their owners. This is the same risk which is facing the new human resource practices in top Trucking Company. From the analysis of the company's case, it is evident that the employees have embraced the change and thus it will be difficult for them to revert to the initial behavior. However, the sustainability of this change is under threat because the initiator of the change in no longer available. The manager who was in the charge of the yard and who ensured the practice of improving the employee's welfare continue to exist has been promoted to the head office. Now, the risks of change sustainability are set in whereby the new manager may not be willing to continue with the similar style of the employee relations. Otherwise, he or she may come with th e new leadership styles which may not favor the employees thus receiving resistance from them. Comparison of Blue Collar Union to Public Sector Unions Similarly, as the public sector, blue collar unions can get involved in the workplace changes. However, their involvement in the workplace changes is greatly limited. Therefore, it can be argued that the blue collar unions are less involved in the workplace changes than the public sector or service unions. Some factors are contributing to this difference. First, blue-collar workers are less paid compared to white collar workers. This means their payment dues to the blue collar union do not contribute to union much as that of the white collar workers. Therefore, with economic power public sector unions becomes more involved in the workplace changes than the blue collar unions. Second, the number of the members of the public sector unions is much higher than in the blue collar unions. This increases the collective bargaining power of the public sectors unions, unlike the blue-collar unions. Therefore, with the powerful bargaining power, they become very influential and impactful in ens uring workplace changes. Conclusion Effective employees relations is the determinant of the successful employee performance. Managers should adopt effective leadership styles to ensure that the health relationship between the employer and the employee is maintained. Effective leadership alone is not enough to ensure sufficient employer-employee relationship, and therefore it should be supplemented with motivation. Again, motivation will not be enough, and thus it will need to be accompanied by the taking care of the employees welfare. As it has been for the case of Top Trucking Company the performance of the company has only improved when the new manager has initiated the new management performance techniques. The employees seem to embrace the changes as well as appreciate the new manager for his effective leadership techniques. This is contrary to the old company management performance which was poor hence resulting in conflicts between the employer and the employees as well as the trade unions. References Accel-Team. (2015, April 3). Employee Motivation: Theory and practice. Retrieved from https://www.accel-team.com: https://www.accel-team.com/motivation/ Brad, E., Jia, W. (2008). "Workplace Incivility: Impacts on Individual and Organizational Performance. Human Resource Development Review, 7(6), 218-240. Carey, A., Parsons, S. (2009). Improving sustainability through the 21st-century workplace, and IBM's vision of the office of the future. IBM Global Business Services. Chandrasekar, K. (2011). Workplace Environment And Its Impact On Organisational Performance In Public Sector Organisations. International Journal of Enterprise Computing and Business Systems, 1(1), 1-19. Dobre, O.-I. (2013). Employee motivation and organizational performance. Review of Applied Socio- Economic Research, 5(1), 53-60. Ganta, V. C. (2014). Motivation In The Workplace To Improve The Employee Performance. International Journal of Engineering Technology, Management and Applied Sciences, 2(6), 221-230. Hafiza, N. S., Shah, S. S., Jamsheed, H. (2011). Relationship Between Rewards And Employees Motivation In The Non-Profit Organizations Of Pakistan. Business Intelligence Journal, 4(2), 327-334. Lee, S. Y. (2006). "Expectations of employees toward the workplace and environmental satisfaction. Journal of Facilities Management, 24(6), 343-53. Manzoor, Q.-A. (2014). The impact of Employees Motivation on Organizational Effectiveness. European Journal of Business and Management, 3(3), 36-44. Mohsan, F., Nawaz, M. M., Khan, M. S., Shaukat, Z., Aslam, N. (2011). Are Employee Motivation, Commitment, and Job Involvement Inter-related: Evidence from Banking Sector of Pakistan. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(17), 226-233. ONeill, M. (2013). New Workplace Ergonomics Research: Emerging Risks and Solutions. East Greenville: Knoll, Inc. Ouye, J. A. (2011). Five Trends that Are Dramatically Changing Work and the Workplace. East Greenville: Knoll, Inc. Reid, R. H. (2012). Creating Sustainable Workplaces and Organizations. Gainesville: Alachua County Manager's Office. Safiullah, A. B. (2015). Employee Motivation and its Most Influential Factors: A study on the Telecommunication Industry in Bangladesh. World Journal of Social Sciences, 5(1), 79-92. Uzonna, U. R. (2013). The impact of motivation on employeesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¸ performance: A case study of CreditWest Bank Cyprus. Journal of Economics and International Finance, 5(5), 200-211. Zafar, N., Ishaq, S., Shoukat, S., Rizwan, M. (2014). Determinants of Employee Motivation and its impact on Knowledge Transfer and Job Satisfaction. International Journal of Human Resource Studies, 4(2), 50-69.

