The Donts of Online Dating - 1236 Words

He was waiting at the corner of his grandparents’ house, probably that was not the first time, but he knew that eventually she would be crossing by. He knew where she lived, her routines. Here she comes seriously dress in black. Long hair pull up from the front, long wavy skirt, black heels shoes, straight and focus in her walking. She is at the corner of her house, ready to turn street, but she notices him, his eyes are desperately looking to meet hers. Finally they meet, she is surprised of that passion and feels the heat in her heart, but she is shy and young, puts her head down and fast and shaking leaves the road. Could this ever happen with an online dating site? Absolutely not; online dating is increasing; according to ABC news article, an estimated 40 million Americans use online dating services in the hope to meet â€Å"The one†. There are more than 1,400 web sites in the $700 million a year business. But, are they safe and truthful as they say on their profile ? Online dating is dangerous because gives an opportunity to sexual predators to hide behind fake profiles and also to scammers to take advantage of personal information and your money; is unnatural to find love using the shopping mentality and shallow to find someone just for the physical appearance; and a waste of time and money because it is not easy to find someone at the first time, according to friends experiences, there are many men and women that lack of seriousness, not everyone on online dating isShow MoreRelatedCauses And Effects Of Online Dating1145 Words   |  5 PagesWhat is online dating? Online dating is the way of starting a romantic relationship on the social net work by exchange information with someone else include photo, romantic message and songs without see by each other face to face. Millions of people now days are using the online dating to find friends, or soul mate. There are so many websites like Christian mingle, match. com, eharmony. com, our time, fa rmers match.com, and another website only for widow widowers. com. All these websites help toRead MoreOnline Dating Essay863 Words   |  4 PagesOnline Dating Some people today feel they cannot meet someone in their everyday lives so they turn to the internet to find a prospective partner, people us the internet as a way of meeting new people Online dating has become the new way of finding your soul mate The internet has made dating more convenient you no longer to have to go out to a bar and spend money trying to impress or you really don’t have, for people who are shy this is the perfect way to screen a potential in the privacy. I thoughtRead MoreHow Online Dating Is Threatening Monogamy852 Words   |  4 Pagesminute it gets tough is due to online dating or whether it’s a personality thing, with a large focus on the convenience of cheating following the invention of online dating. This question was touched on in the first article â€Å"A Million First Dates: How Online Dating is Threatening Monogamy† however I don’t feel the article really answered the question but was rather just a mere mention of a person s opinion. The article states that Alex Mehr, a co-founder of the dating site Zoosk, was the only oneRead MoreOnline Dating1706 Words   |  7 PagesOnline dating is a which allows individuals, couples and groups to make contact and communicate with each other over the Internet, usually with the objective of developing a personal, romantic, or sexual relationship. Match making occurs over the Internet using computers or cellphones. In order to use an online dating service, people start by creating a profile with basic information about themselves such as gender, age, location, and interests, and at least one photo. Most online dating servicesRead MoreWhy Are Online Dating Websites?1407 Words   |  6 PagesThere are many different online dating websites, so how would you know how to pick the right one. One of the more popular companies is called eHarmony that started in 2000, research by Gupta, Murtha, and Patel supports, under the premise that it matched couples scientifically on 29 dimensions of compatibility. Unlike other dating sites, eHarmony focuses specifically on creating lifelong matches and has marketed the company accordingly. Originally, eHarmony was based on strong Christian principlesRead MoreThe Many Benefits of Online Dating Essays884 Words   |  4 Pagesother aspects of our lives conform to the internet, that online dating should also begin to be more prevalent in how we form new romantic re lationships. Online dating is the new normal, and this is more evident now than ever. Online dating gives people searching for a new union an edge that they didn’t have before. They are able to â€Å"shop† for potential connections before their initial contact. According to Droge and Voirol (2011), online dating is here to stay because it allows people to more carefullyRead MoreOnline Dating Pros and Cons1060 Words   |  5 PagesOnline dating allows singles, couples, or groups to meet each other online with the hopes of forming a social, romantic, or sexual relationship. Those that sign up with an online dating service typically provide information for other members to view in the form of a personal profile. This personal profile is the main deciding factor as to whether or not an online dater chooses to communication with another member of the online dating service. Online dating, a relatively new form of social matchmakingRead MoreSocial Medi Effects On Relationships1178 Words   |  5 Pagesrelationships. People who are affected by the change in t heir culture do to society, don’t realize the change that has occurred. Over the years social media has drastically increased and plays a huge role within relationships causing insecurity. Dating sites like EHarmony, Christian Mingle, and others have grown in popularity. Not only have the dating sites become more predominant, there are even ways to have dates online as opposed to in person. Social media contains social networks like Facebook, InstagramRead MoreOnline Dating And The Internet Essay1130 Words   |  5 Pagesthe internet offer online dating or match making services. Despite being a relatively young industry, online dating has already become one of the most profitable types of business found on the internet. Online dating services now attract millions of users every day, and the industry is making hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Online dating provides an efficient way for people to meet with partners and to get to know them through e-mails and chats. Of the many online dating sites, PlentyofFishRead MoreAre Computers Changing the Way Humans Think?988 Words   |  4 Pagesthan it has helped. Although computers have benefits such as helping you for school work in making quicker decisions for you, and it makes it easier to do essays by using word; it has also hurt society because it makes us become lazier, makes online dating dangerous, and makes people addicted to the Internet. One benefit of computers is that they help students with school work. Students are able to find things quicker for research papers, etc. Also it can be easier for students to type instead

William Shakespeare s Romeo And Juliet - 1267 Words

Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet variously links to the poetry; The Flea , by John Donne, Valentine , by Carol Ann Duffy, and Sonnet 116 , by Shakespeare. The first association is through theme, as Sonnet 116 demonstrates the importance of eternal love and through situation, such as how Valentine ends with violent imagery, so does the play. Another way in which the drama links to the poetry is by character, Romeo and the protagonist of The Flea convey characteristics of a courtly lover in the beginning. The character in Valentine and Juliet both aspire to be honest and are pragmatic in their commitment. Lastly, the drama can be connected to the poetry through language/imagery/tone. A similar tone of bitterness is†¦show more content†¦She is aware of the deficiency of his argument and fears it will meet with her parents disapproval though parents grudge. Unlike in Romeo and Juliet , she is unwilling to defy her parents because of the dishonourable nature of the comm itment. In the context both the play and the poem are written as a similar situation whereby patriarchal society limits women s freedom. Despite this, both females demonstrate power through their respective commitments. Juliet chooses to cry over Romeo rather than her own family Wash they his wounds with tears? Mine shall be spent when theirs are dry, for Romeo s banishment. This quote depicts Juliet s priority to Romeo instead of her family. The effects of this exhibit Juliet s independence and devotion to Romeo. In the poem the woman kills the flea which gives her an advantage and shows that she has the power. Purpled thy nail. The woman shows confidence and willingness to follow through with her commitment, as does Juliet. Romeo conveys characteristics of a courtly lover. She hath Dian s wit and in strong proof of chastity. This quote shows he is forlorn. His motives reciprocate those of the protagonist in The Flea. Donne attempts to seduce the woman by using the flea as a metaphor for their love and commitment. He remains rejected but persistent, his resilience is entertaining. Yet this enjoys before it woo. The word woo represents

Election Commission in India Free Essays

A good electoral system is, therefore, the bed rock of genuine representative government. The architects of the Indian constitution attached the highest significance to arzon-dependent electoral machinery for the conduct of elections. For this it was necessary that an independent election commission with its vast paraphernalia should be set-up in country such a commission could ensure fair and free elections of the representatives of the pie at all levels. We will write a custom essay sample on Election Commission in India or any similar topic only for you Order Now Articles 324, Dr. Ambedkar contended, â€Å"proposed centralise the election machinery in hands of a single commission, be assisted by regional commissioners working under the supervision direction control of the election commission and not and under e control of the state government as envisaged earlier. † Composition of the Election Commission: Of the four pillars of the Indian constitution, the Election commission is one, the other three being the Supreme Court, the public service commission and the comptroller and Auditor General of India. On the Election commission depends the integrity of election, which truly is the oxygen of democracy. Thus viewed, its independence d impartiality assume critical importance to the country’s entire political system. To ensure free and fair and impartial elections, the constitution establishes the Election Commission, a body autonomous in character and free from political orenecutive influence. The commission is an All India body having jurisdiction over, elections to parliament, fate Legislatures, offices of the president and vice-president. The Election Commission consists of the Chief Election Commissioner, and such number of Election Commissioners if any as the president may fix from time to time. The Chief Election Commissioner stands at the apex of the hierarchy of the Election Commission of India. All these commissioners are appointed by the president subject to the provisions of any law enacted by parliament for the purpose. The Chief Election Commissioner acts as the chairman of the Election Commission . n case any other Election Commissioner besides him is appointed. The tenure of the Chief Election Commissioner is independent of the executive discretion, for he cannot be removed from his of face except in the like manner and on the like grounds as a judge of the Supreme Court. The conditions of service of the Chief Election Commissioner cannot be varied to his disadvantage after his appointment. The president also promulgated an ordinance amending the Chief Election Commissioner and ther Election Commissioner A ct providing for unanimous transaction of business and decisions but in case of differences of opinion among the three members the matter shall be decided â€Å"according to the opinion of the majority. † The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioner Act, 1991 as existed before the issue of ordinance was weighed in favour of the chief election commissioner on decision making in case of differences among the members of the commission. The constitution provides for a single member or multimember Election Commission. Where there is more than one I members the CEC acts as its chairman. The committee on Electoral Reforms has made certain recommendations with regard to the items and conditions of service Of the Chief Election Commissioner and the other Election Commissioners. After having studied those recommendations the chief Election Commissioners of India conditions of service rules 1972 were amended with introspective, effect from 1st January 1986. The Chief Election Commissioner of India will not be entitled to the salary and other facilities, like rent free accommodation, equivalery to that of a judge of Supreme Court. The term of his office has also been extended upto 6 years, from the date he assumes office or till the day he at his the age of 65 years. To assist the Chief Election Commissioner in the performance of his onerous duties there exists a large paraphernalia of the officers and the staff subordinate to him. Among them is the regional commissioner. Deputy Election Commissioner, secretary, Under secretary, Research officers etc. In the place of the regional commissioners a new post of Deputy Election Commissioner was created in the Election Commission for the first time in 1956. Since he Deputy Chief Election Commissioner is appointed by the president and is usually sent on deputation, he can be recalled by the central govt, at the request of the chief Election Commissioner at any time. At the state or the union territory level there is the Chief Election officer as the kingpin in the Electoral machinery. He is nominated by the Election Commission in consultation with the state Govt. He is usually a senior executive or judicial officer of the state Government. He is assisted by the joint deputy or assistant Chief Election officers as well as the rest of the staff appointed by him in consultation with the state government. He may be a whole time or part time officer. At the district level the electoral duties are discharged by the District officer or the Executive Officer in addition to his normal administrative routine. The responsibility for the preparation and revision of electoral rolls is rested in an officer called the Electoral Registration officer. He may have under him Assistant Electoral Registration officers. The election in every constituency is supervised by an officer known as the returning officer nominated by the Election commission in consultation with the govt, of the state. The same officer can be nominated as returning officer r more than one constituencies. He is assisted by one or more assistant Returning Officers so designated by the Election Commission. The staff consisting of presiding and polling officers, for the actual conduct of the poll is appointed by the District Election officer. The District Election Officer may appoint a presiding officer for each polling station and such polling officers are necessary. The presiding officer keeps order of the pooling station and ensures the fair conduct of the poll. Functions and powers of the Election Commission: The Election Commission of India has to perform multifarious duties assigned to it under the constitution. Some of the principal functions of the commission are: (1) Demarcation of constituencies: To facilitate the process of elections a country has to be divided into several constituencies. The task of delimiting constituencies is generally performed by a delimitation commission. But the power to delimit parliamentary and assembly constituencies for the first general elections in 1951 was conferred on the president. The Election Commission distributed the seats district wise in each one of the states and directed the Chief Electoral Officers to prepare proposals for the physical demarcation of constituencies according to the prescribed criteria. The procedure adopted in the delimitation of constituencies in 1951 led to a virtual power in the hands of the ruling party to decide the contours of the constituencies as it suited its designs. The association of parliamentary Advisory committees with the delimitation commission gave top priority to political consideration. The Election Commission strongly pleaded for taking away this power from the parliament. The Delimitation commission was to consist of three members, two of whom were to be nominated by the president from serving or retired judges of the Supreme Court or High Courts while the Chief Election Commissioner was to be an ex-officio member. (2) Electoral Rolls: The second important but tedious function of the Election Commission is to prepare for identification the upto date list of all the persons who are entitled for voting at the poll. (3) Recognition of political parties and Allotment of Symbols: A new part IV A has been added to the representation of the people Amendment Act, 1951 on registration of political parties. Section 29 A now inserted provides for registration with the commission, of associations and bodies of individual citizens of India as political parties for purpose of this Act. This provision came into force from June 15, 1989. A recognised political party has been classified either as a National Party or a state party under paragraph 7 of the Elections symbol order 1968. Another important function of the Election Commissioner is to allot symbols to the political parties and the candidates, and also to accord recognition to the political parties. The commission has specified certain symbols as reserved and others as free. The reserved symbols are only available for candidates sponsored by the political parties and the free symbols are equally available to other candidates. The Election Commission has power to adjudicate upon disputes with regard to recognition of political parties and rival claims to a particular symbol for the purposes of elections. (4) Scrutiny of the Nomination Papers: Another function of the Election Commission is to examine the nomination papers of the candidates. These papers are accepted if found in order, but rejected otherwise. This duty is performed by the returning officer who notifies to all the contesting candidates the date, time and place for the formal scrutiny of nomination papers. The Returning officer summarily but judicially examines all the nomination papers and decides the objection raised. He is also to see whether the requisite requirements of security deposit, election symbol, election agent etc. have also been fulfilled. He is empowered to reject the nomination papers either by upholding the objection raised by a rival candidate or on his own motion or any of the following (a) that the candidate either is not qualified or is disqualified to fill the seat under any of the relevant constitutional provisions viz. Articles 84. 02, 173 and 191 (b) that the provision of sections 33 and 34 of the representation of the people’s Act 1951 have not been complied with and (c) that the signature of the candidate or the proposer on the nomination or papers is not genuine. (5) The conduct of the poll: Another stupendous task that the Election Commission has to undertake is the conduct of the poll throughout the whole of India. In a parliamentary constituency, the returning officer is to make suitable arrangements for conducting the poll with the prior approval of the Election Commission. The commission can order a Ripoll for the whole constituency under compulsion of circumstances. Articles 324 confers on the Election Commission necessary powers to conduct the elections including the power to countermand the poll in a constituency and ordering a fresh poll there in because of hooliganism and break down of law and order at the line of polling or counting of votes. (6) Election Expenses: Another most controversial function that the election commission has perform is no scrutinize the accounts of election expenses submitted by contestants in elections. In India every contesting candidate is required to maintain and file the accounts of his election expenses. Within a prescribed period after publication of the result of his election within 10 days from the last date of filing the returns the Returning Officer submits to the Election Commission a list of all the candidates and their agents together with their returns as also his observation in respect of candidates who have failed to lodge returns in the specified time and a accordance with the procedure prescribed by law. The commission scrutinizes the accounts and dudes whether the returns are in proper form and whether they have been lodged in time. In case of default it notifies the candidates or their agents of there disqualification by publishing these in the official Gazette. Role of the Election Commission: Election is the contrivance through which a modern state creates amongst its citizens a sense of involvement and participation in public affairs. It is through popular elections that the authority of a govt, is clouted with legitimacy and peaceful and orderly transfer of authority to new leaders is ensured. For this it was necessary than an independent Election Commission with its vast paraphernalia should be set up in the country. Such a commission would ensure fair and free election of the representatives of the people at all levels. According to L. K. Advani, â€Å"The Election Commission occupies a pivotal place in the scheme of the Indian constitution. During recent years it has willingly or unwillingly abdicated its independent Supra governmental authority and accepted for itself the role of a mere official department charged with the conduct of elections. The relations between CES and the central and state Governments are not cordial. The confrontation and the ensuing embarrassment for the Governments as a result of the ruling given by Chief Election Commissioner J. N. Seshan have only been increasing. With a critical evaluation of the working of the Election Commission of India so far as we can now infer that: Firstly, the working of the Elections Commission of India during the last four decades has shown that the Election Commission worked independently and impartially, as well as efficiently. Secondly, the Election Commission has fulfilled all the constitutional obligations, and has never tried to go beyond or over step the limits of the constitution. It always worked within the frame work of the constitution. Thirdly, when the Election Commission conducted the first General Election in 1951-52 the electorate were just 17 million but the present strength of the electorate is about 50 crores. The commission, has however been able to cope with its ever mounting responsibilities. It has the capacity to meet new challenges and faced the situation boldly. Fourthly, although the faith of the people in democracy, its institutions and political parties has eroded but their faith in the Election Commission has all the more strengthened or fortified. According to the Election Commission, the very fact that in almost all states the ruling parties have suffer setbacks shows that the elections have been free and fair. It has given the lie to the wide spread belief that the party in power will use official machinery and influence the voters in its favour. How to cite Election Commission in India, Essay examples

