Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 26

Human Resource Management - Essay Example This was because in my sociology studies I had learned that culture was something that occurred naturally and not necessarily a HRM practice. In reality, I did not think that organizational culture had anything to do with the success or failure of an organization and to me the insistence on culture was overrated. People from diverse cultures might understand the same situation in various ways. Productivity may rise in a multicultural work environment as each employee brings diverse talents and skills that can be used to solve challenges. One thing that I did not understand was how these differences could bring about conflict in the work place (Schizas, 2009). In order to understand exactly how culture is crucial to the success of an organization, I studied IBM. IBM is a multinational corporation that has over 400,000 employees and in various parts of the world. My major reason for choosing IBM is because the company has a big presence in Asia and this means that the business practices that are applied in the United States are not likely to be applicable in Asia or Africa and this call for a change in the organizational culture. My main reason for undertaking this study is to find out exactly if organizational culture is important to the organization in trying to achieve its financial goals. To achieve my objective, I will look at the existing literature on organizational culture and how it affects businesses. I will however pay close attention to IBM especially on the changes that they have made in their organizational culture with a view to establishing if this has borne any fruits or not. Along the way, I will also be looking at some of the changes that the company has undertaken in order to realign its HR practices and strategies to enable it to move away from its traditional methods and to adopt new approaches. In the research, I will also seek to establish some of the common errors that are

Theoretical Paradigms Essay Example for Free

Theoretical Paradigms Essay Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Theoretical paradigms allow sociologists to analyze effectively virtually any dimension of society.   It is a set of fundamental assumptions that guides thinking and research.   Two among the three paradigms in sociology that I want to compare and contrast in terms of their strengths and weaknesses of their explanatory value for social inequalities are the Conflict Approach and Functionalism Approach. The Conflict Approach is a theoretical framework based on the assumption that society is a complex system characterized by inequality and conflict that generate social change. This approach complements the functional approach by highlighting not integration but social division.   This approach strength is that it guides sociologists to investigate how factors such as social class, race, ethnicity, sex, and age are linked to unequal distribution of money, power, education, and social prestige.  Ã‚   Therefore, rather than identifying how social structure promotes the operation of society as a whole, this approach focuses on how these patterns benefit some people while being harmful to others.   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   On the other hand, the functionalism Approach is a framework for building theory based on the assumption that society is a complex system whose parts work together to promote stability. The functional approach strength is that, it makes two assertions.   The first holds that society is composed of social structures, meaning relatively stable patterns of social behavior.   Social structures range from broad patterns, including the family and religious systems, to face-to-face behavior like waving hello.   The second is that each social structure has a social function, or consequences for the operation of society as a whole (Marx, 1984).   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Moreover, the functionalism approach has long been influential in sociology.   The positivist root in this approach is the tendency to see the social world as stable and orderly.   The job of sociologists, from this point of view, is to employ scientific research to learn how society works. Despite its strong influence on the discipline of sociology, however, recent decades have revealed the weaknesses of this approach.   By assuming that society operates more or less â€Å"naturally,† critics point out, the functionalism approach tends to overlook how social patterns vary form place to place and change over time.   Thus, the notion that any particular arrangement is natural seems hazardous at best.   By focusing attention on societal unity, critics point out, functionalism tends to overlook divisions based on social class, race, ethnicity, and gender, and to downplay how such division can generate tension and conflict. In addition to its weaknesses, functionalism emphasis on stability and tends to minimize important processes of social change.   