Fear Of Rejection Essay Example For Students

Fear Of Rejection Essay Rejection Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley is a complex novel that was written during the age of Romanticism. It contains many typical themes of a common Romantic novel such as dark laboratories, the moon, and a monster. Many lessons are set into this novel, including how society acts towards the extraordinary. The monster fell victim to the system commonly used to characterize a person by only his or her outer appearance. Whether people like it or not, society always summarizes a persons characteristics by his or her physical appearance. Society has set an unbreakable code individuals must follow to be accepted. Those who dont follow the standard are hated by the multitude and banned for the reason of being different. When the monster ventured into a townmonster had hardly placed his foot within the door children shrieked, and women fainted (Shelley 109). From that moment on, he realized that people did not like his appearance and hated him because of it. If villagers didnt run away at the sight of him, then they might have even enjoyed his personality. The monster tried to accomplish this when he encountered the De Lacey family. The monster hoped to gain friendship from the old man and eventually his children. He knew that it could have been possible because the old man was blind; he could not see the monsters repulsive characteristics. But fate was against him and the wretched had barely conversed with the old man before his children returned from their journey and saw a monstrous creature at the foot of their fath er attempting to do harm to the helpless man. Felix darted forward, and with supernatural force tore the creature from his father (Shelley 142). Felixs action caused great inner pain to the monster. He knew that his dream of living with them happily ever after would not happen. After that bitter moment the monster believed that the human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union with the monster (Shelley 153) and with the De Lacey encounter still fresh in his mind along with his first encounter of humans, he declared war to the human race. The wicked beings source of abhorrence toward humans originates from his first experiences with humans. In a way the monster started out with a child-like innocence that was eventually horrified by being constantly rejected by society time after time. His first encounter with humans was when he opened his yellow eyes for the first time and witnessed Victor Frankenstein, his creator, rush out of the laboratory (Shelley 56). Would this have had happened if society did not consider physical appearance to be important? No. If physical appearance were not important then the creature would have had a chance of being accepted into the community with love and care. But society does believe that physical appearance is important and it does influence the way people act towards each other. Frankenstein should have made him less aberrant if even he, the creator, could not stand his disgusting appearance. There was a moment however when Frankenstein was moved (Shelley 139) by the creature. He fel t what the duties of a creator (Shelley 97) were and decided that he had to make another creature, a friend for the original. But haunting images of his creation (from the monsters first moment of life) gave him an instinctive feeling that the monster would do threatening acts with his friend, wreaking twice the chaos! Reoccurring images of painful events originating from a first encounter could fill a person with hate and destruction. We as a society are the ones responsible for the transformation of the once child-like creature into the monster we all know. The audience needs to know that our society has flaws and they must be removed before our primal instincts continue to separate and hurt the people who are different. With such a large amount of technology among us, some people may wonder why such an advanced civilization still clings on to such primitive ways of categorizing people. .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 , .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 .postImageUrl , .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 , .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180:hover , .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180:visited , .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180:active { border:0!important; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180:active , .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180 .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u436a64cbac49d7660f9a87799c033180:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Marine Mammal Biology EssayBibliography:Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein New York. Washington Square Press. 1995