Balance Between Security and Privacy - Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Balance Between Security and Privacy. Answer: Introduction Cybersecurity has always been a contentious issue owing to the nature of its operational environment management i.e. the internet. In essence, the internet was originally designed to be a seamless platform having extended accessibility and user freedom. However, the same defining factors limit its effectiveness today as intruders or malicious individuals use these factors to compromise systems which have led to the ethical dilemmas and issues seen today. Moreover, the political climate exhibited today where different states and countries hold different priorities in cybersecurity makes it difficult to enforce the critical laws of safeguarding user information(Liew, 2016). In addition to this, a multitude of operational factors are attributed to the problems seen in cyber systems where peoples security, privacy and even intellectual property is regularly lost. Now, this report analyses the ethical issues in cybersecurity based on the four classical ethical theories. According to an article written by Liew Jason, the biggest ethical dilemma facing cybersecurity is the balance between information privacy and security. In essence, the users of the internet demand freedom and liberty based on their existing rights of communication as well as information. However, the same rights are exploited by intruders to carry out attacks on innocent civilians which today has even extended beyond the digital world to include physical attack such as those of terrorism. Furthermore, there have been many incidences of cyber intrusion where businesses management, governments and even non-profit institutions have been hacked affecting their overall credibility(Liew, 2016). Classical ethical theories Utilitarianism the internet by all accounts was met to expand the mind and operational environment of the human species. This objective led to its original design which is facilitated by a borderless and extensive network. Again, based on this account the utilitarian principles are fully maximized where the general good of the people is at the helm of operations, boosting business outcomes, communication and even socialization. However, with the emergence of cybercrime, the unethical stature of the users emerge where the same structure promote harm and not happiness, a key component of utility principles(Driver, 2014). Remember, as an ethical theory, utilitarianism advocates for the general good of the people where the actions imposed should promote the overall happiness of the majority. This outcome raises a serious ethical issue on the cyber security features put in place where again, the users liberty and freedom is short-lived to safeguard them. In fact, the ethical issues at hand, stand as dilemmas as governments must weigh two critical moral components; privacy and security. On one hand, promoting utmost security will mean accessing users confidential information to evaluate their actions hence mitigate malicious individuals. On the other hand, extended freedom will result in extensive attacks, which places the utilitarian principles under a constant conflict as a dynamic balance is needed(Gandjour, 2007). Deontology In his article, Liew highlights the countless attacks conducted by cybercriminals where medical records, governments defence institutions and even adultery websites are breached. These attacks signal the duties (or lack of duties) by the perpetrators as well as the security agencies. In essence, these parties should hold several ethical/moral duties to the society at large. For one, they should exercise prohibitory duties where their moral code should stop them from executing the attacks. However, even more, critical are the duties held by the security agencies who should safeguard the users of the internet. Now, based on deontological principles, these individuals hold a promise to protect the users of the internet and their resources management. However, the same promise should be limited and controlled by their ethical standards(Misselbrook, 2013). Therefore, the security parameters imposed should not be an exercise to intrude on users privacy where extensive surveillance and online monitoring is imposed. Again, this outcome raises the concerns of distinguishing between the rights of privacy and security, elements that are always in constant conflict in the cyber world(Alexander, 2016). Virtue forgetting the duties, actions and consequences of cybersecurity, one has to consider the character of the people involved in the cyber-environment. The ethical issues at hand (privacy and security) are generally determined by the stakeholders of the digital environment where governments and security agencies should impose the right measure without depriving other related factors. What does this mean? The security protocols put in place should balance the need for security with that of freedom and privacy. In fact, the security personnel involved (either government officials or private contractors), should not extend their legal or ethical reach beyond their mandated procedures. Therefore, a need to gather intelligence must not be used as an excuse to access users private information. This outlook is the defining factor of virtue ethics where the character and attributes of the people involved are based on the virtue principles i.e. courage, honesty, justice and temperance am ong many others(Sakellariouv, 2015). Contract recent statistics outline the devastation caused by cyber-crime and terrorism, where more than 39 percent of business institutions have been attacked through their cyber systems. However, the same companies still hold ignorant stands on the need for cybersecurity, lacking the necessary security features(Liew, 2016). Now, as worldwide agencies of the internet, these organizations management hold a social responsibility to protect the assets they use. Furthermore, this responsibility should be based on the contractual obligation to protect the society and not documented legislation. The same contractual obligation should also be held by the governing bodies i.e. the governments who through the principles of social contract should exercise equality by managing the issues at hand. Moreover, the individual using the internet must also hold the same responsibility where adequate security features are implemented and supported(Gaus, 2017). Conclusion The problems outlined above are a consequence of the nature of cyber security which to date is still a new concept, lacking the necessary definitions and parameters to enforce its functionalities. Furthermore, the different security policies and legislation used by countries across the globe make it difficult to implement the features of cybersecurity. However, away from these challenges, cybersecurity has also to contend with the need for information security and privacy where both elements are continuously conflicting with each other. Now, while legislation may help mitigate the ethical problems at hand, the virtues and character of the people involved will need to change. In essence, the solution lies in the cultural change of cyber systems users where internet proponents will need to conduct their online affairs while adhering to proper ethical/moral codes. References Alexander, L. (2016). Deontological Ethics. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Retrieved 22 September, 2017, from: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/. Driver, J. (2014). The History of Utilitarianism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Retrieved 22 September, 2017, from: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/. Gandjour, A. (2007). Is it rational to pursue utilitarianism? University of Cologne, Retrieved 22 September, 2017, from: https://www.ethical-perspectives.be/viewpic.php?TABLE=EPID=1060. Gaus, G. (2017). Contemporary Approaches to the Social Contract. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Retrieved 22 September, 2017, from: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/contractarianism-contemporary/. Liew, J. (2016). Cyber Security: The Balance Between Security And Privacy. Legal News Analysis - Asia Pacific - Regulatory Compliance, Retrieved 22 September, 2017, from: https://www.conventuslaw.com/report/cyber-security-the-balance-between-security-and/. Misselbrook, D. (2013). Duty, Kant, and Deontology. NCBI, Retrieved 22 September, 2017, from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3609464/. Sakellariouv, A. (2015). Virtue Ethics and its Potential as the Leading Moral Theory. Student pulse journal quest, Retrieved 22 September, 2017, from: https://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/1385/virtue-ethics-and-moral-theory.