Further, by emphasizing social integration, the functionalism approach tends to pay less attention to divisions based on social class, race, ethnicity, and gender and to downplay how such divisions often generate tension and conflict.   Overall, then, this approach takes a conservative stance toward society. The conflict approach, on the other hand, has developed rapidly in recent decades.   Yet, like functionalism, it has a number of weaknesses.   One, this approach highlights power struggles, it gives little attention to social unity based on functional interdependence and shared values.   Another, the conflict approach advocates explicitly political goals in its drive for a more egalitarian society, thereby giving up claim to scientific objectivity.   Supporters of this approach counter that all social approaches have political consequences, albeit different ones. An additional weakness, which applies equally to both the functionalism and conflict approach, is that they paint society with broad strokes, describing our lives as a composite of â€Å"family,† â€Å"social class,† â€Å"gender,† â€Å"ethnic group,† â€Å"race,† and so on. Hence, both functionalism and conflict approach share a macro-level orientation, meaning a concern with large-scale patterns that characterize society as a whole.   They take in the big picture, as one might investigate a city from the vantage point of a helicopter high above the ground, noting how highways facilitate traffic flow from one place to another or the striking contrasts between rich and poor neighborhoods. These approaches limit their attention to large-scale structures and processes while overlooking the details of everyday life (such as the interactions that occur in a particular bar on a particular day at a particular hour).   Macro-level orientation takes various forms: those who adopt a conflict approach see large-scale social patterns in terms of how they impose themselves on the behavior of individuals.   That is, they try to describe characteristics of society as a whole in ways that illuminate patterns of interaction among individuals. Those who adopt a functionalism approach ask how the large-scale patterns of society as a whole contribute to the integration of society. Conflict sociologists find that the distribution of people among position (or statuses) affects decisions even as â€Å"personal† as the choice of a marriage partner.   Tepperman Curtis (2004) use two characteristics of society—heterogeneity and inequality—to predict rates of intermarriage (that is, the frequency of marriage involving people from different racial, ethnic, or religious groups).     Ã‚  Heterogeneity refers to the level of sameness or differentiation within a population:   heterogeneity is high if a population is divided into many different racial, ethnic, or religious groups; it is low if most of the people are the same in these respects. Inequality refers to the distribution of valued resources such as wealth or education.   In a society with high inequality, such resources are concentrated in the hands of the few, while the majority has very little left to divide among themselves; inequality is lower when these resources are divided more evenly among people in a society.   According to Tepperman Curtis, higher rates of heterogeneity and inequality encourage people to interact with people different from themselves, and this interaction in turn increases the rate of intermarriage.    It follows that higher rates of heterogeneity and inequality generally promote rather than discourage intergroup relations of all kinds.   The behavior is predicted from the structure of the society itself rather than from the beliefs and attitudes of individuals.   The level of integration of a society is a consequence of the distribution of people among social positions (that is, of the amount of heterogeneity and inequality). The functionalists take a different perspective on the large-scale integration of society.   These sociologists see society as composed of specialized institutions: patterned behaviors and status/role relationships that fulfill basic societal needs.   For example, economic institutions are responsible for mobilizing scarce resources in order to produce and distribute goods and services that people need.   Dissimilar institutions are held together in an ordered whole because each is assigned the task of satisfying a particular societal need; each contributes to the overall functional integration of the society itself.   Without families, for example, new generation would not be socialized to the dominant values and norms of the society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As a conclusion, both the Conflict Approach and Functionalism Approach envision society in abstract terms, which sometimes seem quite distant from our everyday experience. References Marx, K. (1984).   Selected Writings in Sociology and Social Philosophy. T. B.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Bottomore, Trans.     McGraw-Hill, New York. Tepperman, L. Curtis, J. (2004).   Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. Oxford   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   University Press, Canada.

