Germany and the Germans Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Germany and the Germans - Term Paper Example The history of the Holocaust still echoes the horror of the Jewish genocide. In the most realistic terms, the holocaust or the â€Å"genocide or mass destruction of the Jews was the culmination of a decade of increasingly severe discriminatory measures.† (Holocaust Encyclopedia) Statistically speaking, the Holocaust took the lives of approximately six million European Jews during World War II. Started as a program of systematic state-sponsored extermination of the German-based Jewish population, the Holocaust also included the Nazi’s systematic murder of millions of people from other ethnic groups including Romani, Polish and Soviet civilians, people of non-German ethnic origin, homosexuals as well as people with various physical disabilities. Hitler’s idea of the ‘Final Solution’ was articulated as early as in 1919. His anti-Semitic ideology is rooted deeply in racial connotations: â€Å"Hitler believed his race was pure†¦wanting to protect racial purity, he then thought about getting rid of all Jews throughout Europe, along with other races he believed to be sub-human, including Slavs, Gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally ill and disables people. Shortly after 1933, Hitler and his Nazi Party obtained power in Germany and tried to force Jewish emigration†¦Hitler having a great amount of power, along with his army, had almost total control over Europe. The Nazis considered the â€Å"Jewish Question† no longer a German issue, but a European issue.† Coming back to the detailed discussion of the Holocaust, the persecution and segregation of the Jewish people was implemented systematically in various stages. After Hitler’s Nazi Party attained power in Germany in 1933, the anti-Jewish legislation was introduced and implemented, which was the dictator pharaoh’s first major step to racism. This followed with economic boycotts and the ugly violence of the Kristallnacht - all of these activities

Next Plc of UK Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Next Plc of UK - Case Study Example "A competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices." (Strategy - Competitive Advantage: Competitive Advantage - Definition. 2008). This has high relevance in the context of the increased competition the company is facing from newly industrialized nations like India, China, Taiwan and Vietnam. The report is also intended to provide required recommendations for Next to solve the issues faced by it in the present market. Next Plc is a retail cloth major that is headquartered in England. The company belongs to the clothing market of UK, which is the second biggest textile and clothing market in European Union. The major share of clothing market in UK accounts for the apparels for women, girls and children. "Womenswear is the largest sector within the market in general, clothing for women and children is worth double the market for men and boyswear." (Clothing Retailers Market Assessment: Largest Sector. 2000). Considering the higher boom in the industry the clothing retailers are at a higher growth pace in the market. The clothing market of UK can be split into everyday wear, high street fashion and top end ready to wear. The market players include right mix of departmental stores and fashion retailers. The major player in the industry is Marks and Spencer whose market share is 15% of the overall market. The most influencing governmental regulation for the industry has been the minimum wage. Due to t his regulation that added more on the costing structure, many companies had moved out of UK. The company that is been mentioned in the assignment is Next Plc which is one of the leading cloth retailer in UK. The company was formed in the year 1982 as a new meaning for the fashion industry. "Next plc designs, manufactures, and distributes clothing and home furnishing and accessory items to nearly 330 Next retail stores and through the company's Next Directory mail order sales catalog." (Next Plc: Company Perspectives: Company History. 2008). The company was able to capture a good share of market in a short period of time with their good branding and marketing strategies. The products of Next are characterized by style, quality and value for money. Currently Next has 460 stores in UK and over 100 franchisees outside the country. The company gives higher priority for customer service as a strategy to capture more and more market. Based on the analysis of Next on the basis of Porter's Five Force model, three areas of concern can be identified for the company. The three areas of concern for the company are market penetration, consolidation and product and market development. Market penetration is a cause of concern for the company especially in the present situation of increased competition. The threat of new entrants is higher in the case of cloth industry. And also the increased bargaining power of buyers will contribute to the competition. The strategy to be adopted by the company is increased product promotion. The product range of the company can also be improved on the