Children Development

Introduction Children development is a very complicated process. Trying to unite different ages in groups with he purpose to give some particular characteristics, scientists used the range of ages as children development may differ and some children at 4 years may possess skills and knowledge which others will acquire only at 6. There are particular norms which deviate in the issues of children development. Speaking, listening and comprehension, reading and writing are the main aspects according to which children development is accessed.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Children Development specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Early childhood (2-6) and middle childhood (6-10) are two age groups which stand close, however, children development at each of these stages is absolutely different. Giving the general characteristics of each of the stages mentioned above (early childhood and middle childhood) this paper aims t o consider the differences in language development, reading and writing. Comparative and contrast analysis is going to help in the future choice of reading and writing tasks for children of different age groups. Short Description of the Stages Early childhood stage (2-6 years) leads children through many physical, cognitive and social changes. Children at this age form stable reasoning aspects which help them develop their cognitive and mental thinking processes. Children at this age develop intuitive reasoning, their reason and consequence connections become more logical. At middle childhood stage (6-10 years) children are able to complete more complicated thinking processes. The reasoning becomes more refined and detailed. Here is a detailed comparative and contrast analysis of the language skills, reading and writing development of children at two different stages, early childhood and middle childhood. Comparative and Contrast Analysis Early childhood (2-6) Middle childhood ( 6-10) Language skills Children of this age rapidly increase and advance their vocabulary Lack of understanding of some simple words and desire to know their meaning Understanding of the â€Å"good listening† Overregularization Difficulty in pronunciation Contrast abilities Temporal words and comparatives become more understandable Lack of knowledge of the irregular words Literal understanding of information Improved pronunciation Interpretation of the heard information Ability to dwell upon a specific topic The ability to create a story with the cause-and-effect reasoning Linguistic creativity Word play Reading Reading while playing Children of this age are able to relate sounds to letters Identification of some words in the context which is familiar for children Use of the distinctive features of the world The ability to hear phonemes is separately taken words Word decoding skills are improved Increased reading-fluency Learning the skills of silent reading Drawing inferences out of the read information Writing Muscular control is increased in drawing Writing of the elements of the letters and the abilities to connect them Pseudowriting Writing of the personal name and the simplest words, e. g. mom, dad, etc. Writing of all the letters in the alphabet (after 4) Invented spellings Smoothness of handwriting is increased Size of the letters is decreased Writing of the sentences and stories is dominating over the writing of the simple words Appearance of the difficulties connected with identifying problems in personal wiring (problems connected with clarity are the most common ones Table 1. Comparative and contrast characteristics of the age groups, early childhood and middle childhood (McDevitt, Ormrod, 2004, p. 308) Each of the characteristics considered above influences the tasks teachers give. Having analyzed the characteristic features of each stage, it is possible to enumerate some exercises which may help to promote children development. Here are some specific tasks which may strengthen students’ reading or writing skills in each developmental stage. The exercises are aimed at strengthening the already existing skills and improving them. Teachers may give students the task to work individually or in groups. Early childhood (2-6) Middle childhood (6-10) Reading Reading aloud for children of the books with pictures with striking content Use of hands-on activities and engaging for learning letters Use of pictures, rhymes and games for teaching letter-sound correspondence Reading of the simplest words Aloud reading of different literature as the way to encourage children to get to know more via reading personally Reading of the words on the pictures Composing words out of the letters Reading of the simplest sentences Connecting words and pictures (stable words and activities) Learning of the families of words Reading of the books with short stories (stories should be familiar for children in most cases) Small group discussion exercises where children read the story and discuss some particular aspects of the read data Making children read more while classes aloud Completing the story by one of the offered paragraphs Reading and answering the questions Fulfilling the correct words into the stories Writing Writing of the elements of the letters after the sample Connection of the letter elements Trying to draw the letters as children see them Drawing various lines Writing personal names and other words which they seem interesting for them Giving children an opportunity to write the words of what they want (ball, doll, ice-cream, cake, etc.) Engaging children in authentic writing Writing short stories, letters (creating personal or composing an answer) Writing descriptions (about myself, about my cat, about my parents, about my house) Finding mistakes as the way to increase literacy Inserting a missed letter into a word Correcting the mistakes n the te xt with the continued writing of the story Description in writing of what is seen Rewriting of the text Describing personal activities Writing of the dictated words Table 2. List of the possible exercises aimed at developing reading and writing in different age groupsAdvertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, it may be concluded that language skills, reading and writing development differ greatly at various stages of children development. Depending on the age of children, various exercises and activities may be used for reading and writing development. Teachers are to understand that many children have various levels of development. Therefore, the tasks they should give to them should be created specially for them. However, teachers should also try to improve the skills of those who leg behind in order to make sure that all children have managed to reach the average level of de velopment in accordance to the age stage. Children with the higher reading and writing abilities should be offered more complicated tasks as the additional ones after the common tasks are completed. Reference List McDevitt, T. M., Ormrod, J. E. (2004). Child development: Educating and working with children and adolescents (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. This essay on Children Development was written and submitted by user Brycen T. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Timeline From 1810-1820 (Waterloo, War of 1812)

Timeline From 1810-1820 (Waterloo, War of 1812) Decade By Decade: Timelines of the 1800s 1810: May 23, 1810: Margaret Fuller, editor, writer, and feminist icon, was born in Massachusetts.June 23, 1810: John Jacob Astor formed the Pacific Fur Company.July 5, 1810: American showman Phineas T. Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut.September 1810: The Tonquin, a ship owned by John Jacob Astor departed New York City bound for the Pacific Northwest, as part of Astors plan to establish a fur-trading settlement at the mouth of the Columbia River. 1811: February 3, 1811: Legendary newspaper editor Horace Greeley was born in Amherst, New Hampshire.May 11, 1811: Chang and Eng Bunker, famous conjoined twins, were born in Siam, which will lead to them becoming known as the Siamese Twins.June 14, 1811: Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Toms Cabin, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut.Summer 1811: Work began on the National Road, the first federal highway.November 7, 1811: Troops led by William Henry Harrison defeated Tecumseh at the Battle of Tippecanoe.December 16, 1811: The New Madrid Earthquake struck the Mississippi Valley. 1812: February 7, 1812: British novelist Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England.March 15, 1812: The Luddites, who were opposed to machines being used in manufacturing, attacked a wool factory in England.March 26, 1812: An earthquake leveled Caracas, Venezuela.June 1, 1812: President James Madison asked Congress for a declaration of war against Britain. The causes of the War of 1812 were varied, and included impressment of American sailors.June 18, 1812: The United States Congress declared war on Britain, though opposition to the War of 1812 was strong.June 24, 1812: Napoleon invaded Russia.August 19, 1812: The USS Constitution battled HMS Guerriere and the American ship was victorious.October 1812: Napoleon began his retreat from Moscow.November 5, 1812: James Madison won the U.S. presidential election of 1812, defeating Dewitt Clinton. 1813: The Casselsmans Bridge was built in Maryland as part of the National Road, and was the longest stone arch bridge in America at the time.April 23, 1813: Stephen Douglas, U.S. Senator and rival of Abraham Lincoln, was born in Brandon, Vermont.April 27, 1813: Zebulon Pike, soldier and explorer, was killed at the age of 34 during the War of 1812 in action at York, Ontario, Canada.June 24, 1813: Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman and reformer, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut.October 5, 1813: Tecumseh, 45-year-old Shawnee leader, was killed by American troops at the Battle of the Thames in Canada. 1814: January 1814: The British government approached Americans, offering to begin negotiations to end the War of 1812.August 24, 1814: British troops landed in Maryland, marched to Washington, D.C., and burned the U.S. Capitol and the Executive Mansion (which would later be called the White House).September 13, 1814: A British fleet bombarded Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. A British land force simultaneously battled Baltimores defenders on land, at the Battle of Baltimore.September 14, 1814: On the morning after the British bombardment of Fort McHenry, Francis Scott Key saw the American flag still flying and wrote The Star-Spangled Banner. Keys lyrics accurately described the Congreve rockets fired during the night.December 24, 1814: American and British negotiators in Belgium signed the Treaty of Ghent, which formally ended the War of 1812. 1815: January 8, 1815: Diverse American forces commanded by Gen. Andrew Jackson defeated British attackers at the Battle of New Orleans. As news traveled slowly, neither side knew the war had actually ended with the Treaty of Ghent weeks earlier.February 1, 1815: Irish political leader Daniel OConnell reluctantly fought a duel outside Dublin and killed his opponent.April 1, 1815: Otto von Bismarck, German statesman, was born in Prussia.April 5-12, 1815: The volcano at Mt. Tambora in Indonesia erupted in a series of explosions over a span of days. Volcanic ash blown into the atmosphere would affect weather worldwide for a year.June 18, 1815: Napoleon was defeated by the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo.July 1815: In the Second Barbary War, an American fleet commanded by Stephen Decatur and William Bainbridge defeated the Barbary Pirates. 1816: 1816 became known as The Year Without a Summer as volcanic ash from the Mt. Tambora volcanic eruption caused lower temperatures throughout the world.November 6, 1816: James Monroe was elected president of the United States, defeating Rufus King. 1817: In 1817 a legendary supernatural creature, The Bell Witch, began terrorizing a family on a Tennessee farm.March 4, 1817: James Monroe took the presidential oath of office outdoors, as the U.S. Capitol was still being rebuilt after its burning by the British.July 4, 1817: Construction began on the Erie Canal.July 12, 1817: Author and naturalist Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts. 1818: The first packet liners began sailing between New York City and Liverpool.February 1818: Abolitionist author Frederick Douglass was born into slavery on a plantation in Maryland.May 5, 1818: Karl Marx, German philosopher, was born in Prussia.December 13, 1818: Mary Todd Lincoln, American first lady, was born in Lexington, Kentucky. 1819: The Panic of 1819 was the first great financial panic of the 19th century.May 24, 1819: Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London, England.May 31, 1819: American poet Walt Whitman was born at West Hills, Long Island, New York.August 1, 1819: Author Herman Melville was born in New York City.August 26, 1819: Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, was born in Germany.

AB Volvo within the last three years (2014, 2013, and 2012) Research Paper

AB Volvo within the last three years (2014, 2013, and 2012) - Research Paper Example †¢ In order to evaluate the potential of investing in a business, the first step is to evaluate the profitability of the business by determine how the business has performed based on its recent history. †¢ The analysis will involve digging into financial reports for AB Volvo within the last three years (2014, 2013, and 2012). The financial factors to consider in the analysis will determine the business’s current net worth, its sales and expense trends and identify the company’s strengths and weaknesses. o The company’s budgets and tax returns since 2012 o An analysis of the company’s balance sheet to determine a list of current assets, liabilities and net worth o An analysis of the current accounts receivables o Analyzing the cash flow projections o Analyzing the profit and loss statements †¢ The analysis will also consider an evaluation of ratios that are key to making investment decisions. The ratios will evaluate the performance activity, liquidity, financing, and activity within AB Volvo: †¢ Performance Activity o Book Value Per Common Share o Cash Return On Assets o Vertical Analysis o Dividend Payout Ratio o Earnings Per Share o Gross Profit Margin

History Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 21

History - Assignment Example Therefore, they transformed the environment into a rich agricultural sector (Blanco & Sanborn, 1993). However, these natives were still behind in innovations and technology. Initially, their proximity with wild animals resulted to illnesses that could not be cured. Many of them died due to lack of medical technology. Also, they did not possess any weapons, which put them to a disadvantage to the Europeans who had weapons. The Europeans were able to invade them and occupy most of the land due to their vulnerability (Blanco & Sanborn, 1993). .The European had experienced religious reforms. When they invaded North America, they intended to convert the Indians to Christianity. England chartered colonies in America for the purpose of colonization and trade (Blanco & Sanborn, 1993). Spain established colonies in North America because they intended to explore gold and silver. The native people resisted colonization by downing their tools. They halted all their economic activities. The natives died as a result of diseases, leading to reduction in labour force. Therefore, the Spanish imported slaves to replace servitude as a source of labour. The Spanish introduced mercantilism sin order to dominate trade. The southern colonies supported this processing by accepting imports from the Northern America. This is because they benefited more than the Northern colonies (Blanco & Sanborn,

Scaricity of Healthcare Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Scaricity of Healthcare Resources - Essay Example hilosophical biomedical ethical issues have developed in complexity as they are influenced by a number of factors including religion, law, anthropology and sociology. Each of the influencing factors is complex by themselves and this tends to make the biomedical ethical issues even more confusing for the healthcare service providers, especially as they are in the forefront in the use of the massive technological developments that have been in the recent past. The origins of the practical normative ethics of biomedical ethics goes back to the school of thought normally associated with Hippocrates and the famous Hippocratic oath. This oath sums up the school of thought on the ethical principles of curing and healing. The emphasis in the early days of medical history was on healing and not on curing, as the means of curing diseases was limited. Helping people to cope with diseases that had inflicted them had more relevance. The mode of intervention was left to the judgment of the physician. Thus the first principles of biomedical ethics of beneficence and nonmaleficence were laid. Even today there are many who believe that the goals of medicine remain in these complimentary factors of curing and healing. The subsequent history of bio-ethics is limited to interpretations of Galen in the second century and the opposing views expressed by Vesalius thirteen centuries later. However the next significant step in the development of biomedical ethics was seen in 1803, through the expressions of Thomas Percival, in his work Medical Ethics. Percival expanded the prevalent biomedical ethics of beneficence and nonmaleficence to incorporate the idea of the professional responsibility of physicians and their responsibility to society. Thus introducing the third principle in development of biomedical ethics in the form of justice. Further development in the principles of bioethics was seen in the 1960s and 1970s. Concern on the medical treatment procedures without proper