Theory And Evidence Of Microfinance And Poverty Economics Essay

Theory And Evidence Of Microfinance And Poverty Economics Essay 2.0 Introduction It is widely believed that, together with improvement in their geographical surroundings, micro finance is a powerful tool to alleviate poverty and empower women in their development. However these facilities are not restricted to women only. It is also extended to all those who are struggling to combat poverty or to indulge in their own entrepreneurship. Therefore, this chapter will review definitions in the field of microfinance and poverty. To enlighten further the study, empirical evidence are being analysed and discussed more appropriately below. 2.1 What Is Microfinance? image1.png The idea of microfinance started in Bangladesh around 1976 with Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank who has recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his achievement. Microfinance refers to the supply of loans, savings and other basic financial services to poor. With innovative means and development microfinance has been adopted and practiced in most developing countries where it has gained unbelievable success. Moreover, from December 1997 till December 2005 the number of microfinance institutions increased from 618 to 3,133. Supplementary evidences regarding its developments have been attached at Appendix I. However, different people have different views and opinions in respect of Microfinance. For instance, Otero (1999) classifies Microfinance as the provision of financial services to low income, poor and very poor self-employed people. Whilst Ledgerwood (1999) believes that it is a sustainable poverty solution and it includes savings, credit and other financial services such as insurance and payment services, on the other hand Schreiner and Colombet (2001) described it as an attempt to phase out poverty by improving the access to small deposits and loans for poor households who were being neglected by formal banks and financial institutions, mostly because of their poor credit worthiness. Generally speaking microfinance is becoming an imminent economic tool to politicians to up bring those people who are vulnerable or beyond the minimal level of income holders. It is a way to extract the arts, qualities and skills that these people possess in front of the society by upgrading their enterprise, image and standard levels. In some countries, during the financial crisis that hit the global economy, governments have emphasised heavily on these instruments to combat a way out of this turmoil. Such facilities, inclusive of small loans with low interest rates, counselling and bumper advertising campaign to promulgate the concept of microfinance were brought to the poorest, especially in rural areas. Microfinance involves short term savings and lending which are different to that of formal banks. Such facilities bear low interest rates and repayments facilities with the aim to cover the delivery costs only. The costs of capital are recouped upon maturity and whole administrative and transactions cost are ignored. Counselling is done through direct marketing where the cost involved in creation of awareness is low as these institutions target mostly low or no profit at all. Their main objective is to improve the living conditions of those being afflicted by the curse of poverty. 2.2 Historical Background on Poverty Poverty is a complex issue which has always existed at different levels of society and in various forms across the world. Poverty has always existed but the fundamental question what causes it. However, according to the western conception, poor people are themselves accountable for their precarious situation. As the source of poverty lies in the socioeconomic system, the solution also must be at the societal level. A brief sketch of povertys history is given in Appendix II. It is difficult to define poverty as there are various dimensions of poverty. Hulme and Mosley (1996) stated that microfinance is not a panacea for poverty alleviation and in some cases the poorest people were made worse off by microfinance institutions. On the other hand Rogaly (1996) argued that Microfinance Institutions had encouraged single sector approach to distribute resources to fight poverty. It did not prove to be beneficial to poor people as there was inadequate learning and change taking place. At times they even failed to reach the poor, the more so as they had a limited impact on income. They encouraged women to greater dependence on their husbands but were unable to provide additional services which were desperately required. Therefore, poverty is a growing concern for all governments. They have taken a multi-dimensional approach to reducing poverty, with efforts including: promotion of economic growth; delivery of public services to all; transfer of assets to poor people and introduction of a social protection system. Thus, the persistence of poverty and inequality is clearly a key concern for government policy. 2.2.1 Poverty Approaches The literature on poverty is divided into two categories namely the monetary approach supported by utilitarian, and the non-monetary approach supported by the non- utilitarian. This utilitarian approach places the conceptualization of welfare in the utility space where satisfaction determines the level of welfare. But since utility is not directly observable, resources .i.e. income has been used to measure welfare whereas the non-utilitarian view consists of the faith based, livelihood and capability approach. This is illustrated below. Figure 2.1: Poverty Approach Source: Adapted by International Development Research Centre From the above diagram, the monetary approach identifies poverty as a shortfall in consumption or income. An income below what is considered necessary to consume a minimum basket of basic goods would then be defined as the poverty line. The main assumption made by this approach is that consumers objective is to maximize their utility and that the ensuing welfare can be measured by their total consumption whereas the livelihood approaches emerged in the 1990s as a holistic