Sample Why UChicago Essay Questions - How to Write an Essay That Uses Them

Sample Why UChicago Essay Questions - How to Write an Essay That Uses ThemSample UChicago Essay questions will cover a wide range of topics. It is usually a good idea to write your essay questions in a sentence or two of each topic. When it comes to sample UChicago Essay questions, the topic is almost always the topic.Most sample essay questions tend to include the fact that the school does not have a specified number of credit hours per year. The fact that the average class size is over 30 students can be found on the sample questions. There are also some sample questions with the topic of the average class. This question asks about what kind of situation could result in more students on campus.Some sample questions ask about what needs to be done to keep up with the student body. Another example would be asking if there are specific activities that are going to be happening at the school.The Sample Why UChicago Essay questions usually ask how long the last time the school year was. Other sample questions ask about how many people are expected to attend and the class sizes are. The amount of time between spring quarter and summer quarters are also common questions.The other main idea that is found on a sample question is if there is any new information about the school being released by the media. Other questions might also ask about what the trend of activities will be for the summer, what kind of weather conditions are going to be around the area and what type of tuition policy will be in effect.Students also have the option of doing some research about the program, how to find out about the questions that are being asked and other things that will help them answer the question. A school allows its students to research more than what is allowed. The reason for this is because there are many people that want to know about the many programs that are available.One reason sample questions are required for students to do their homework before they submit their es says is to see if they understand the statement or question that has been asked. If they don't understand it, they will need to spend time reading it.Students should do research on the sample essay questions before writing the essay so that they understand the topic. It will also make it easier for them to find the information they need when they need it. Some students may need some help finding the information so the student should use a sample question as a guide to finding the information they need.