Cinema Sequels And Remakes

Cinema Sequels And Remakes Preamble: The remake is both an industrial and a critical genre. Defined primarily in relation to a body of copyright law, the acknowledged or credited remake develops from being an ethical solution to the early practice of duping to become an economically driven staple of the Hollywood industrial mode of representation. Following the Hollywood recession of 1969 and the small-and-weird-can-be-beautiful-revolution of the early seventies, the remake (along with the sequel) becomes typical of the defensive production and marketing strategies of a post Jaws Hollywood. In the case of the unacknowledged remake, the absence of a production credit shifts attention from a legal-industrial definition to a critical-interpretive one, in which the remake is determined in relation to a general discursive field [that] is mediated by the structure of the [filmic] system and by the authority of the [film and] literary canon (Frow, Intertextuality and Ontology 46). In either instance, the intertextual referentiality between a remake and its `original is largely extratextual (Friedberg 175), located in historically specific technologies and institutional practices such as copyright law and authorship, canon formation and film literacy. In their almost one thousand page long Cinema Sequels and Remakes, 1903-1987, Roben Nowlan and Gwendoline Wright Nowlan devote not quite two full pages to explaining the selection criteria for one thousand and twenty five alphabetically listed primary films and the many more associated remakes and sequels that make up their reference volume. The brevity of Nowlan and Nowlans introduction is attributable to the fact that they make little attempt to define either remake or sequel, but rather take these as received categories, i.e., their principal criterion for selection is that a film has been previously designated as a remake or sequel in any two or more of a number of unidentified but reliable source[s], which list remakes and sequels of certain genres of films (xi-xii). While this type of lax definition makes for a wide selection of material and does not preclude the inferential reconstruction of at least some of the unspecified principles of selection (through an examination of th ose films that have been included), Nowlan and Nowlans intuitive approach underscores the extent to which the remake is conceived more through actual usage and common understanding than through rigorous definition.(1) While Nowlan and Nowlan put aside problems of categorization to list thousands of films, Michael B. Druxmans more modest (in scope) Make It Again, Sam, which sets out to provide a comprehensive dissertation on the remake practice by detailing the film life of [thirty-three] literary properties (9), attempts to ground its selection in some preliminary definitions. Druxman begins by electing to limit the category of remake to those theatrical films that were based on a common literary source (i.e., story, novel, play, poem, screenplay), but were not a sequel to that material (9). This seemingly infallible signpost is however complicated by those films that are obviously remakes [but] do not credit their origins (9). In such cases Druxman adopts a heuristic devicea rule of thumbwhich requires that a new film borrow more than just an element or two from its predecessor to qualify (9). This in turn allows Druxman to distinguish between nonfiction films of a single historical incident or b iography of a historical figure (e.g., the mutiny on the Bounty or the life of Jesse James) which differ because they are based around competing versions of the same incident, and those nonfiction films of a like historical incident which are similar even though they are based upon diverse literary sources (9). As might be expected from an approximate rule which arbitrates according to whether a films borrowings are significant or only amount to an element or two, Druxman ultimately admits that there were many marginal situations [in which he] simply used [his] own discretion in deciding whether or not to embrace [a film as a remake] (9). Although Druxmans recognition of unacknowledged remakes introduces a number of methodological difficulties, he funkier grounds his discussion by viewing Hollywood remaking practice as a function of industry pragmatism, driven by three major factors. Firstly, Druxman argues that the decision to remake an existing film is primarily a voluntary one based on the perceived continuing viability of an original story. However, industry demand for additional material during the studio-dominated era of the thirties and forties and attempts to rationalize the often high costs of source acquisition prompted studios to consider previously filmed stories as sources for B pictures, and even for top of the bill productions (13). As Tino Balio points out, the Hollywood majors had story departments with large offices in New York, Hollywood, and Europe that systematically searched the literary marketplace and stage for suitable novels, plays, short stories, and original ideas (99). Taking as an example story acquisitions at Warner Brothers between 1930 and 1949, Balio notes that the pattern of source acquisition demonstrates two often contradictory goals: (1) the desire to base films on pretested material, that is, low-risk material that was already well known and well received by the public and (2) the desire to acquire properties as inexpensively as possible, especially during declining or uncertain economic circumstances (Robert Gustafson qtd. in Balio 99). In practice this meant that while Warners often invested in expensive pre-sold properties, such as best-selling novels and Hollywood hit plays, it offset the high costs of pretested properties by using original screenplays written in its screenwriting department and by relying heavily on `the cheapest pretested material of allearlier Warner pictures (99). Druxmans second, related point is that the customary studio practice at the time of purchasing the rights to novels, plays, and stories in perpetuity meant that a company was able to produce multiple versions of a particular property without making additional payments to the copyright holder (15). Canonized classics of literature, such as Treasure Island and The Three Musketeers, not only had pre-sold titles, but because they were in the public domain, had the added advantage of requiring no initial payment for their dramatic rights (18-20). While the majority of recycled, previously purchased source material (particularly from those films that had done fair to poorly at the box office) made its way into B-unit production (Balio 100), high profile titles were sometimes remade to take advantage of new technologies and practices. Accordingly, Druxmans third and final point relates to the profit potential of redoing established films in order to exploit new stars or screen techniques, e .g., Michael Curtizs 1938 version of The Adventures of Robin Hood as both a vehicle for Errol Flynn and a sound and Technicolor update of the Douglas Fairbanks silent epic, Robin Hood (Allen Dwan, 1922) (15). Druxmans initial definition and the above factors of industry pragmatism allow him to posit three general categories of Hollywood remake: (i) the disguised remake: a literary property is either updated with minimal change or retitled and then disguised by new settings and original characters, but in either case the new film does not seek to draw attention to its earlier version(s), e.g., Colorado Territory (Raoul Walsh, 1949) as a disguised remake of High Sierra (Raoul Walsh, 1941); (ii) the direct remake: a property may undergo some alterations or even adopt a new title, but the new film and its narrative image do not hide the fact that it is based upon an earlier production, e.g., John Guillermins 1976 remake of King Kong (Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, 1933); and (iii) the non-remake: a new film goes under the same title as a familiar property but there is an entirely new plot, e.g., Michael Curtizs 1940 version of The Sea Hawk is said to bear little relation to First Nationals 1924 adaptation of the Rafael Sabatini novel (13-15).(2) While Druxmans account of the remake raises a number of salient points, among them the role that credits and promotions play in the identification of remakes, the publication of Make It Again, Sam prior to the post-Jaws renovation of Hollywood and the transformation of film viewing through videotape and other recent technologies of storage and reproduction make the book somewhat backward-looking. In order to consider some aspects of the remake as a media-intertext, particularly in relation to new Hollywood remakes, it is helpful to turn to a more recent typology of the remake, Thomas M. Leitchs Twice-Told Tales.(3) Leitch begins his account by making a number of points about the singularity of the remake both among Hollywood films and even among other types of narratives: [t]he uniqueness of the film remake, a movie based on another movie, or competing with another movie based on the same property is indicated by the word property. Every film adaptation is defined by its legally sanc tioned use of material from an earlier model, whose adaptation rights the producers have customarily purchased (138). Putting aside for the moment the fact that this description immediately excludes those obvious remakes which do not acknowledge their previous source, the point Leitch wishes to make is that although adaptation rights (e.g., film adaptation rights of a novel) are something producers of the original work have a right to sell, it is only remakes that compete directly and without legal or economic compensation with other versions of the same property (138): [R]emakes differ from adaptations to a new medium because of the triangular relationship they establish among themselves, the original film they remake, and the property on which both films are based. The nature of this triangle is most clearly indicated by the fact that the producers of a remake typically pay no adaptation fees to the makers of the original film, but rather purchase adaptation rights from the authors of the property on which that film was based, even though the remake is competing much more directly with the original filmespecially in these days of video, when the original film and the remake are often found side by side on the shelves of rental outletsà ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬than with the story or play or novel on which it is based. (139) Taking as an initial proposition the triangular relationship among a remake, its original film, and the source for both films, Leitch suggests that any given remake can seek to define itself either with primary reference to the film it remakes or to the material on which both films are based; and whether it poses as a new version of an older film or of a story predating either film, it can take as its goal fidelity to the conception of the original story or a revisionary attitude toward that story (142). Accordingly, Leitch outlines the following quadripartite typology of the remake: (i) readaptation: the remake ignores or treats as inconsequential earlier cinematic adaptations in order to readapt as faithfully as possible (or at least more faithfully than earlier film versions) an original literary property, e.g., the film versions of Shakespeares Hamlet (Laurence Olivier, 1948; Tony Richardson, 1969; and Franco Zeffirelli, 1990) and Macbeth (Orson Welles, 1948; Roman Polanski, 1971 ); (ii) update: unlike the readaptation that seeks to subordinate itself to the essence of a literary classic, the update competes directly with its literary source by adopting an overtly revisionary and transformational attitude toward it, e.g., West Side Story (Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, 1961) and China Gil (Abel Ferrara, 1987) as transformed remakes of filmed versions of Romeo and Juliet (George Cukor, 1936; Franco Zeffirelli, 1968); (iii) homage: like the readaptation, which seeks to direct the audiences attention to its literary source, the homage situates itself as a secondary text in order to pay tribute to a previous film version, e.g., Brian de Palmas Obsession (1975) and Body Double (1986) as homages to Alfred Hitchcocks Vertigo (1958), and Rainer Werner Fassbinders Fear Eats the Soul (1973) as a tribute to the Douglas Sirk version of Magnificent Obsession (1954); (iv) true remake: while the homage renounces any claim to be better than its original, the true remake de al[s] with the contradictory claims of all remakesthat they are just like their originals only betterby . . . combin[ing] a focus on a cinematic original with an accommodating stance which seeks to make the original relevant by updating it, e.g., Bob Rafelsons 1981 remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice (Tay Garnett, 1946), and Lawrence Kasdans Body Heat (1981) as a remake of Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944) (142-45). Leitch concludes that, unlike readaptations, updates, and homages, which only acknowledge one earlier text (literary in the first two cases and cinematic in the third), true remakes [emphasize] a triangular notion of intertextuality, since their rhetorical strategy depends on ascribing their value to a classic earlier text [i.e., an original property such as James M. Cains novel, The Postman Always Rings Twice], and protecting that value by invoking a second earlier [film] text as betraying it [Garnetts version as a watered-down film noir, probably due to limita tions imposed by the MGM studio and the Production Code of the forties] (147). While Leitchs recognition of the significance of a literary property, and in particular the relationship of a film adaptation and its remake to that property, leads to what at first appears to be a more nuanced typology than that outlined by Druxman, further consideration reveals a number of difficulties, not only among Leitchs four categories but in relation to his preliminary suppositions. Firstly, while the ubiquity of the Hollywood remake might understandably lead Leitch to conclude that the remake is a particularly cinematic form,(4) we might question to what extent it differs from the remaking of songs in the popular music industry. That is, how does the triadic relationship between (i) the Pet Shop Boys long remake (of their earlier, shorter remake) of Always on My Mind, (ii) the 1972 version of the same song by Elvis Presley, and (iii) the original property (music and lyrics written by Thompson James Christopher, and published by Screen Gems/EMI), differ appreciably from the triangular relationship for the film remake as described by Leitch? Or, to take as another example a case that underscores Leitchs overestimation of the economic competition a remake creates for a former adaptation, the Sid Vicious remake of My Way (and even Gary Oldmans remake of the same performance for Alex Coxs Sid and Nancy [1986]) competes culturally, but not economically, with Frank Sinatras earlier adaptation of a property written by Reveaux, Francois, and Anka. These examples, and others from the popular music industry, adequately conform to, and so problematize, Leitchs initial claim that the film remake is unique because of the fact that its producers typically pay no adaptation fees to the makers of the original [version], but rather purchase adaptation rights from the authors [publishers] of the property on which that [version] was based (139). A second limitation is that while Druxman at least acknowledges the difficulty of identifying and categorizing those films that are obviously remakes [but] do not credit their origins (9), Leitch remains curiously silent in this respect. For instance, Leitch considers Body Heat a true remake of Double Indemnity, but he does not comment upon the fact that the films credits do not acknowledge the James M. Cain novel as a source; similarly, Leitch takes Obsession and Body Double to be homages to Vertigo, but he fails to note that neither of the films credit either the Alec Coppel and Samuel Taylor screenplay or the Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narceiac novel, Dentre les morts, upon which the Hitchcock film is based. While I will return to the question of identifying unacknowledged remakes, Leitchs insistence upon the connection between three elementsa remake, an earlier version, and a literary propertypresents a further difficulty in that it marginalizes those instances in which a dyadic r elationship exists between a remake and a previous film that is itself the original property. Although it might be objected that a published original screenplay constitutes a discrete property, the point to be made here is that the remake of an original film property, such as John Badhams The Assassin [Point of No Return] (1994), does not compete directly and without legal or economic compensation with its earlier version, but (generally) pays adaptation fees to the copyright holder of the original film upon which it is based (in this example, Luc Bessons [La Femme] Nikita [1990]).(5) The example of the American remake of Nikita not only demonstrates that a triangular relationship fails to accommodate remakes of those films based upon original stories and screenplays, but highlights the difficulty of Leitchs suggestion that remakes compete with earlier versions and his belief that successful remakes supersede and so typically threaten the economic viability of their originals (139). To stay with the example of the French-Italian production of Nikita, it seems doubtful that, having successfully played an art-cinema circuit and having been released to home video (variously under the categories of cult, festival, and arthouse), the appearance of The Assassin, initially as a first run theatrical release and then as a mainstream video release would have any appreciable impact (either positive or negative) upon the formers economic viability. Admittedly, The Assassin was not promoted as a remake of the Besson film, but even a widely publicized remake such as Martin Scor seses 1991 version of Cape Fear(6) did not occasion the burial, or even diminish the cult following, of J. Lee Thompsons earlier (1961) version. On the contrary, the theatrical release of the Scorsese film (accompanied by press releases and reviews foregrounding its status as remake) prompted first a video release and then a prime-time national television screening of the Thompson version. The reciprocity of the two versions is further exemplified by Sight and Sounds running together of a lead article by Jim Hoberman on Scorsese and Cape Fear and a second, briefer article comparing the two versions ([n]ovelist Jenny Diski watches a video of the first Cape Fear and the Scorsese remakeand compares them) and giving details of the availability of the (then recently) re-released CIC video of the 1961 version (see Hoberman Sacred and Profane; Diski The Shadow Within). While reciprocity may not always be the casein the international marketplace a local remake may supplant an earlier forei gn language and/or culture version(7)it seems that contemporary remakes generally enjoy a more symbiotic relationship than Leitchs account would have us believe. While the above examples suggest that Leitch overestimates the extent to which some remakes compete with original film versions, his recognition of the impact that innovations in television technology, particularly home video, have had upon shaping the relationship between a remake and its earlier versions should not be underestimated. Leitch states that during the studio-dominated era of the thirties and forties it was at least in part the belief that films had a strictly current value that enabled studios such as Warners to recycle The Maltese Falcon three times in ten years (Roy Del Ruth, 1931; William Dieterle, 1936 [as Satan Met a Lady]; and John Huston, 1941) and release many unofficial remakes of its own films (139), although the re-release of successful features, particularly during the late forties and early fifties, gave some films a limited currency outside their initial year of release (see McElwee), the majority of films held in studio libraries were not available for re -viewing until the mid-fifties when the major studios decided to sell or lease their libraries to television. The release of thousands of pre-1948 features into the television market not only gave the general public the opportunity to see many films that had been held in studio archives since their initial year of release, but provided the possibility of seeing different versions of the same property, produced years or even decades apart, within weeks or even days of each other. Moreover, the television broadcasting of films provided the further possibility of viewing remakes outside of the temporal order of their production, i.e., the repeated screening of the same features meant that it was inevitable that the broadcast of a remake would precede the screening of its original. While Leitch does not address the impact of television, his recognition that a remake and its original circulate in the same video marketplace draws attention to the fact that the introduction of an informati on storage technology such as videotape radically extends the kind of film literacy, the ability to recognize and cross-reference multiple versions of the same property, that is inaugurated by the age of television. The ever-expanding availability of texts and technologies and the unprecedented awareness of film history among new Hollywood filmmakers and contemporary audiences are closely related to the general concept of intertextuality, an in principle determination which requires that texts be understood not as self-contained structures but as the repetition and transformation of other [absent] textual structures (Frow, Intertextuality and Ontology 45). Generally speaking, in the case of remakes these intertextual structures are stabilized, or limited, through the naming and (usually) legally sanctioned (i.e., copyrighted) use of a particular literary and/or cinematic source which serves as a retrospectively designated point of origin and semantic fixity. In addition, the intertextual structures (unlike those of genre) are highly particular in their repetition of narrative units, and these repetitions most often (though certainly not always) relate to the order of the message rather than to t hat of the code (45).(8) While these factors yield some degree of consensus, any easy categorization of the remake is frustrated by (i) films which do not credit an original text, but which repeat both general and particular elements of the originals narrative unfolding, e.g., Body Heat as an uncredited remake of Double Indemnity and The Big Chill (Lawrence Kasdan, 1983) as an unacknowledged remake of The Return of the Secaucus Seven (John Sayles, 1980);(9) and (ii) films based on a like sourcea literary work or historical incidentbut which differ significantly in their treatment of narrative units, e.g., The Bounty (Roger Donaldson, 1984) as a non-remake of Mutiny on the Bounty (Frank Lloyd, 1935 and Lewis Milestone, 1962). Furthermore, the intertextual referentiality between either non-remakes or unacknowledged remakes and their originals is to a large extent extratextual (Friedberg 175-76), being conveyed through institutions such as film reviewing and exhibition, for example, th e BFI/National Film Theatres programmed describes four films from Paul Schrader scriptsTaxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976), Rolling Thunder (John Flynn, 1977), Hardcore, and Patty Hearst (Paul Schrader, 1979 and 1988)as updates of The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) (The Searchers: A Family Tree). In the case of Leitchs typology, we have seen that the remake is categorized according to whether the intertextual referent is literary (the readaptation, the update) or cinematic (the homage, the true remake). In the latter case, Leitch states that while homages, such as The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982) and Invaders from Mars (Tobe Hooper, 1986), establish direct intertextual relations to their original films, these quotations or rewards take the form of throwaway jokes whose point is not necessary to the [films] continuity, and which therefore provide an optional bonus of pleasure to those in the know (141). While this may seem consistent with Umberto Ecos account of the intertextual dialogue (i.e., the instance where a quotation is explicit and recognizable to an increasingly sophisticated, cine-literate audience), what Leitch does not sufficiently stress is that his examples of the homage (and of the true remake)all drawn from the new Hollywood cinemasuggest a historically speci fic response to a post-modern (or post-Jaws) circulation and recirculation of images and texts. This does not mean that the classical Hollywood remake never takes an earlier film as its intertextual referent, but rather that, as the continuity system develops through the pre-classical period (1908-17), direct intertextual referentiality is displaced by an industrial imperative for standardization which prioritizes the intertextual relation of genres, cycles, and stars. Accordingly, as the classical narrative strives to create a coherent, self-contained fictional world according to specific mechanisms of intratextual repetition (or alternation), direct intertextual referentiality to either and/or both literary properties (novels, short-stories, plays, etc) and earlier film versions becomes an extratextual referentiality, carried by such apparatuses as advertising and promotional materials (posters, lobby cards, commercial tie-ins, etc), motion picture magazines, review articles, and academic film criticism. What seems to happen with the new Hollywood cinema, particularly in the case of remakes, is that while the intratextual mechanisms of classical continuity are mostly respected, extratextual referentiality is sometimes complemented by what is perceivedwithin specific interpretive communitiesas the explicit and recognizable intertextual quotation of plot motifs and stylistic features, peculiar to earlier film versions. To take a general example, the narrative of Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood, 1992) assumes as its primary intertexts the revisionist westerns of the sixties and seventies, and the Eastwood star persona, but (re)viewers additionally see the film as a kind of sequel (the Will Munny character as the now aged Man-with-no-name, from Eastwoods spaghetti westerns) and as a homage to the films of both Sam Peckinpah and John Ford.(10) More specifically, Martin Scorseses remake of Cape Fear may be said to work perfectly well as a conventional thriller (a psychopath attacks a normalin t his case, dysfunctionalAmerican family), but the new Cape Fear also assumes [in its reworking of the original Bernard Herrmann score and the casting of original lead players in cameo roles] that the viewer has seen the earlier one, perhaps even as recently as Scorsese himself (Hoberman 11). Another example, Jim McBrides Breathless (1983), not only quotes the Godard original (A bout de souffle, 1959) in its smallest detail (a characters name, a players gesture), but more generally embraces Godards enthusiasm for American pop-cultural iconography: the title song, Breathless, by the KillerJerry Lee Lewis; the Roy Lichtenstein-type lifts from Marvel Comics The Silver Surfer, the collectable American automobilethe 1957 Ford Thunderbird, the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado. Finally, while it is possible to find similar examples in the classical cinema,(11) the point to be made here is that the type of intertextual referentiality which characterizes (some) contemporary American film circulates in a historically specific context, i.e., the identification of, and indeed the commercial decision to remake, an earlier film is grounded in particular extratextual, institutional, or discursive practices. As in Noel Carrolls discussion of new Hollywood allusionism, the question of intertextual referentiality needs to be related to the radical extension of film literacy and the enthusiasm for American film history that took hold in the United States during the sixties and early seventies. Partly made possible by the release of Hollywood features to television (which had come to function like a film archive) and the wider accessibility of new technologies (e.g., 16mm film projection), this re-evaluation, or legitimization, of Hollywood cultural product was underwritten by such additional factors as the importation of the French politique des auteurs, the upsurge of repertory theatre short-seasons, the expansion of film courses in American universities, and the emergence of professional associations such as the American Film Institute. Accordingly, and this is evident from the above examplesUnforgiven, Cape Fear, Breathlessthe selection and recognition of films, and bodies of films, for quotation and reworking (the work of auteurs, Ford and Peckinpah; the cult movie, Cape Fear, the nouvelle vague landmark, A bout de souffle) can be located in the institutionally determined practice of film canon formation and its contributing projectsthe discussion and citation of particular films in popular and academic film criticism, the selective release and re-release of films to theatrical and video distribution windows, and (in circular fashion) the decision of other filmmakers to evoke earlier films and recreate cinema history (see Staiger 4). An understanding of the formation and maintenance of a film canon in turn goes some way toward explaining why remakes of institutionalized film noirse.g., D.O.A. (Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, 1988), No Way Out (Roger Donaldson, 1987), and Against All Odds (Taylor Hackford, 1984)are discussed with reference to their originals (D.O.A. [Rudolph Mate, 1949], The Big Clock [John Farrow, 1948], and Out of the Past [Jacques Tourneur, 1947], respectively), while films such as Martin Scorseses version of The Age of Innocence (1993) and James Deardens remake of A Kiss Before Dying (1991) defer, not to their little known, or (now) rarely seen, earlier film versions (The Age of Innocence [Wesley Ruggles, 1924 and Philip Moeller, 1934], and A Kiss Before Dying [Gerd Oswald, 1961]) but to the authority of an established literary canon: The Age of Innocence is based on Edith Whartons 1920 Pulitzer Prize winning novel; A Kiss Before Dying is adapted from a best-selling novel by Ira Levin. Indeed, and in accordance with the canonization of the work of Alfred Hitchcock, the more direct intertextual referent for the remake of A Kiss Before Dying is Hitchcocks Vertigoa clip from the film appears diegetically on a characters television screen, and in addition to the figure of the doppelganger there is allusion to Hitchcockian plot s tructure and motif: [l]iberally alluding to Hitchcock by killing off his leading actress in the first reel, Dearden includes subtler references like the washing out of hair-dye and the cop who just wont leave (Strick 50). The suggestion that the very limited intertextual referentiality between the remake and its original is organized according to an extratextual referentiality located in historically specific discursive formationssuch as copyright law and authorship, canon formation and film literacyhas consequences for purely textual descriptions of the remake, particularly those based on a rigid distinction between an original story and its new discursive incarnation (see Leitch 143). Aside from the questionable move of assuming that the unchanging essence of a films story can somehow be abstracted from the mutable disposition of its expression (see Brunette and Wills 53), demarcation along the lines of story and discourse is evidently frustrated by those remakes which repeat not only the narrative invention of an original property but seek, for instance, to recreate the expressive design of an earlier film (e.g., Obsession as a reconstruction of the mood and manner of Hitchcocks Vertigo [see Rosenbaum 217]) or to rework the style of an entire oeuvre or genre (e.