framework for analyzing the factors that influence men and women in fulfilling their livelihoods, reflecting their perceptions of poverty and well-being. It also refers to the participatory approach of getting poor themselves to be able to understudy the root, causes and the victims of poverty. Poverty is not a modern day phenomenon. It has been around almost since the beginning of civilization from the time man was expelled from the Garden of Eden whereby he had had to start providing for himself. Poverty has always existed in human societies for thousands of years. This is all about the faith based approach of poverty. Moreover, the capability approach, pioneered by Sen in the 1980s and 1990s, argues that monetary poverty approach measures individuals well-being but fails to address the utility that individuals gain from others, their welfare. For Sen, capabilities are the abilities to satisfy certain crucial functioning up to certain minimally adequate levels. Thus according to him, poverty is the malfunction of some basic capability. The concept of poverty is universally regarded as a multidimensional one. There is no unique formulation but it may consist in any form of inequity, which is a source of social exclusion from the basic essentialities of human dignity. Thus, the Oxford Poverty Human Development Initiative (OPHI) uses an index namely the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)  [1]  index which complements a traditional focus on income to reflect the deprivations that a poor person faces with regard to education, health and living standard. It is the first international measure of its kind, and offers a valuable complement to income poverty measures because it measures deprivations directly. According to me, a multifaceted definition of poverty would be:- the lack of, and inability to afford, basic human needs, such as clean water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter; and the scarcity of opportunities that are important in improving human capital and facilitating social mobility. Thus, to address the dramatic effects resulting from poverty, various multilateral organizations such as the United Nations have left no stone unturned to combat this destitution. Moreover, different poverty reduction strategies and instruments have been developed in order to improve the poors standard of living and help them sever the vicious cycle of poverty. Moreover these approaches can be broken further. This can be shown in the following diagram. Figure 2.2: Factors Affecting the Poverty Approach Source: Adapted by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) The monetary approach includes all income in money metric and in practice omits social goods. Under this approach mainly income and consumption are affected. Whereas, the livelihood approach comprises the capabilities, assets and activities required for a means of living. It enhances livelihood opportunities and shows how they relate to one another. The faith-based approach consists of religious faith. Religious faith and humans have coexisted since the beginning of civilization and have played a very important role in human life. The religious attitude is always based on the belief that there exists an all embracing, transcendental, moral law and that we human beings are bound to submit to its commands. Moreover, capabilities included not only basic individual ones such as nourishment and health but also more complex social ones, such as taking part in the community and achieving self-respect. Health and education, for example, are both functioning achievements in themselves as well as capabilities that allow people to achieve other valued and crucial performance. For instance, a woman can have a monetary income but, because of gender discrimination, can be unable to buy food for her family: She lacks the capability to achieve a basic functioning for life. A capability seems to combine the concepts of ability and capacity. The main focus of the dissertation is based on this approach. 2.3 Conceptual Theory Since microfinance can make a contribution to eradicate poverty, to better understand its significance, each of the poverty approaches is considered below. 2.3.1 Link between Microfinance and Monetary Approach In terms of economic policy, it recommends the reduction of poverty by increasing labor productivity, through interventions of a general nature. Therefore, microfinance has evolved as an economic development approach intended to benefit low-income groups. These programs are an effective way to provide lowà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ cost financial services to poor individuals and families as claimed by Miller and Martinez, (2006); Stephens and Tazi (2006). Once they benefit from microfinance services, they will be able to earn more, save more ultimately smooth consumption. In turn they will enjoy a good health conditions among family members. 2.3.2 Link between Microfinance and Non- Monetary Approach From the economic policy standpoint, the non-monetary approach usually proposes targeted interventions which have the advantage of reducing the selection bias in favor of the poor relative to general kinds of interventions. Each non monetary approach has been considered below. 2.3.2.1 Microfinance and faith based Poverty and prosperity were considered to be the will of God. Thus religion is defined as an all round movement in the light of faith in one God and a sense of responsibility for the formation of thought and belief, for the promotion of high principles of human morality for the establishment of good relations among members of the society and the elimination of every sort of undue discrimination and injustices including poverty. Thus with the help of microfinance, people are able to have a decent earning. 2.3.2.2 Microfinance and Livelihood Microfinance can help to establish or expand family enterprises, potentially making the difference between grinding poverty and economically secure life. Furthermore, these programs increase access to healthcare, making preventative healthcare measures more affordable to the poor. Alternatively, more children are sent to school and stay enrolled for longer periods. 