Speech Males And Females Communication Differences English Language Essay

Speech Males And Females Communication Differences English Language Essay Introduction: The differences in linguistic styles between males and females have exercised linguistic researchers for decades (e.g. Trudgill 1972; Lakoff 1975; Labov 1990; Coates 1998). It has been argued for some time that some consistent differences exist in speech, Holmes (1993). Although the interpretation of such differences remains somewhat elusive. Most previous work has investigated apparent phonological and pragmatic differences between male and female language use in speech (e.g. Trudgill 1972; Key 1975; Holmes 1990; Labov 1990; Eckert 1997). Several statistical phenomena have emerged that appear to be fairly stable across a variety of contexts. For example, females seem to talk more about relationships than do males (Aries Johnson 1983; Tannen 1990) and use more compliments and apologies (Holmes 1988; Holmes 1989) and facilitative tag questions (Holmes 1984). Holmes (1993) has suggested that these and other phenomena might be generalized to a number of universals including that females are more attentive to the affective function of conversation and more prone to use linguistic devices that solidify relationships. However, interpretation of the underlying linguistic phenomena, particularly as regards their specific communicative functions, is the subject of considerable controversy (Bergvall et al 1996). For example, it has been argued (Cameron et al 1988) that the use of facilitative tag questions by women might be more plausibly interpreted as signs of conversational control than as signs of subordination, as had been previously contended (Lakoff 1975). Nevertheless, broadly speaking, the differences between female and male language use appear to be centered about the interaction between the linguistic actor and his or her linguistic context. Are gender issues just women issues? No, but it is understandable that many people think so. This is because in most societies women are subordinated to men. And they are thought to be inferior to men. Many women do not accept this, and therefore they challenge the way their culture and society ascribes them an inferior position and an inferior role. That means, it often tends to be women who raise the issue of gender. But gender refers just as much to the position and role of men in society. Are gender differences in communication patterns related to power? When people are strangers, they expect less competence from women than from men. But if women are known to have prior experience or expertise related to the task, or if women are assigned leadership roles, then women show greatly increased verbal behaviors in mixed-sex groups. Educated professionals who have high social status were less likely to use powerless language, regardless of gender. Thus, differences are linked to power, and are context-specific. Differences are socially created and therefore may be socially altered. Studies have found that talking time is related both to gender (because men spend more time talking than women) and to organizational power (because the more powerful spend more time talking than the less powerful). Who Talks More, Men or Women?    A common cultural stereotype describes women as being talkative, always speaking and expressing their feelings. Well, this is probably true; however, do women do it more than men? No! In fact an experiment designed to measure the amount of speech produced suggested that men are more prone to use up more talking time than women. An experiment b y Marjorie Swacker entailed using three pictures by a fifteenth century Flemish artist, Albrecht Durer which were presented to men and women separately. They were told to take as much time as they wanted to describe the pictures. The average time for males: 13.0 minutes, and the average time for women 3.17 minutes. Why is this?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sociolinguists try to make the connection between our society and our language in a way that suggests that women talk less because it has not always been as culturally acceptable as it has been for men. Men have tended to take on a more dominant role not only in the household, but in the business world. This ever-changing concept is becoming less applicable in our society, however, the trend is still prominent in some societies across the world. It is more acceptable for a man to be talkative, carry on long conversation, or a give a long wordy speech, however it is less acceptable for a women to do so. It has been more of a historical trend for men have more rights to talk. However , it is common for men to be more silent in situations that require them to express emotion. Since childhood, they have been told to keep their cool and remain calm, be a man. Literature Review The different sources that Ive read and used in the literature review presented different points of view and analysis for the subjects by reliable writers and authorities in this issue. All the sources that were used assume that there is a real difference in communication between males and females, and they agreed that there were many misunderstandings or misinterpretations in communication between genders. However, each article and source presented its own examination of the miscommunication, and they proposed different ways by which to investigate this social issue. According to an article entitled Differences in Gender Communication (2005) there is another form of differences between genders. Communication can be verbal, non verbal, or written because people can communicate also using the mail system, the written way is added to the interpersonal communication in addition of course to the verbal and non verbal ways. From reading this article, it was clear that gender differences in communication existed also in the written way because we can determine the gender of a person just by reading its written words. The differences that exist between genders and the reason why women cant be more like a man play an important role in the creation of misunderstanding in communication. Also differences present the essential causes that lead to a disagreement in communication between the two genders. There are some factors that contribute to the instinctive differences that exist between genders; for instance, there are biological ones, also there is a kind of competitiveness that exists between men and women. In addition, the cultural part enters also into consideration. Another point stated by Hill (2002) is that, there are many styles of communication. These styles are the result of many factors where were from, how and where we were brought up, our educational background, our age, and it also can depend on our gender (p. 87). In communication, generally men and women have special manners and styles of speaking also a specific subject, Coates (1986, p 23). Many studies have been done to clarify the difference in communication between men and women. According to Canaray and Dindia (2006): Researchers typically report that men are more likely to emerge as leaders, to be directive and hierarchical, to dominate in groups by talking more and interrupting more. In contrast, women are found to be more expressive, supportive, facilitative, egalitarian, and cooperative than men, and to focus more on relationships and share more personally with others From this description of the difference between men and women at a level of behaviors, it was clear that women convey their ideas and feelings and cooperate more than men who want to be the leaders and to direct. In addition, the difference between genders in communication causes misunderstanding and leads to conflicts. For example, women might disclose their feelings and the problems that they are facing, but men think that women need help, so they start giving advice and trying to help. However, women behave like that in order to get closer to others not to get solutions (Gray, 1992, p 96). Another important point argued in the research of Tanner (2002) is the reason why difference exists in communication between genders. It is said that these differences should not exist because men and women might belong to the same environment as being neighbors or brothers and sisters, yet the difference is present even if they have a similar background. The dissimilarity rises from the games that boys and girls play since their childhood, and the groups they form. For example, boys form a big group and one is the leader; however, girls tend to form small groups and they disclose their feelings and their opinions (Tanner, 2002). Torppa claims that women and men sometimes perceive the same messages to have different meanings (2002, p112). That is due to the difference in the way of interpreting messages by the two genders. In fact, women are more likely to depend on others. In other words, women want to establish an emotional and passionate interdependence with men. Moreover, women try to satisfy the others as much as possible to make everyone satisfied, merry and happy whereas men more often stick to their independence and try to keep it intact whatever the situation may be. Besides, the spirit of competition inside them let these ones think of themselves more than any other one. Nevertheless, the misunderstandings between these two genders are mostly due to a difference in the way each one expresses oneself. Many examples of the normal life analysed by Torppa revealed that misunderstandings can be caused by a distortion in the manner people want to manifest their emotions and feelings to the other sex: wome n tend more to use words while men prefer generally to show them with acts. The possible way for coping with miscommunication is to try to be aware of the differences that exist with the other sex as well as to figure out what is the point of view or the angle from which the other sees the situation. Lakoff (1975) pioneering work suggested that womens speech typically displayed a range of features, such as tag questions, which marked it as inferior and weak. Thus, she argued that the type of subordinate speech learned by a young girl will later be an excuse others use to keep her in a demeaning position, to refuse to treat her seriously as a human being (1975, p.5). As what was said before, the difference of communication between men and women can trigger some misunderstandings, and in order to overcome this problem men and women should deal with each other as if they are from different cultures. They should not misinterpret words and body language, and try to understand what the other wants to convey. Moreover, they have to clarify and make sure that they understand the other by asking questions and doing perception checking (Lathrop, 2006). Conclusion The differences between genders in communication exist, not only in the verbal way but also in the non-verbal one was proved true. Moreover, these differences in communication are mostly due to culture, education and biologic origin. The consequences of these differences in communication which is misunderstandings that also proved right. However, new ideas also found in such as the fact that a significant number of men are concerned about this issue and have feelings of disappointment when facing misunderstandings with the other sex. No matter what communication style there is both men and women will communicate in different ways. Men will take the approach of instrumental communication style where they want the answer right away and establish their hierarchy. Women, on the other hand, will be more of an expressive style of communication as they will be able to confide to others and are more sensitive to issues than men and they will be able to build, maintain, and strengthen their relationship.