A Biography of King John of England

A Biography of King John of England King John was King of England from 1199 to 1216. He lost many of his family’s Angevin lands on the continent and was forced to concede numerous rights to his barons in the Magna Carta, which has led to John being considered a colossal failure. In later years many poor reputations have been rolled back by modern supporters, and while Johns financial management is now being reassessed, the anniversary of the Magna Carta saw almost every popular commentator criticize John for - at best - terrible leadership and at worst terrible oppression. While historians are more positive, this is not getting through. His missing gold appears in the national English newspapers every few years but is never found. Youth and Struggle for the Crown King John was the youngest son of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine to survive childhood, being born in 1166. It appears that John was the favored son of Henry, and so the king tried to find him large lands to live from. One grant of several castles, given when John was first to be married (to an Italian heiress), provoked anger among his brothers and started a war between them. Henry II won, but John was given only a little land in the resulting settlement. John was betrothed in 1176 to Isabella, heir to the rich earldom of Gloucester. When John’s older brother Richard became heir to his fathers throne, Henry II wanted to promote Richard to inheriting England, Normandy, and Anjou, and give John Richard’s current holding of Aquitaine, but Richard refused to concede even this, and another round of family warfare followed. Henry turned down the Kingdom of Jerusalem for both himself and John (who begged to accept it), and then John was lined up for the command of Ireland. He visited but proved to be seriously indiscrete, developing a careless reputation and returning home a failure. When Richard rebelled again – Henry II was at the time refusing to recognize Richard as his heir – John supported him. The conflict broke Henry, and he died. When Richard became King Richard I of England in July 1189, John was made Count of Mortain, plus given other lands and a large income, as well as staying as Lord of Ireland and finally marrying Isabella. In return, John promised to stay out of England when Richard went on crusade, although their mother persuaded Richard to drop this clause. Richard then went, establishing a martial reputation that saw him considered a hero for generations; John, who stayed home, would end up achieving the precise opposite. Here, as with the Jerusalem episode, Johns life could have ended up very different. The man who Richard left in charge of England soon grew unpopular, and John set up what was almost a rival government. As war loomed between John and the official administration, Richard sent a new man back from the crusade to take charge and sort things out. John’s hopes of immediate control were dashed, but he still schemed for the throne, sometimes in conjunction with the King of France, who was continuing a long tradition of interference in their rival. When Richard was captured returning from the crusade, John signed a deal with the French and made a move for the crown of England itself, but failed. However, John was prepared to surrender notable parts of his brother’s lands to the French in return for their recognition, and this became known. Consequently, when Richard’s ransom was paid, and he returned in 1194, John was exiled and stripped of all possessions. Richard relented some in 1195, returning some lands, and totally in 1196 when John became the heir to the English throne. John as King In 1199 Richard died - while on a campaign, killed by a (un)lucky shot, before he could ruin his reputation - and John claimed the throne of England. He was accepted by Normandy, and his mother secured Aquitaine, but his claim to the rest was in trouble. He had to fight and negotiate, and he was challenged by his nephew Arthur. In concluding peace, Arthur kept Brittany (held from John), while John held his lands from the King of France, who was recognized as John’s overlord on the continent, in a manner greater than was ever forced out of John’s father. This would have a crucial impact later in the reign. However, historians who have cast a careful eye over John’s early reign have identified a crisis had already begun: many nobles distrusted John because of his previous actions and doubted whether he would treat them correctly. The marriage to Isabella of Gloucester was dissolved because of alleged consanguinity, and John looked for a new bride. He found one in the form of another Isabella, heiress to Angoulà ªme, and he married her as he tried to involve himself in the machinations of the Angoulà ªme and Lusignan family. Unfortunately, Isabella had been engaged to Hugh IX de Lusignan, and the result was a rebellion by Hugh and the involvement of French King Philip II. Had Hugh married Isabella, he would have commanded a powerful region and threatened John’s power in Aquitaine, so the break benefitted John. But, while marrying Isabella was a provocation to Hugh, John continued to snub and anger the man, pushing his rebellion. In his position as French King, Philip ordered John to his court (as he could any other noble who held lands from him), but John refused. Philip then revoked John’s lands, and a war began, but this was more a move to strengthen the French crown than any vote of faith in Hugh. John began by capturing a mass of the leading rebels who were sieging his mother but threw the advantage away. However, one of the prisoners, his nephew Arthur of Brittany, mysteriously died, leading most to conclude murder by John. By 1204 the French had taken Normandy - John’s barons undermined his war plans in 1205 – and by the start of 1206 they’d taken Anjou, Maine and chunks of Poitou as nobles deserted John all over the place. John was in danger of losing all the lands his predecessors had gained on the continent, although he managed small gains during 1206 to stabilize things. After being forced both to reside in England more permanently and to produce more money from his kingdom for war, John proceeded to develop and strengthen the royal administration. On the one hand, this provided the crown with more resources and strengthened royal power, on the other it upset nobles and made John, already a military failure, even more unpopular. John toured extensively within England, hearing many court cases in person: he had a great personal interest in, and a great ability for, the administration of his kingdom, although the goal was always more money for the crown. When the see of Canterbury became available in 1206, John’s nomination – John de Gray - was canceled by Pope Innocent III, who secured Stephen Langton for the position. John objected, citing traditional English rights, but in the following argument, Innocent excommunicated John. The latter now started draining the church of funds, raising a large sum he partly spent on a new navy – John has been called the founder of the English navy - before conceding that the pope would be a useful ally against the French and coming to an agreement in 1212. John then handed his kingdom over to the Pope, who bestowed it on John as a vassal for a thousand marks a year. While this might seem curious, it was really a cunning way to get Papal support against both France, and against the rebel barons of 1215. By the end of 1214, John had succeeded in mending his bridges with the top of the church, but his actions had alienated many further down and his lords. It also angered the mona stic chroniclers and writers historians have to use and may be one reason why so many of the modern histories have been so critical of King John, while the modern historians are increasingly peeling criticism away. Well, not all of them. Rebellion and Magna Carta While many lords of England had grown discontented with John, only a few had rebelled against him, despite widespread baronial discontent stretching back to before John took the throne. However, in 1214 John returned to France with an army and failed to do any damage except gain a truce, having once more been let down by vacillating barons and the failures of allies. When he returned a minority of barons took the chance to rebel and demand a charter of rights, and when they were able to take London in 1215, John was forced into negotiations as he looked for a solution. These talks took place at Runnymede, and on June 15, 1215, an agreement was made on the Articles of the Barons. Later known as Magna Carta, this became one of the pivotal documents in English, and to some extents western, history. In the short term, Magna Carta lasted just three months before the war between John and the rebels continued. Innocent III supported John, who struck back hard at the baron’s lands, but he rejected a chance to attack London and instead wasted the north. This allowed time for the rebels to appeal to Prince Louis of France, for him to gather an army, and for a successful landing to take place. As John retreated north again rather than fight Louis, he may have lost a portion of his treasury and definitely fell ill and died. This proved a blessing for England as the regency of John’s son Henry were able to reissue Magna Carta, thus splitting the rebels into two camps, and Louis was soon ejected. Legacy Until the revisionism of the twentieth century, John was rarely well regarded by writers and historians. He lost wars and land and is seen as the loser by giving the Magna Carta. But John had a keen, incisive mind, which he applied well to government. Unfortunately, this was negated by an insecurity about people who could challenge him, by his attempts to control barons through fear and debt rather than conciliation, through his lack of magnanimity and insults. It is difficult to be positive about a man who lost generations of royal expansion, which will always be clearly chartable. Maps can make for grim reading. But theres little that merits calling King John evil, as a British newspaper did.