Soil Formation Under Desert Pavements Essay -- Geology Topography Pape

Soil Formation Under Desert Pavements Desert pavements are common landforms in arid regions. They consist of flat or sloping surfaces where stones are closely packed angular or rounded, and generally exhibit low relief (Mabbutt, 1977). Pavements tend to form on both alluvial fan toposequences and on weathering volcanic flow fields in arid regions. Soils are often found under desert pavements and they play an important role in the evolution of pavements (McFadden et. al., 1987). In the past there have been several theories as to the formation pavements and soil development beneath them. Deflation, or the erosion of finer grained particles from a surface, stone concentration by wash erosion and upward displacement of stone due to shrink and swell clay characteristics were at one time believed to be the main factors in the formation of desert pavements (Mabbutt, 1977). However, more recent research has shown that desert pavements are born and maintained at the surface, and that the soil below them is mainly eolian in origin . Slow accretion of eolian dust below the pavement is a process that eventually develops cumulate horizons. Eolian dust in environments where pavements often develop is rich in carbonate salts and clays due to the fact it often originates from nearby playa lake evaporate basins (McFadden et. al., 1987). Soils that form below the pavements over time develop calcic horizons and clay rich structure due to the influx of these eolian fines through the pavement surface. In turn the development of mature or plugged calcic horizons effects the form of the pavement surface because it alters the water drainage infiltration rate and causes pavements to decline. Desert Pavements Desert pavements form in several di... ...cFadden, Leslie D., 1988, Climatic Influences on rates and processes of soil development in Quaternary deposits of Southern California: Geological Society of America Special Paper 216, p. 153-175 Mc Fadden, L. D., Wells, S. G., and Jercinovich, M. J., 1987, Influence of eolian and pedogenic processes on the origin and evolution of desert pavements: Geology, v.15, p. 504-508. Ritter, Process Geomorphology Wells, Stephen G., Dohrenwend, John C., McFadden, Leslie D., Turrin, Brent D., and Mahrer, Kenneth D., 1985, Late Cenezoic evolution on Lava Flow surfaces of the Cima volcanic field, Mojave Desert, California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 96, p. 1518-1529. Wells, Stephen. G., and Mc Fadden, Leslie D., 1995, Cosmogenic 3He surface-exposure dating of stone pavements: Implications for landscape evolution in deserts: Geology, v. 23, p. 613-16.