Tourism :: essays research papers

In the more economically developed countries (MEDCs), synonymous mainly with the industrialised countries of the northern hemisphere there, has been an explosion in the growth of leisure and tourism industry, which is now believed to be the worlds second largest industry in terms of money generated. In order to differentiate between leisure and tourism it should be recognised that leisure often involves activities enjoyed during an individual’s free time, whereas tourism commonly refers to organised touring undertaken on a commercial basis. Development in the two areas could be attributed to changing patterns in working lives within the last four decades. Generally, people now have more disposable wealth, work shorter hours, receive longer, paid annual leave, retire earlier and have greater personal mobility. In addition, according to Marshall & Wood (1995), the growth of the tourist industry per se can be associated, in part, with the concentration of capital; the emergence o f diversified leisure based companies, sometimes within wider corporate conglomerates and often associated with particular airlines. Furthermore, the development of tourism can generate employment both directly, in jobs created in the hotels, restaurants etc, and indirectly, through expenditure on goods and services in the local area. Nevertheless, although the tourist industry is competitive, which essentially keeps down the cost of foreign travel, the success of tourism in any one area can be ‘influenced by weather, changing consumer tastes, demographics, economic cycles, government policy, not to mention international terrorism and other forms of conflict.’(1) Although such factors may have a detrimental affect on the economy of a popular tourist destination (or even tourism in general, in light of September 11th 2001), the consequence of tourism in general is often three fold: environmental, social and cultural, which in turn has prompted a search for new ‘fri endly’ approaches that are less destructive. It is a well-noted fact that tourists from the developed world, or rich western nations, are in favour of visiting unspoilt natural environments and places steeped in tradition. However, Lea (1988) regards such attractions as being a sign of underdevelopment and rarely tolerated by the host nations just because they meet with foreign approval of visitors. Instead, it is the priority of the respective governments to raise living standards to acceptable levels, which means modernisation and the implementation of various infrastructures. Nevertheless, if administered effectively mass tourism could provide a form of sustainable development by meeting the needs of the present without compromising those of the future.

Face Recognition Technology in Public Places

Currently, technology is rising, along with suspected terrorist attacks. Mobile phones and computers have minimized its size to an incredibly small size it was almost unimaginable in the years before. Subsequently, bombs could be as small, but the threat is still as massive. In this light, scientists and engineers have concocted devices to help alleviate this threat to society.Unfortunately, to this date, face recognition technology in public places remains ineffective, as it even violates people’s right to privacy.There are many reasons behind the pursuit of this technology. There are questions and ethical concerns behind the arguments. However, one can be certain that this technology is still at its tender stage and should not be used until it is at the state of perfection. In this light, this essay aims to give light to certain issues regarding this matter.First, this kind of technology is still not foolproof. It does not accurately identify terrorists. Second, it has a str ong potential for misuse and abuse. It has been used without the consent or knowledge of the people, violating their right to privacy.Last, the expected improvement in security is not justified by its costs.These are the basic inquiries one should be able to deliberate on regarding the matter.Face recognition teechnology is yet to prove its worth to the society. It was found out during tests that it has failed at 38% of the cases. Boston reported that the techonology aimed to point a terrorist from the crowd by comparing the images with those in their system. What came out was a depressing failure.The technology was still too objective that it failed to recognize slight changes on the faces of these people. This was only through a test run in a rather select sample. What more could have happened if this was a real life scenario?In this light, one can say that when it failed at that percentage, the system chose innocent people. These people could be passers-by, simply coincidental th at they were there when the system detected them. It cannot be helped that even total strangers have similar characteristics, and the system was unable to be accurate on this aspect.This technology is still inaccurate. A person’s face could change completely even when there were minor changes to his entire look. The accuracy of the technology also relies on how similar the image is in comparison to the image in the system, a slight different in lighting and angle can alter the face of the person.In this case, a terrorist may not be detected, and in its place is an innocent person. In this light, ABC News also mentioned that if this is the condition of the technology, then two stangers will look more alike than two different pictures of the same person.Face recognition technology cannot be experimented on a real life situation. It would be more than a risk. It would have been a mistake.Barnaby Feder of the New York Times also mentioned that this technology was quite a promisin g piece against terrorism. However, their tests also failed. The technology experienced difficulty. On