2.3.2.3 Microfinance and Capability Approach Given that microfinance services are primarily focused on women, it is argued that women were empowered, through opportunities to take on leadership roles and responsibilities, breaking down of gender inequalities. Small loans can transform lives, especially those of women and children. The poor can become empowered instead of disenfranchised. Homes can be built, jobs can be created, businesses can be launched, and individuals can feel a sense of worth again. Woman are able to participate in the society, they are recognised for their help in their families. This in turn increases the monthly income for the family which ultimately increases standard of living. Generally, the most important crisis and the main reason for failure to repay loans by poor families is illness. However, households of microfinance clients appear to have better nutrition, health practices, and health outcomes than comparable non-client households. Larger and more stable incomes generally lead to better nutrition, living conditions, and preventive health care. Increased earnings and financial management options also allow clients to treat health problems promptly rather than waiting for conditions to deteriorate. Along with financial services, some microfinance institutions also provide health education, usually in the form of short, simple preventive care messages on immunization, safe drinking water, and pre-natal and post-natal care while other programs provide credit products for water, sanitation, and housing. A growing number of microfinance institutions have forged partnerships with insurance providers to offer health insurance to clients. Moreover, another use of the microfinance services among the poor people is to invest in childrens education. Children of microfinance clients are more likely to go to school and study longer ultimately student drop-out rates are much lower. Hence there is no disparity in education. Thus, it is clear that what microfinance can do for the poor depends on the poors ability to utilize what micro-finance offers them. In many countries, micro-finance provides a window of opportunity for the poor to access a borrowing. These facilities also provide organizational help, training, safety nets, empowerment, and financial and other help during crises. Once they benefit from these services, they will be able to make decisions that are better informed, smooth the consumption pattern, increase the expenditure on medical, education and other social occasions. 2.4 Empirical Evidence Most of these studies were carried out in least developed countries and developing countries where poverty is really a root problem for the country. These findings are the clearest evidence that micro finance is working in the way intended to bring sustained aid to those suffering from hardship cases. Thus the following sub sections are empirical studies performed in least developed country, developing countries and small island economies. They are classified by their corresponding approach of poverty namely the monetary and capability. 2.4.1 Developing Countries 2.4.1.1 Monetary Approach Joy M Kiiru, John Mburu, Klaus Flohberg (2007) attempted to measure the impact of microfinance on household incomes. They used a pooled data set collected from the south western part of Makueni district in Kenya to study the households access to microfinance credit and how the credit affects their incomes as Cross sectional analysis fails to show any significant positive impact of microfinance on poverty reduction. They found a weak positive significance of microfinance on household incomes, education and household head. Furthermore, in the research of Gertler et al. (2003), he found more positive conclusions in terms of the ability of micro finance to reduce vulnerability who find access to micro finance that helps households to smooth consumption despite declines in health of adult family members. These authors have tried to find a relation between access to a financial institution and consumption shortfalls associated with ill health. They used geographic distance as a measure of access and find that for households in an area with a BRI branch; health shocks have no effect on consumption. 2.4.1.2 Capability Approach K. Rajendran and R.P. Raya (2010) study the impact of microfinance on the empowerment in psychological, economic and social aspects and managerial skills of leaders of SHGs and their attitude in Vellore district. They surveyed 90 leaders and 90 animators of SHGs. Using the OLS they found that microfinance and SHGs are effective in reducing poverty, empowering women, creating awareness and ensure sustainability of environment which finally result in sustainable development of the nation. But age and education does not have any influence on empowerment among the rural women. Moreover, the case study carried out in 2007 by Eduardo C. Jimenez and Pia Bernadette Roman in Philippines found on average 96.2% of the people who borrow in groups pay back their loans on time. More than 160 microfinance institutions have adopted the principle of no collateral but weekly repayment of loans with lending at commercial rates so that they can cover their costs; and they were allowed to make a profit. During that period, they have been able to target 436, 000 clients, 98% being women. The loan repayment rates of 96.2% were far higher than that recovered by most commercial banks. Luckily the project had increased the clients income by more than 28%. Their spending was mostly on school and food. So, for Philippines, this had an impact on its economy, thereby enhancing the life span, the literacy rate and also improving the standard of living of those people. 