Cloning Essays (437 words) - Cloning, Molecular Biology, Genetics

Cloning Essays (437 words) - Cloning, Molecular Biology, Genetics Cloning Cloning Today During my interview with my grandmother I asked her what she thought of cloning. she responded by saying that it was not right and should be stopped. on the other hand i have a different opinion. I think that cloning should be continued and furhter researched for we might be able to have different organs and substances produced in these clones. Below is the step that were taken to clone the adult sheep named Dolly. Part 1: An Improbable Goal Scientists hoped that cloning healthy, mature sheep, rather than just creating lambs from embryonic cells, could produce a highly specialized sheep with large quantities of proteins in its milk. The proteins are believed to help treat diseases such as emphysema, hemophylia and cystic fibrosis. Part 2: The Perfect Timing For years, scientists could not synchronize the growth of the egg and the cell. If one was off- synch, abnormal chromosomes would soon transform in the nucleus and thereby kill off the embryo. Dr. Wilmut achieved near perfection in the timing by putting the cells into hybernation; of the 277 eggs they began with, 247 lived through the process. Timing the growth in other species, however, has proved to scientists that cloning mature animals is extremely difficult; in the case of mice, they've concluded it can't be accomplished. Part 3: Jump-start from a Jolt Though it has become a standard procedure in cloning, scientists are not sure why an electric pulse sent to the two cells causes them to meld together and activates development in the egg. They are learning, however, the shock doesn't fully mimic the activation process of a sperm, which could explain why just 29 of the remaining 247 cells live longer than six days. Part 4: Surrogate Motherhood Despite the fact that the newly formed embryo is transplanted into the uterus of another ewe, scientists believe Dolly is a nearly exact carbon-copy of her genetic originating mother. In theory, that means an almost exact look-alike of John F. Kennedy Jr. could be produced by taking cells from his skin, melding their nuclei with any woman's egg that has had its nucleus removed and then planting the embryo in a surrogate mother. Part 5: A 6-Year-Old in 7 Months? Scientists are eagerly watching Dolly to see if she exhibits the characteristics of her mother, a 6-year-old sheep, or those of her own age, just 7 months. As animals and humans age, changes occur in their DNA - such as decreasing fertility and increasing susceptibility to cancer and other diseases. If she prematurely ages, clones of mature animals would be useless to the agriculture industry.