A Challenge to Traditional Theory

A challenge to traditional management theory Ed Weymes Introduction Modern management theories are focussed on how individuals contribute to organisation and corporate performance while the performance of the chief executive is dictated by the organisation’s ? nancial returns and share price. While organisations espouse the principles associated with total quality management, learning organisations, high performance organisations and implement balanced score cards, the chief executive’s primary focus is ? ated on retaining control of the organisation to meet shareholder expectations. As we enter the new millennium the corporate world has been rocked by the scandals involving Enron, Worldcom and Adelphia in the USA and in Europe by Parmalat and Mannesmann. These, and a host of other organisations, have been publicly criticised for fraudulent accounting practises or excessive personal gain for the chief executive and senior members of the administration while creating a ? nancial catastrophe for employees and shareholders. The public no longer trusts the corporate world.The World Economic Forum’s (2004) global surveys on trust in 2004 and 2002 indicate that people’s trust levels in global and large domestic companies remain very low with less than 10 per cent of respondents reporting â€Å"a lot of trust† in these institutions operating in the best interests of society. (The results for 2004 show some improvement over 2002. ) In Europe, the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the subject of many boardroom discussions and in the USA the Dow Jones publishes a CSR index on the premise that many investors believe ? ms who practice social responsibility provide better long term ? nancial returns. The intent of CSR is to add value to society, to leave the world in a better position for our grandchildren by building environmental and social responsibilities into the traditional economic equation. Proponents of CSR claim that this approach will restore public trust and respectability in the corporation, while the â€Å"non-believers† state that the concepts of CSR only re? ect appropriate standards of corporate governance and there is no need for CSR as a separate movement.Twenty years ago similar sentiments were expressed about â€Å"quality† but the quality movement ensured that the concept is now a necessary but not suf? cient condition for effective competition. As we enter the twenty-? rst century the concept of corporate citizenship has captured the attention not only of corporate leaders but also society. The corporate scandals associated with Enron in the USA and Parmalat in Europe together with the collapse of Arthur Anderson, the respecting accounting, auditing and consulting global giant, The author Ed Weymes is Associate Professor at the University of Waikato Management School, Hamilton, New Zealand.Keywords Management theory, Philosophy, Social responsibility Abstract Thi s paper challenges the philosophy underlying traditional management thinking. The historic and possibly arcane purpose of business, to maximise shareholder wealth, is no longer a relevant proposition. Academics and managers need to rethink the philosophical framework of management theory. For the past 50 years the management literature has adopted a more â€Å"human† approach to the management of organisations yet the importance of systems and process and performance measurers associated with the scienti? c theory of management prevails.With the growing importance of knowledge creation and the corporate social responsibility movement it is timely to re? ect on the purpose of business as adding value to society and rejecting the focus on accumulation of personal wealth. Knowledgecreating enterprises are founded on the development of sustainable relationships within the organisation and with stakeholders and thus require a different philosophical perspective. Electronic access The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at www. emeraldinsight. com/researchregister The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www. meraldinsight. com/1463-6689. htm foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · pp. 338-348 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited  · ISSN 1463-6689 DOI 10. 1108/14636680410569911 338 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes has signi? cantly reduced worldwide public trust in the corporate community. In the recent World Economic Forum (2004) survey on trust, only 7 per cent of respondents reported that global companies operate in the best interests of society. While this ? gure is a small improvement over the 2002 survey public trust in the corporate community is low.Organisations are seen as pro? t generating and wealth enhancing for the select few. The scale of the public outcry against unethical behaviour has turned the spotlight to wards the importance of corporate citizenship, ensuring that organisations focus on social and environmental issues as well as the economic returns. Public attention appears to be less focussed on individual wealth creation but on the manner in which wealth is created. Individuals who exploit others for personal gain or who exploit society or the environment for their own advantage will not be tolerated.In 2003 a PricewaterhouseCoopers (2003a) survey found that 75 per cent of chief executive of? cers (CEOs) surveyed stated they would forgo short-term pro? ts in order to implement a sustainability programme. Yet the highlight of the business news remains stock market performance and share price. Despite the move towards a greater focus on people in the organisation and concern for the environment, organisations remain numbers driven and subject to the vagaries of the ? nancial markets. Chief executives measure their success by their impact on EPS and not their contribution to the soc ial or environmental issues.But today’s CEO also recognises the core competence of the organisation lies in the knowledge and skills of its people. Gone are the days when product design, production process or customer service could create competitive advantage. It is the skills and abilities of the individual staff members that dictate the future of the organisation. Thus, the organisation must ensure staff are challenged and suitably rewarded and today we see organisations offering attractive remuneration packages including child care and a host of other bene? ts.But are such packages attractive if they are designed to buy the soul of the employee and not build trust between the individuals within the organisation? Today the chief executive is challenged with the task of building trust and integrity in the organisation. When trust pervades the organisation there is commitment from the staff and support from the external community. Trust is based on shared values and value sy stems lie at the heart of human behaviour, behaviour that cannot be controlled through systems and processes, the traditional operating standard for many organisations.If corporate social responsibility is vested in gaining the trust of stakeholders, inside and outside the organisation, then the fundamental philosophy must be based on the organisation’s ability to build relationships. Relationships are established between people and cannot be mandated by strict adherence to systems and processes. The people within the organisation must subscribe to the values of the organisation and those outside the organisation must admire those values. The organisation must be values driven.Thus the organisation that espouses corporate social responsibility must develop an environment where people in the organisation work together in a harmonious manner and external stakeholders form an emotional connection with the organisation while maintaining its commitment to the ? nancial investors. Traditionally, the dilemma of the CEO has been described as â€Å"balancing shareholder demands with achieving longevity or sustainability†. Perhaps the dilemma should be rewritten; â€Å"providing an environment that espouses individual freedom while ensuring the ? ancial and non-? nancial targets of the organisation are met†. Individual freedom provides the basis for creativity, innovation and building trust between individuals within and outside the organisation. Critics would argue that in an environment where individual freedom abounds, anarchy prevails. Organisations need control, but controls, when imposed from above, can dictate behaviour and constrain creativity. Performance criteria will remain key factors in the life of the organisation and the longevity of the CEO.However, the organisation and its senior executives need to shift their focus from one that is numbers based to one vested in the establishment of an environment designed to build trust and to mai ntain the appropriate performance measures which are acceptable to its staff. Thus the dilemma becomes not control or individual freedom but control with the ability for individual self-expression. In the East this is seen as the balance between the yang (bright) and the yin (dark). This paper explores how such a balance may be attained in an organisation.Challenging traditional management theory While Descartes (Scruton, 2002, p. 3) is often cited as the father of modern philosophy the roots of philosophy can be traced back to Plato (Scruton, 2002, p. 3) and his scholar Aristotle (Vanier, 2001, p. 2). Their writings on human nature, humaneness and their search for a human identity still bear relevance today. Human behaviour is vested in the individual but humaneness, human nature, is presented as happiness, a virtue that cannot be attained in isolation. For Plato, the guiding nature of a relationship is to be found in love and friendship; 39 A challenge to traditional management th eory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes through friendship we seek to improve ourselves and help others to improve. Aristotle further developed this point when he described human nature as â€Å"the good to which all things aim†. As human beings we strive to do good and good actions promote happiness; a virtue that Aristotle describes as the keystone of human behaviour, the perfect activity. Happiness is the virtue that bestows honour on ourselves and on others. It was Marx’s (Scruton, 2002, p. 23) vision of the individual being constituted through social activities, de? ned as labour; language, customs and institutions (speci? cally economic institutions), that was to move philosophical theory away from relationships and towards individual material gains. Adam Smith (Scruton, 2002, p. 224) attempted to demonstrate that free exchange and accumulation of private property, under the guidance of self-interest, not only preserves justice but also promotes the social wellbeing as a whole, satisfying existing needs and guaranteeing stability. This subtle, but signi? ant, shift in philosophical focus from human relationships to individual personal gains in? uenced the development of the theory of bureaucracy, whose purpose was to command and control the behaviour of many for the gain of the few, a philosophy in direct opposition to that of Aristotle and others. The social landscape of the Western economies in the early 1900s was being transformed as the industrial revolution gained momentum and the capitalist society emerged. Organisations were, and to some extent remain, characterised by; a hierarchy of authority, impersonal rules that de? e duties, standardised procedures, promotion based on achievement and specialised labour. Those responsible for the operation of these facilities required a system to control behaviour. Weber opined that bureaucracy was capable of attaining the highest degree of ef? ciency and the most rationally known means of exercising authority over human beings. F. W. Taylor (1911) adopted this philosophy, developing the scienti? c approach to management, which stated that jobs could be speci? ed, work methods improved and rationalised through careful study and scienti? c analysis.The driving force of the organisation was ef? ciency, increasing output and the wealth of the owners. Employees were not to be trusted and required stringent controls to ensure their behaviour was focussed on increased productivity. The era of command and control had arrived and the â€Å"robber barons† prospered with personal fortunes being amassed by the select few. Human rights were ignored as were environmental concerns with many factories polluting the land, water and air in their vicinity. As early as the 1950s the Tavistock Institute in England and the Quality of Working Life inSweden were challenging this mechanistic approach to organisation structure. Douglas McGregor (1960) challeng ed the scienti? c approach to management in his book The Human Side of Enterprise. Theory X postulated that people had to be driven by extrinsic rewards, by punishment or by bureaucratic control. Theory Y opined that individuals could be intrinsically motivated by interesting work and could be directed and managed by their own behaviour. For the next 40 years, theory Y was to be treated as the â€Å"soft side† of management while â€Å"real† ? ms, whose motive was to maximise shareholder wealth, sought operational ef? ciencies through speci? ed procedures and rigid controls. The period 1945 to early 1970 was one of growth and expansion in the West. Markets were growing and the multinational ? rm became established. Pro? ts grew, not by gains in market share but by increasing market size. Inef? ciencies and poor management practices were hidden. Then in the mid-1970s the ? rst oil shock occurred. Poor management practices were exposed. The good times were over and the W est struggled to readjust to the new market conditions.The â€Å"new† approaches to management The 1980s saw the introduction of the total quality management movement, founded by W. E. Deming (1982), which promoted a participative style of management. Although Deming was a statistician he believed that a new approach to management was required to replace the scienti? c approach to management with its associated systems and procedures. At the end of WWII, he volunteered to travel to Japan to assist in the reestablishment of Japanese Industry. Here he could implement his new concepts that were willingly adopted by the Japanese ? rms.In 1979, Deming’s work in Japan was broadcast on American television and overnight TQM became the saviour for American industry. By the early 1980s productivity in the West was abysmal and the US Government introduced the Baldridge Quality Awards in 1987 to promote the importance of quality. These quality awards have since been adopted around the world and are based on the 14 criteria speci? ed by Deming. In 1990, Peter Senge (1990) published his book The Fifth Discipline which was to challenge the scienti? c theory of management by introducing the concept of systems theory to organisational design.While the scienti? c theory was founded on the assumption that an organisation was a closed system, where activities within organizations could be broken down into discrete activities, systems 340 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes thinking was suggesting the organization should be considered as an open system and not a series of discrete parts. The writings of Charles Handy, Margaret Wheatley, Peter Drucker and a plethora of others have supported the work of Senge.By the mid-1990s, the concept of the high performance organisation had emerged. Every CEO wanted to be a HPO but there was no universal de? nition of high performance. Like quality this was something that could be recognised but which escaped de? nition. However, Edward Lawler (1996) did present six principles that captured the essence of the HPO: (1) organisation can be the ultimate competitive advantage; (2) involvement can be the most ef? cient form of control; (3) all employees must add signi? cant value; (4) lateral processes are the key to organisational ef? iency; (5) organisations should be designed around products and customers (not functions); and (6) effective leadership is the key to organisational leadership (Lawler, 1996, p. 22). For over 20 years organisations have espoused the principles of TQM, they have re-engineered the organisation and purported to be high performers. Organisational theory appears to be spurning the scienti? c approach to management. Cloke and Goldsmith (2002) titled their book The End of Management and the Rise of Organizational Democracy: Autocracy, hierarchy, bureaucracy and management are gradually being replaced by democracy, ? t, collaboration and self managing teams. Permanent, stockpiled, one -size-? ts-all policies are giving way to innovative, just-in-time, evolving, made to order initiatives. Silos and competitive departments are being deconstructed into living evolving webs of association. Isolated, cynical, immature, apathetic employees are being transformed into connected, motivated, value driven, responsible employee owners (Cloke and Goldsmith, 2002, p. 4). Today the social evolutionary process appears to be increasingly dominated by values and emotions and less by individual goal-orientated rationality.As the chairman of Phillips (2002, p. 2) states: Building sustainable development into our business processes is the ultimate opportunity. By its very nature the journey towards sustainability requires the kind of breakthrough thinking that results in true innovation. It calls for partnerships and true cooperation as well as open honest dialogue with stakeholders inside and outside the company. The command and control environment was designed to modify or control behaviour and not to build trust between individuals through the formation of sustainable relationships. Relationships develop when there is a sharing of alues, attitudes and beliefs between the people in the organisation. Those within the organisation subscribe to the values and those outside the organisation admire the values. Thus relationships are