2.4.2 Least Developed Countries 2.4.2.1 Monetary Approach Khandker (2005) reported the direct effects of microfinance programs on poverty. He examined 1,638 households that participated in two waves of the BIDS World Bank 1991/92 and 1998/99 surveys in Bangladesh and found that moderate poverty in the sample villages declined by 17% between the two waves of the survey, and extreme poverty declined by 13%. Among those households that participated in the microfinance programs, the poverty rate declined by 20% in the same period, with more than half of the nearly 3% annual moderate poverty decline among participants attributed to the microfinance programs alone. He further found that access to microfinance programs contributed to the reduction of both moderate and extreme poverty of individuals particularly women as well as for the village as a whole where inflow of microfinance funds to rural areas impacted the local economy and raised per capita household consumption for both participants and nonparticipants. Morduch (1998) attempted to look specifically at the role microfinance plays in helping the poor, and reported mixed results, including some positive and some negative impacts of microfinance in alleviating poverty and helping the poor. He used survey data collected in 1991/92 by the Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies, in collaboration with the World Bank, covering 87 villages and nearly 1800 households. Survey data was collected at three points during the collection period to capture seasonal variations in household circumstances and found that the microfinance programs benefited the moderately poor more than the destitute. Further, he found that households that are eligible to borrow and have access to the programs do not have notably higher consumption levels that control households. Additionally, he found that households eligible for programs have substantially lower variation in consumption and labour supply across seasons. Thus the most important potential impacts of microfinance programs are with reducing ones financial vulnerability, and not necessarily poverty. 2.4.2.2 Capability Approach Morris and Barnes (2005) attempted to provide an overall assessment of the impact of microfinance, and examined the impacts of three microfinance programs in Uganda. Baseline data was first collected in the winter of 1997 following a survey via random sample in respect of three program areas from programs clients and nonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ clients. To assess the impact thereof, the survey was repeated in the winter of 1999. The researchers found that microfinance programs did not help to alleviate poverty in program areas, though results from these impact studies indicated positive impacts on participants entrepreneurial business endeavours and within their own households. The authors further found that microfinance programs help to reduce financial vulnerability of poor individuals through the diversification of available income sources and the accumulation of assets. 2.4.3 Small Island Developing State (SIDS) 2.4.3.1 Livelihood Approach Paul B McGuire (1996) has provided an assessment of microfinance in the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) namely Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Western Samoa. Thus, he concluded that these people faced a number of constraints to sustainable microfinance, including low and highly dispersed populations, the lack of transport and communications infrastructure in many areas, and the continuing importance of the non-monetised subsistence economy in many countries. Apparently, the stylised fact is less than clear. Despite the huge number of studies on microfinance and poverty alleviation in the developing countries, there exists little studies for small island economies. Thus this study attempts to fill the gaps by analyzing the impact microfinance on poverty and the welfare of households in Mauritius. As argued above, the facts and findings that were used have clearly indicated that microfinance is becoming a phenomenal contribution in building those economies that were previously struck by wars, natural calamities and turmoil. 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Free College Admissions Essays: Leadership Qualities :: College Admissions Essays

Leadership Qualities  Ã‚   The most meaningful and challenging experiences in my life have been through sports and the 4-H club. They have instilled the values of perseverance, confidence, and teamwork within me. I feel that my peers and others could learn valuable life lessons through participating in these organizations. They are not just clubs, but a guiding light for life. For example in sports I have had the opportunity to play on both losing and winning teams. This has given me a different perspective of looking at things. I now realize that even if you fail or lose that is no reason to give up, you still have to get right back up. Just realize your mistakes and errors. Then come back the next time, mentally and physically, ready to meet the challenge. To often in life youth and adults alike fail at something and automatically think that they cannot do it, and give up. Instead of just pushing themselves to run another lap, lift another set, study for another hour, or learn another theorem. Imagine a worl d if the early American settlers had given in to the British, if the North had given in to the South after the first loss of the civil war, or if Michael Jordan had given up after being cut from the team in high school. People just need to learn to have perseverance and believe in themselves. 4-H has been a series of stepping-stones for me. When I first started out at age four I was shy and afraid to do things that I had not done before, but now I have blossomed into a confident and outgoing young man. I no longer fear getting up in front of large groups and speaking because of the experiences I've had in public speaking events. In addition, 4-H has given me the chance to develop myself as a leader. Over the years I have held various leadership positions on the club, county, and district levels. Also, 4-H has given me the chance to go into the community and help people by leading youth in workshops, assisting the handicap and elderly, and also learn from what others have to teach. I n both of these organizations I learned the need for teamwork. For example last year my football team went 0-11 and the main reason because of that was we were not a team.