the other hand, there are establishments who already use the technology in question, like casinos.It was mentioned in the article that face recognition technology could be a requirement in more establishments in the future. Unfortunately, with the presense of skeptisms and flawed eperiments, producers of this technology are yet to mark their points in history.They are inproving over the years, but they have not come up with the technology that will find perfectly match the face of a person to the database, and therefore a suspicious person or a criminal. Alice Lipowicz of Washington Technology wrote that the technology failed in another experiment at the Super Bowl in 2001.When the technology was used, it came out with too many false positives that they immediately called the experiment a total failure.Another argument against this technology is brought about by the fact that this has great potential for misuse and abuse. Given that the people are being viewed by a camera and objectively scrutinized by the system and database, one person is studied and judged by it. Furthermore, it is not only the faces that these cameras capture.It also captures the actions that these people are doing. That is not the purpose of the technology, but because the system is trying to ID everyone who could match a certain culprit, this technology is overlooking the essense of the person’s actions.He is judged by his face and actions when he shouldn’t be judged at all. He shouldn’t even be watched by another person who might have biases and prejudices. This, by itself, is an ethical question: should these people be watched? Who are watching them?Lipowicz also mentioned that the technology is crawling close to becoming unethical. The article mentioned that when drivers are given their license, their pictures are taken into a face recognition database and used f or future investigative purposes.Before these people are even able to know about investigations their names and faces are already part of the system for scrutiny and matching. This becomes a question in people’s minds because it can be related to intrusive surveillance and tracking, as mentioned in the same article. This means that even if the people are not involved, because of the technology, they are made involved in the system.Unfortunately, this is still an expanding research as the technology is updated and organizations, especially the government, make use of it. Despite the concern on people’s privacy, perhaps they opted to choose the larger purpose of its creation: the safety of the people against terror. Those who are trying to protect the people should consider this: who are they protecting?From whom are they protecting these people? Why are they protecting these people? If their tools would be objective in detecting the faces of these suspicious people, the n their objectives as human beings should be objective as well. Are they judging the person based on what they see on screen?Are they judging them based on the name on which that face matches? If the face and name was ill matched, should they still be judged? Perhaps when those behind the cameras, with the database at hand, are able to answer this, then they should be able to bring brighter light to the situation.Furthermore, this technology captures people’s faces and identities without the consent or knowledge of the person. It is always important, as it is ethical, for a person to be told that he or she is going to be watched. Although doing this gives potential to a change in their behavior while being watched, the people should always be told when the cameras are on them.The reason behind giving the consent is that the people should agree that they are being watched for the benefit of everyone’s safety. They should be informed of their objectives, like finding the terrorist among the crowd. In relation to their right to privacy, they should be able to act upon their wish without being judged by it.In a crowd, they could be on a phone call or talking with a friend, and those actions may bare negative implications depending on how those behind the cameras are looking at them.This is also to prevent the possibility of having those observations used for something else. As mentioned earlier, this technology has the potential for misuse and abuse. Just because these people are able to retrieve information via these cameras does not mean that they should freely use these.If the information is to be compared to another set retrieved from another location, then the person is objectified—overlooking the fact that he is human and unique from everybody else. Stereotyping, biases and prejudices could rise and add greater problems to the technology, despite its already faulty results in finding terrorists.Last, in today’s rampant pace, techn ology never comes cheaply. By the description of the technology alone, one is given the hint of how much it could cost. There are no exact digits for the curious mind, but there is an implied amount.The technology is able to measure, study, compare and match random faces to those already in the database. The scrutinizing process by which this technology aimed to protect the people could be very extensive that one could only think about the many brilliant minds that worked together to create the prototype. Although the technology is not yet full proof, it is still expensive.In this light, if the technology is not yet at its best, why should anyone make use of it? Although attached with the package is the promise that they could be safer, the disadvantages still seemes to outweight its benefits. As mentioned in this article, face recognition technology is still a growing study.To prematurely use it, while simultaneously paying a high amount for it, would not allow the technology to fu lfill its promise—like of any product: the output worthy of the amount.