established between people and cannot be mandated by systems and processes. At the turn of the twentieth century, competitive advantage was in? uenced by an organisations ability to produce goods ef? ciently: the production era. The production economy was followed by the market economy, the service economy and today competitive advantage is determined by an organisation’s ability to develop intellectual property: the knowledge economy.When knowledge creation becomes the key to competitive advantage an organisation needs to foster an environment where individu al creativity and innovation can ? ourish. Such an environment can be established when; the individuals in the organisation are committed to the purpose of the organisation, when the organisation is driven by common values and shared beliefs, when the fear of failure has been eliminated and the individuals within the organisation do not feel constrained by rules and regulations, systems and processes.But organisational performance remains vested in key performance indicators. For public companies, shareholder expectation drives performance and the future of the CEO. The ? nancial press remains focussed on stock market performance and corporate ? nancial results remain the highlights of the business news. When an organisation is numbers driven, systems and processes are designed to ensure that targets are achieved. But such measurers in? uence and constrain individual behaviour, thus limiting the opportunity for creativity and innovation.If the reader accepts the above three premises ; the move to a people focused organisation, the move to encourage creativity and the restoration of public con? dence, then the dilemma of the chief executive can be rewritten to, â€Å"providing an environment that espouses individual freedom and bene? ts society while ensuring the ? nancial and non-? nancial targets of the organisation are met†. If such an approach is adopted the focus of the organisation must be transformed from the traditional concepts associated with bureaucracy, to a philosophy vested in humaneness.A people focused organisation that facilitates the generation of new and innovative approaches, fosters a harmonious working environment and builds trust and integrity for all stakeholders. A new philosophical approach is required to provide the foundation of management theory, one which is not based on the Marxist perspective, that individuals are focussed on materialism and seeking self ful? lment, but one 341 A challenge to traditional management theory f oresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 . . Ed Weymes focussed on a social perspective vested in the norms and values of society.Thus we appear to be faced with a dilemma. Human nature is vested in individual freedom and the need for the individual to live their life according to their own values but society, in which the individual lives, can only be managed through the adoption of systems and procedures. Since both arguments are correct no one single Western philosophy can be applied to manage today’s society which requires a perspective that balances the need for individual freedom with rules and regulations required to ensure an orderly society. . . To love men – the equivalent of benevolence.Only the man of humanity knows how to love people and to hate people – to hate evil. To be respectful in private life, be serious in handling affairs and to be loyal in dealing with others. To master oneself and return to propriety is humanity. To overcom e the sel? sh desires within ourselves, to cultivate the mind and heart within ourselves so it can be extended to every aspect of our life allowing good will to ? ow to others. Eastern philosophy While there is no one dominant Eastern philosophy the region has provided a mosaic of philosophical perspectives on life and the meaning of life.From Hindu to Dao, from Islam to Tao from Buddhism to Confucianism there may be few common themes and while all are religions, Confucianism is considered to be more of a philosophy than a belief. Master Kung (Confucius) was born into a poor noble family in 552BC in the State of Lu in China. This was a period on China’s history known as the â€Å"hundred schools† with teachers wandering from town to town expounding their theories on how the various rulers could improve their ? efdom. Sun Tzu taught the art of warfare and strategy while Kung’s teachings were of a more philosophical nature.Popular Confucianism emphasises family va lues; dignity, diligence and education, where there is no disparity between the self-cultivation of the individual and the interests of the community. The individual and the community are part of one harmonious whole represented in Confucian philosophy as Li (rituals) and Ren (benevolence or humaneness). Chief executives are faced with the balance between individual freedom (Ren) and the need to achieve shareholder expectations through the application of systems (Li).Traditionally, the focus has been on the development of systems but perhaps it is time to turn our attention to the people in the organisation. The work of Confucius adapted this approach to prescribe an ordered ad sustainable society. Confucius considered Ren (humaneness) to be at the centre of his teaching while many of his scholars, including Mencius, placed equal emphasis on the Ren and Li. Ren is not considered to be a virtue but the fundamental virtue that de? nes human nature.Translations of Ren include benevolen ce, perfect virtue, human heartedness and humanity. While the concept was never clearly de? ned by Confucius the following are considered representative de? nitions (Liu, 1998, p. 17): Confucius presents a perspective similar to the early Western philosophers, from the writings of Aristotle (Vanier, 2001, p. 7), who encourages us to â€Å"look within ourselves to ? nd that inner structure to act correctly and speak the truth†, to Kant (Scruton, 2002, p. 155) who opined that â€Å"we are all of equal importance to others around us†.In Confucianism, â€Å"humaneness† can only be depicted inside a relationship, â€Å"the humane man, desiring to establish himself, seeks to establish others; desiring himself to succeed, helps others to succeed. To judge others by what one knows of oneself is a method of achieving humanity† (Liu, 1998, p. 18). Similar sentiments are re? ected in the work of Plato and Kant who encourage us to improve ourselves by helping others to improve. Thus Ren can be de? ned as: . a benevolent attitude towards people; . the realisation of the intrinsic value of each individual life; and . resolute commitment to an ideal principle. Confucius developed this humanistic approach to how a ruler should lead his people (or how an organisation should manage its staff) arguing that the moral discipline of the self and the well being of the people cannot be separated. He suggested that when the people are governed by law and punishment they will avoid wrongdoing but will have no sense of honour or shame. But when the ruler leads with virtue and governs by the rules of propriety they will have a sense of shame and more over set themselves right.From the organisational perspective while staff may conform to prescribed systems and processes they may lack the commitment to the organisation that is required to allow innovation and creativity to ? ourish. Confucius recognised that individuals live within a society governed by the rul es of propriety (Li). However, these rules should not be imposed from above, as in a bureaucratic organisation, where rules are designed to modify and control behaviour. The rules of society or an organisation should be vested in Ren so that the members of society or the organisation accept the rules and laws as those that de? e acceptable behaviour. 342 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes Eastern philosophy provides a perspective where the behaviour of the individual is seen as a harmonistic balance between the individual and how that individual interacts in social relationships. Confucianism provides a philosophy that unites the individual right to choose their own destiny while allowing for the appropriate controls and regulations associated with a complex and technologically driven society.The framework, associated with the bureaucratic organisation and traditional management theory, was designed to contr ol behaviour. Modern management theory and practice has demonstrated that bureaucracy is no longer an effective model. Similarly the demise of the market economy, posited by Marx has also proved to be invalid. Today we cannot rely on one philosophical model to provide a framework for organisation design, since individual freedom must be tempered with bureaucratic controls. The relationship between Ren and Li possibly provides a model that may resolve the dilemma.East meets West Great thinkers from opposite ends of the earth interested in the same question: What constitutes right and wrong and what behaviours contribute to a good society? The similarities in their conclusions are remarkable: . the value and importance of ideals – dreams and visions; . the love of learning; . the need for self improvement; . out attitude towards and treatment of other people is important; . to understand others we must understand ourselves – humaneness; . we improve ourselves by improvin g others; . pursuit of wisdom and virtue will lead to the good life; and . elationships are the key to happiness – goodness; Confucius and the early Western philosophers including Aristotle, Kant and Shaftsbury perceived the need for a relationship between the family and the state and argued that shared values and ideals were central to all relationships. The role of education was recognised as the key to self-improvement and living a virtuous life. Both Eastern and Western philosophers believed that individuals seek to do good and that by becoming more virtuous a person could improve their life.Similarly there was an agreement that individuals must seek the courage to do the right thing. Through education, wisdom is attained and the starting point for attaining wisdom is self knowledge. Recognising not only what we know but also what we do not know is the key to the appropriate use of knowledge and to prevent errors caused by ignorance. Confucius considered goodness or human eness to be an individual quality present in, but rarely realised by, the individual. The distractions and temptations of life prevent us from attaining our full potential.We want to be good, to be seen to be good but the temptation to be sel? sh often overpowers our intentions. Just as the CEO wants to create a socially responsible company but a little creative accounting will just increase the share price and thus make the task so much easier and the personal rewards so much greater. While there are many similarities in the teachings of Eastern and Western philosophers there is one fundamental difference. Aristotle believed personal behaviour – humaneness – is focussed on the individual with her own responsibility for selfdiscipline.Personal behaviour did not extend into the social relationships encountered by the individual. This concept remained valid until the writings of Marx when there appears to be a shift from a societal focus to focus on material gains. Recen t Western philosophical writings – Taylor (1991) – are returning to the societal focus with an emphasis on the concept of authenticity. Conversely, Confucius opined that the rules for correct behaviour were social controls, which maintained the social graces resulting in the appropriate manners and conduct of the individual.In the West we value the individual and claim that the individual has control over her behaviour. The net result of the behaviour dictates how social relationships and society behave. Max Weber took this approach to the extreme with his social philosophical writings a century ago that culminated in the rise of bureaucracy and the foundation of management thinking. While modern management thinking has challenged this approach for the past 50 years a philosophical framework has yet to be established to justify the theoretical foundations associated with building an organisation based on values and relationships.The Eastern philosophies provide a persp ective where the behaviour of the individual is seen as a harmonistic balance between the individual and how that individual interacts in social relationships. The original writings of Plato and more recent Western philosophers would not disagree with this approach but it is a philosophical framework that contradicts the work of Max Weber and challenges the foundation of traditional management theory. 343 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348Ed Weymes Building an organisation on values and relationships: the implications (the humane organisation) The concepts of CSR, together with modern management thinking and particularly the move to a knowledge economy is moving management thinking away from the bureaucratic structured organization, relying on systems and processes towards a management style vested in relationships. Thus, if the key success factor for a successful organization is its ability to build relationships and not primarily to generate (excessive) pro? s the foundation for management theory should start with the pre-requisites necessary for the development of relationships and emotions lie at the heart of relationships. Table I Constructive and destructive states of mind Constructive states of mind Build Create Self-respect Con? dence Self-esteem Responsibility Integrity Trust Compassion Passion Commitment Honesty Benevolence Ambition Generosity Motivation Loyalty Love Destructive states of mind Build Create Low self-esteem Over-con? dence Jealousy Irresponsibility Dislike Mistrust Sel? hness Negativity Meanness Deceit Hatred Self-ambition Alienation Complaints Source: Flanagan, cited in Goleman (2003, chapter 3). Emotions and relationships The rood de? nition of â€Å"emotion† can be traced back to motion and direction – â€Å"to every force there is an equal and opposite force†. Thus emotions can be good and bad, positive and negative, constructive and destructive. Professor Owen Flanagan (Goleman, 2003, p. 59) argued that bad, negative or destructive emotions are those that are harmful to oneself or others; contrary to human nature.He also supports the philosophical view, which goes back to the time of Plato and Confucius, that emotion and temperament are constantly pulling us in different directions. Take, for example, the case of the demise of Barings Bank: Nick Leeson the Barings Bank futures trader based in Singapore enjoyed the good life and was soon earning a signi? cant bonus on futures trading in Asia. But as the markets changed Leeson needed funds to cover his exposure. By establishing Error Account 88888 he was able to expose the bank to debts of eight hundred million British Pounds.Personal greed and a lack of compassion together with poor systems in the Bank caused one of the greatest banking scandals of all times. Throughout ? ? the debacle Leeson did not see anything wrong with his behaviour. His values and beliefs supported hi s actions but the only bene? ciary was Nick Leeson (Gapper and Denton, 1997). converse situation is depicted in William Golding’s (1959) Lord of the Flies with its basic themes being that society holds everyone together, and without these conditions, our ideals, values, and the basics of right and wrong are lost.Without society’s rigid rules, anarchy and savagery can come to light. On the island we observe mistrust, self-ambition, deceit and irresponsibility destroying the social norms that once bonded the group of schoolboys. Jealousy, dislike and meanness destroyed a society. As human beings we have a choice. We can attempt to work alone in the pursuit of our own personal happiness and success or we can work with others. The easy option is to work alone but we will not inspire con? dence or trust in those around us in the long term. We will have joined the schoolboys on their desert island.Building relationships is every individual’s social responsibility. The foundation for constructive relationships Emotions are determined by attitudes, beliefs, values and feelings, which are re? ected in personality and dictate the individual’s ability to form relationships. Accepting the premise that dreams and goals can best be attained by working with others the ? rst key lesson in developing a sustainable organization is for all staff to be aware of their own strengths and limitations, of how they react in certain situations and understand why they experience particular emotional reactions in particular situations.As part of the self-discovery process individuals are able to de? ne their own personal inspirational dream; to verbalise their purpose in life. There are many examples of personal dreams: Martin Luther King’s famous speech â€Å"I have a dream†, or J. F. Kennedy, â€Å". . . this nation will land a man on the moon before the end of the decade†. Kennedy had no idea of how America was going to put a man on the moon but his challenge provided the impetus for the NASA scientists to exceed their personal best. There is always the temptation to take the easy way out but is it the right way?Emotional responses drive individual feelings and dictate the nature of relationships in society. Flanagan has classi? ed these positive and negative emotions as constructive and destructive states of mind which have been summarised in Table I. Individuals who are seen as con? dent, responsible and trustworthy possess integrity, selfesteem and compassion. They are people who are committed to a dream or a vision that is focussed on improving the life of those around them. The 344 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed WeymesThe process of identifying and formulating a personal dream (see Figure 1) requires insights into individual values and identi? es the strengths to build upon. The dream represents the individual’s purpose