Ethics Essay

In comparing the similarities and differences in ethical theories, the goals of each theory and the morals and values that can be observed in the process. While the following ethical theories appear similar on the surface virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethical will be discussed and their differences will be defined. Virtue Theory relates to the pursuit of excellence in everything you do. As one commercial put it, â€Å"Be all that you can be† (U. S. Army 1981). One must have the idea that if they want to maximize their greatest potential, they must work hard to produce it. To the Utilitarian this may appear selfish, but self-discipline and self-determination is key to achieving the goal. Oxford dictionary describes utilitarianism as one who practices the doctrine that produces the greatest happiness of the greatest number. For example, a busy mother gives great sacrifice of putting her needs aside to take care of her three children who are home sick with the flu. At this moment, the mother, who is also sick with a temperature of 102 F, is not practicing virtue theory because; the mother has currently put her needs aside. The mother is practicing patience and compassion to assure that her children get the care that they need. Boylan (page 171) describes Deontological ethics as a moral theory that emphasizes one’s duty to do a particular action just because it is right and not through any other sort of calculations. An example of this would include presenting an inventory sheet to authorities proving that fraudulent activity has occurred buy a company that has been charging customers extra for supplies. The distinct difference of these theories suggests that virtual theory focuses attention toward creating greatness within one’s self. Utilitarianism focuses attention by creating greatness toward the masses. Deontological ethics relates to doing what is right whether it be for one’s self or for the masses with the understanding that happiness is not the goal but a moral responsibility is. A personal experience explaining the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts includes a deontological experience that I had several years ago. One Friday afternoon I walked into a bank to cash a check in the amount of $527. 28. The teller cashed my check, but I did not bother to double check the money until I got home. After checking and double-checking the money that evening, I came to the realization that I had 627. 28 cash in my envelope. The teller accidently gave me an additional $100 dollar bill. I could not go back to the bank to address the problem because the bank had closed for the day. I could not with good conscious keep the money because my family has instilled strong morals and values of honesty, integrity, and dignity within me. The money must be returned for it is the morally right thing to do. Saturday morning I drove back to the bank and asked for the manager and explained what had happened. I handed over the entire envelope as it was presented to me and I explained that two very crisp one hundred dollar bills were so tightly stuck together that it appeared as one bill. The manager surprised at what had transpired the day before, thanked me for my honesty and determination to see that the money was returned. I told the manager that I appreciate her kind words but it was truly the right thing to do. Though comparing the similarities and differences with these moral standards, ethical theories along with morals and values can be observed in the process. While it is clear that these theories may appear similar in nature the following ethical theories, virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethical will be discussed and their differences will be defined.