Balance Sheet and Income Statement Essay

Balance Sheet and Income Statement Jennifer Grayson BSA/500 June 4, 2011 Brian Keltch Balance Sheet and Income Statement The following four companies are related to the companies that have been in review over the last four weeks. These four following companies show how well the company has been doing over the last two years or not so well. The company has pulled their balance sheets and income statement to see if all the company’s financial needs are being met. If the company’s needs are not being met, the company will show where the company needs to cut back and where the company needs to improve. National Plastic Co Conclusion National Plastic Co. s not doing well after a year. The company has less net fixed assets after a year. The company has borrowed less liability but the company has less revenue so with the changes it did not work in the favor for the company. AMERCO Inc. is still doing about the same after a year. The big thing is that the company is still able to bring in money with the economy at its worst. The company is able to run comfortable. Kout Food Group is doing about the same as the year before. No growth has happen and no lost has happen. Resaas Services Inc. has made the most growth in a year. In 2010 the total liabilities and equity was 0. 8% and in 2011 5. 67%. The company gained more than 5. 39%. Resaas is doing well. To look at all the different company’s income statements and balance sheets show that no two companies are the same. Some companies may do better than others may and some may not do well at all. It is important for all companies to make sure to have a financial statement. Reference BLOOMBERG L. P. (2012).