and destiny in life with its magnitude only limited by ambition, by passion and con? dence of that person. Once the dream is identi? ed it must be shared with others. Rarely can we achieve our dream single-handed. Thus the dream should create purpose and meaning for others. Sel? sh dreams, dreams that are designed to promote the dreamholder alone are less likely to be adopted by others since there is little in it for them.Dreams that go beyond the individual and represent a challenge for others are more likely to be shared. Albert Schweitzer is credited with the following statement on visions or dreams: â€Å"I do not know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know. The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve. † The process of self-discovery provides an understanding of how and why individuals react in certain situations. People with a high level of selfawareness recognise the danger signs associated with disruptive emotions a nd are more likely to keep these emotions in check.These are the people we turn to in a moment of crisis knowing that they will give a Figure 1 Identifying and formulating a personal dream measured and reasoned response to the situation, not an impulsive reaction. They are the people we trust, people of integrity. They do not criticise but ask questions, gather the facts and seek advice before making a measured response. They are re? ective thinkers. They are the people we admire and interact with. They may be parents, lovers, mentors or ordinary individuals who we turn to in time of need.People who possess a clear understanding of their emotions and their impact on others also possess the ability to recognise the emotional state of those around them. They are people who are skilled in reading body language and recognise the impact that particular circumstances and situations can create in those around them. They understand the mood and the pulse of the situation and are able to bri ng forth the best from those around them. The characteristics of self-awareness, self worth and social worth provide the drivers for the attainment of high levels of emotional intelligence (see Goleman et al. 2002) and provide the foundation for sustainable relationships. They also provide the basis for establishing a dream and a destiny but more importantly providing the ability to share the dream and have others buy into the dream. Some writers may argue that these characteristics provide the skills to motivate people but motivation is a process that causes people to 345 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes act in a particular way. Thus an individual may be motivated to undertake a particular task by the promise of a reward or to avoid an unpleasant consequence.Individuals may be motivated to obey rules through a system of reward or fear of punishment (the foundation of theory X). Thus an individual may be m otivated to perform a task to which they have no commitment. Commitment is achieved when the individual believes in the task and is inspired by the potential results (the foundation for theory Y). Thus inspiration is more important than motivation. People are inspired when they believe in the cause they are working towards. To be inspirational required the individual to share their dream and the wider the scope of the dream the greater the potential for people to â€Å"buy† into the dream.Dreams that promote an individual or an organisation’s stakeholders alone will have little meaning for many of the people employed in the organisation. While a pro? t maximising goal may inspire the pension funds and individual stockholders it does little to motivate the individual on the shop ? oor who will receive the same compensation irrespective of share price. But an organisational dream that seeks to promote a better society has meaning for all those connected with the organisa tion and thus creates a purpose that can be shared by all in the organisation.An example of such a dream or vision can be foun in Merck and Co. ’s organisational vision (www. merck. com/overview/philosophy. html): Mission The mission of Merck is to provide society with superior products and services – innovations and solutions that improve the quality of life and satisfy customer needs – to provide employees with meaningful work and advancement opportunities and investors with a superior rate of return. Our values (1) Our business is preserving and improving human life. All of our actions must be measured by our success in achieving this goal.We value above all our ability to serve everyone who can bene? t from the appropriate use of our products and services, thereby providing lasting consumer satisfaction. (2) We are committed to the highest standards of ethics and integrity. We are responsible to our customers, to Merck employees and their families, to the en vironments we inhabit, and to the societies we serve worldwide. In discharging our responsibilities, we do not take professional or ethical shortcuts. Our interactions with all segments of society must re? ect the high standards we profess. 3) We are dedicated to the highest level of scienti? c excellence and commit our research to improving human and animal health and the quality of life. We strive to identify the most critical needs of consumers and customers, we devote our resources to meeting those needs. (4) We expect pro? ts, but only from work that satis? es customer needs and bene? ts humanity. Our ability to meet our responsibilities depends on maintaining a ? nancial position that invites investment in leading-edge research and that makes possible effective delivery of research results. 5) We recognize that the ability to excel – to most competitively meet society’s and customers’ needs – depends on the integrity, knowledge, imagination, skill, diversity and teamwork of employees, and we value these qualities most highly. To this end, we strive to create an environment of mutual respect, encouragement and teamwork– a working environment that rewards commitment and performance and is responsive to the needs of employees and their families. The organisation’s dream or vision creates passion and pride in those working for and associated with the organisation.Collins and Porras (1994, p. 55) suggest that companies, which only focused on pro? tability, did not perform as well as those whose focus transcended economic considerations: â€Å"Pro? t is a necessary condition for existence and a means to more important ends, but it is not the end in itself for many of the visionary companies. Pro? t is like oxygen, food, water and blood; they are not the point of life, but without them there is no life. † Pro? ts do not inspire the individuals in the organisation and they reward only the select few.Visions or dre ams that go beyond the economic considerations inspire those in the organisation and those associated with the organisation. Visions that encompass environmental and social concepts as well as economic considerations. A revised philosophical perspective for management theory PricewaterhouseCoopers (2003b) de? nes â€Å"a sustainable business enhances long-term shareholder value by addressing the needs of all its relevant stakeholders and adding economic, environmental and social value through its core business functions†. A sustainable organisation has: . a clear purpose beyond pro? ; . is driven by shared values; and . and supported by systems and processes. Proponents of sustainable organisations argue that these organisations require â€Å"breakthrough thinking that results in true innovation. It also calls for partnerships and cooperation as well as open honest dialogue with stakeholders inside and outside the company† (Philips, 2002). They argue that these are not organisations driven by pro? t 346 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes maximisation but are organisations that will forego short-term pro? to ensure longer-term shareholder value. They are organisations that build trust and create an aura of authenticity, building a harmonious and family-like work environment. They are organisations driven by a purpose, values and beliefs that can be accepted by a wide range of societal interest groups and they are organisations that encourage innovation. Such characteristics are not unique to sustainable organisations but are the criteria that have been referenced by many of the writers of modern management theory. There is a danger that the sceptics of â€Å"sustainable organisation† will focus on the pro? ability criteria arguing that an organisation will always be driven by a pro? t perspective. Return on investment has always been a signi? cant performance criter ion and many organisations have found to their detriment that cost reduction increases short-term pro? tability but does little for long term sustainability. While the concept of the sustainable organisation sharpens the focus of modern management thinking the key issue concerns the relevance of traditional management thinking. Traditional management theory has been built on the command and control model developed by Frederick Taylor and based on the work of Max Weber.For Weber the purpose of business was to maximise shareholder wealth. This strategy could be achieved by viewing the organisation as a closed system, subdivided into discrete units with each unit focussed only on its own activities. Staff were required to follow speci? ed procedures and innovation was not encouraged. Systems and processes, rules and regulations, dictated the pulse of the organisation. Return on investment, economic value added and share price are the metrics that dominate discussions relating to corpor ate performance yet modern management theories have focussed on the human side of the business for the past 50 years.Most authors and corporate leaders agree that the age of the bureaucratic organisation is past. Yet the numbers still dictate performance. The daily business reports focus on share price ? uctuations and pro? t warnings and rarely do they report on an organisations performance on environmental or social issues. In 1999 Dow Jones launched a â€Å"sustainability index† to monitor the performance of ? rms engaged in sustainability projects. The rational behind this move was based on the premise that more investors are seeking to diversify their portfolio to include ? rms that have long term environmental and social issues as part of their philosophy.While it is unlikely that ? nancial performance measures will be replaced in the short term, organisations and investors now recognise that while pro? ts are important, how the pro? ts are obtained is a greater concern . A singular focus on pro? t maximisation is driven by a rigid adherence to prescribed systems and processes, requiring a highly disciplined workforce prepared to follow orders without question. Communication is uni-directional and innovation discouraged. Mistakes and errors are ascribed to individuals and a climate of fear pervades the organisation.Performance targets are speci? ed and the attainment of the targets dictates individual performance. The Kaplan and Norton (1996) â€Å"balanced score card† is used to prescribe individual and organisation performance standards. Success is de? ned as an organisation’s ability â€Å"to make the numbers†. But individual and corporate quantitative performance targets focus the organisation, and the individuals in the organisation, on personal, self centred, goal orientated approaches, which do little to foster the development of harmonious relationships in the organisation.Over the past 25 years management theory and pr actice has become more â€Å"humane† with a focus on people in the organisation and by an increasing focus on the importance of values, emotions and social mores. Organisations are attempting to implement the theories of modern management but appear to be unwilling to give up the controls associated with the bureaucratic organisation. Yet modern management theorists and the proponents of sustainable organisations are convinced that the key ingredient to organisational success is the development of trust throughout the organisation.But the fundamental premise underlying Weber’s bureaucracy and Taylor’s scienti? c approach to management is the assertion that the workers are not to be trusted. Tasks must be prescribed and individual performance measured. Thus the basis for performance evaluation lies in the development of effective systems and processes. Rigid adherence to prescribed systems and processes will no longer guarantee success. Today the organisation mus t be ? exible in order to meet the needs of a rapidly changing environment, a discerning customer and a sceptical public.An organisation is still required to make a pro? t but society is now concerned with how those pro? ts are attained. The strategies of the â€Å"robber barons†, supported by the philosophy of Max Weber, are no longer acceptable. Organisations are expected to adopt an ethical and morally acceptable approach to the creation of pro? ts. In the 1980s, the TQM movement focussed on the importance of quality, yet quality was not a new concept. However, it was a characteristic that many organisations were either ignoring or failing to concentrate on.The TQM movement focussed on quality so that today it is considered a necessary but not suf? cient condition for competing. Likewise the 347 A challenge to traditional management theory foresight Volume 6  · Number 6  · 2004  · 338-348 Ed Weymes sustainability movement is focussing on the need for more organisatio ns to focus on the environmental and social impacts of their organisations and strategies. The message is that organisations must pay as much attention to the environmental and social impacts of their business as they do to the economic impact.The traditional approach to management does not focus on these concepts. Successful – sustainable – organisations are founded on open communication and trust. Thus the basis for performance lies in the ability of the individuals within and those interacting with the organisation to form meaningful relationships. Management teaching and practice must now replace the fundamental assumption of traditional management theory – that the worker cannot be trusted – with a focus on building and developing relationships.The organisation’s focus should now be based on understanding the relationships between individuals and not on the design and development of rigid and complex systems. While systems and processes are st ill required to support the organisation they no longer drive the organisation. A corporate vision statement or inspirational dream that encompasses the three pillars of sustainability provides a purpose for everyone in the organisation by integrating individual dream with the dream of the organisation.Through a meaningful purpose or inspirational dream commitment, trust and integrity are built between individuals who work together in a harmonious manner. There is a commitment to exceed one’s personal best and to pay attention to the detail. New ideas can emerge from anywhere. The organisation creates its own future. Quantitative measures are still required to provide information on how the organisation is performing and to provide staff with information that can be used for improvements and innovations but these KPIs should not be used to discipline individuals.The concept of sustainability has focussed attention on the need for all organisations to demonstrate a commitment to the environment and society as well as their own economic wellbeing. Yet the concept of sustainability is still considered to be a â€Å"fringe movement† in the corporate community. However, the survival of the movement is immaterial because all organisations have recognised that that the key competitive advantage lies in the creation of new knowledge. New knowledge cannot be created in an environment constrained by systems and processes and where there is a fear of failure.Knowledge can only be created in an environment where individuals are committed to the organisation and a high level of trust and integrity pervades the organisation. The concept of sustainability or corporate social responsibility provides a framework for the establishment of such an environment. The framework comes in two parts, the yin and the yang, and it is the role of the CEO to balance the tension between the need to create a focus for the realisation of individual dreams and an environment where innovation and creativity ? urish with the necessity for systems and processes to ensure order and the attainment of the ? nancial goals. Traditionally, the CEO has focussed on the design and development of systems and processes while paying some attention to the â€Å"people† in the organisation. Today that focus must change so the people in the organisation control the systems and processes and not have the people controlled by the systems. References Cloke, K. and Goldsmith, J. (2002), The End of Management and the Rise of Organisational Democracy, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Collins, J. C. and Porras, J. I. 1994), Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, HarperCollins, London. Deming, W. E. 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PricewaterhouseCoopers (2003a), 6th Annual CEO Survey, PricewaterhouseCoopers, London. PricewaterhouseCoopers (2003b), Presentation to EFMD Annual Conference, PricewaterhouseCoopers, London.Scruton, R. (2002), A Short History of Modern Philosophy, Routledge, London. Senge, P. M. (1990), The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Prac tice of the Learning Organization, Random House, London. Taylor, C. (1991), The Ethics of Authenticity, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Taylor, F. W. (1911), The Principles of Scienti? c Management, Norton, New York, NY. Vanier, J. (2001), Made for Happiness, The House of Anansi, Toronto. World Economic Forum (2004), Survey on Trust, World Economic Forum, Geneva, available at: www. weforum. org 348