UFOs And Aliens On Earth Essays - Roswell UFO Incident, Roswell

UFOs And Aliens On Earth Essays - Roswell UFO Incident, Roswell UFOs and Aliens on Earth If you had mentioned seeing a Unidentified Flying Object (UFO), or spaceship from another planet 100 years ago, you would probably be thought of as a raving lunatic. If you had mentioned one 50 years ago, the case would be thought about, but with much suspicion. Today, many people would believe you, and, if you had evidence to prove it, the government would take a very close interest in your case, yet many people would call you an idiot. Despite all the evidence that indicates UFO's exist, there are still many people who will not listen to any evidence, and the government covers up evidence and alters news releases on the subject. The Roswell case is one of the best documented, and most controversial UFO cases ever. In July of 1949, at a small airforce base in Roswell, New Mexico, a small, brightly glowing object was observed to crash land at about 11:30 P.M. There were many people who had seen the crash, and they had described that it was "brighter, and fell much slower than any meteors" they had ever seen. At St. Mary's Hospital in Roswell, two Catholic nuns, saw the crash, directly north of them, and logged the crash to have occurred on July 4, between 10:00 and 11:30 PM. Southwest of the base, Corporal E. L. Pyles looked to see what at first he thought was a shooting star, only it seemed to be to large to be one. He testifies that the crash happened about 11:00 PM also. There were many Military officers in the area who had seen the object as well. The object was appearing on military radars for many days before the crash. Before the crash, on July 1, all of the officers and technicians at the base had been tracking an unidentified object on their radars. Starting on July 2nd, Steve MacKenzie, who was stationed at Roswell, was ordered to report to the White Sands Proving Ground radar sites and report directly to the brigadier general at the base. The Brigadier General's orders were to inform him of all the movements the object made. At White Sands, there had been doubt as to whether this object was a malfunction of radar equipment, or, if it was in fact, real. So , the airforce had other radar sites in Albuquerque and Roswell look at the area on their radars. It was shown that they had, in fact, a real object. During the evening of July 4, the object changed. It was growing bigger, then shrinking back to it's original size, the blip was pulsating, then the blip grew quite large, and disappeared from the screen. Because sites in Albuquerque, White Sands and Roswell were tracking the object, the airforce had a vague location about where it crashed. The airforce then decided to launch a comprehensive search the following morning. The airforce, however, was the last to arrive at the site. A group of archaeologists being led by Dr. W. Curry Holden, had arrived earlier. One of the students recorded the object as "a crashed wingless plane, with a flat fuselage." The archaeologists then left to inform local authorities of an aircraft accident. When the airforce arrived at the Roswell crash site, there were two other people exploring, a man named Ragsdale and a woman named Truelove. They had been collecting pieces of metal from the site, tossing it into their jeep . But, what they saw after that was much more significant. There were bodies, lying about. There were several of them, about four or five feet long. There were five in total, obviously not human. There were three dead bodies, one in critical condition, and one, apparently fine. They threw the debris clear of their jeep when the airforce started driving up, and got out of there as fast as they could because of fear of being arrested. When the airforce arrived, they looked around, and they saw the large craft in the side of the mountain, partly buried, leaning at about a 30 degree angle, with large pieces of debris scattered about. After the airforce had searched and photographed the area, they began cleaning up. The bodies were loaded into ambulances

hmm essays

hmm essays This year as a member of the Rondell Robins 4-H club was very hectic. This summer I worked at Beverly Health Care in Groton between work and 4-H meetings I had to miss one or the other. I was the Secretary of the 4-H club. I enjoyed being the secretary because I like to write even if I didnt have much time to write the reports I still enjoyed it. After 9 years as a member this is my first time being secretary. I was a little nervous at first speaking in front of the club, but after the first couple meetings I got more comfortable speaking in front of everyone. The year went by so fast, when it got time to have projects judged, I was disappointed in myself that I hadnt made as many projects that I had done in the past. I only made 3 projects this year. I placed 2 purples and 1 red. However this year I am happy to admit that I helped in my community as much as a could. We cleaned the road ditches around Stratford. The day before Easter we put on an Easter egg hunt for the kids in ou r community. I really enjoy seeing the smiles on the little kids faces when they found the prize eggs hidden in the sneakiest hiding spot. Also I helped with the Halloween party, I remember when I was younger being so excited to go to the party and getting candy with out going door to door to get it. At the Halloween party they also had fun games where you could win prizes. It made me feel good knowing I was part of that. I really enjoy doing what I can when I can for the community thats why I love being part of the Rondell Robins 4-H club. Unfortunately with the busy schedule this will be my last years as a member. I had many years of fun times as a member of the club. ...