Object oriented development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Object oriented development - Essay Example It is an easier way to keep track of program flow and much organized than the traditional "spaghetti codes" produced by unstructured programming methods. In 70's, a new programming technique began to gain popularity as a "top-down" approach to program design. This is a technique where a program designer maps out large-scale structure of a program and breaks them into smaller operations. These smaller operations will be tested or debug separately and connect them together into the entire program. Structured programming facilitates easy understanding of smaller pieces of code without having to understand the whole program at once. By the end of the 20th century, mainstream programmers realized the significance and value of structured approach began to apply the concept in high-level programming languages. In the middle of the 1980's, another concept in program development made its way to become the dominant programming methodology. Mainly influenced by C++ and the popularity of GUI (Graphical User Interface), Object-oriented programming became the most sought after programming method to date. The objective behind object-oriented programming is to view computer programs as a collection of individual units or objects that is capable of receiving messages, processing data, and sending messages to each other. This is different from the belief and practice that a program is just a compilation of functions and procedures or a list of commands for a computer to follow. Object-oriented programming is broadly accepted in large-scale software development. It is adaptable, easy to learn, simpler to develop and maintain, and easier to manage. The fundamental concepts of OOP (short for object oriented programming) are class, object, encapsulation, inheritance, abstraction, and polymorphism. Class is a unit of data and function for a particular thing. For instance, a "class of students" might be a set, which include different type of students (male, female, black, white etc.). An Object is an occurrence of a class, a run-time demonstration of a specific pattern of a class. For instance, the gender "male" and "female" as a subclass and "Alfred" the student as an object in the class of students. Encapsulation is a type of privacy to ensure that an object can be change only through established channels within a class. It simply means packaging the data and related functions into one unified unit, a class. Inheritance- is a mechanism for creating subclasses; it provides a way to define a subclass or an extension of a universal class. For instance, as students, class is a subclass of year level class and gender of student in a class is a subclass of the class students. An Abstraction is the ability of a program to disregard the details of an object's class or subclass and si mplify it into a more suitable general level. For instance, "Alfred" the students may be abstracted to a more generic level as year level super class. Polymorphism is a varying behaviour depending on the class in which the behaviour is call upon to act. This is to say that two or more classes can answer independently and in an entirely different way to an identical message. THE EVOLUTION OF OBJECT-ORIENTED PHP Not too many people know that PHP, the popular and powerful web base scripting language, coined in the summer

Kant - Three Propositions from Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals Essay

Kant - Three Propositions from Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals - Essay Example In his second proposition, Kant iterates that the moral worth of an action derives from its maxim and not from its consequences. In further deliverance of this notion, Kant determines that a prescribed action done from duty is determined in its moral worth only by virtue of the principle, or maxim, in â€Å"accordance with which it is decided upon†. This implies that the moral worth of the will to do an action lies NOT in its motive or the desired effect from that action, but in the actual principle of the will. In Kant’s view, a will is genuine and morally sound if it is derived from duty alone instead of any ancillary motive where duty simply plays a complementary role instead of being the motivating factor in its entirety. Thus, it must necessarily follow that the person taking the action has recognized an a priori goodwill principle that they seek to fulfill by taking that action; thus, the action has been brought about from duty instead of being committed for a pur pose beyond that which imposed by the goodwill, rendering it of sound moral worth. Kant recognizes a third proposition in a similar way which at first seems like in stark contrast to his second proposition but in essence, follows through with the same elements of rationality by inciting a â€Å"respect for law† which imposes a duty to respect the moral law.... Such morality requires a conception of reason, which in normal daily lives goes well beyond our basic desires. In these arguments, Kant sets out to establish the foundational principle of a set of morals. What he is trying to show is that this foundational moral principle draws from a rational will in all of us, and it is this rational will that makes us possess the autonomy to act morally. This autonomy is essentially derived from duty and has the capability of denouncing all inclinations (second proposition) in order to pursue actions that are done strictly in respect of moral law (third proposition). As he rounds up his arguments in this work, he puts it clearly that there are universal moral laws, and any action that is agreeable should not only obey a moral law, but should be done to ensure morality is upheld (Kant 4:400). Any action that is not done for the sake of a moral law even if it conforms to a moral law is not logically necessary. Thus, it is prudent to observe and link the second and third propositions in pursuit of the universal law of morals. Kant seems to maintain that the second proposition is directly linked with the third proposition. However, the notion of respect seems to suggest otherwise as it exists in the third and not in the second proposition. What, then, is respect? Respect is a notion unhinged to the personal faculty of desire and is therefore not an inclination. In plain English, thus, respect is an attitude which impels goodwill actions. An action done by reason of inclination, as opposed to one by reason of respect, would seek a desired effect, and is NOT an action from duty, but an action for a purpose. This brings us to a consideration of the