Economic Impacts of Minimum Wage Increase Essay Example for Free

Economic Impacts of Minimum Wage Increase Essay The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 increased the minimum wage of $5. 15 per hour to $7. 15 per hour. It is believed that an increase in the minimum wage will not create negative implications on jobs, employment and inflation. Rather, wage increase legislated in the past three decades have made the most positive impacts in the economy, as the economy experienced the strongest growth during these times, and at the same time has generated more jobs. In contrast, when the minimum wage was held at a stagnant rate, fewer jobs have been created (Democrats Discuss†¦). Moreover, wages held at the minimum level translates to lower productivity level. In addition, states that are based on the minimum wage rates suffer from the high occurrence of unemployment. This is true in the case of Virginia, Wyoming and Hawaii; wherein the wages were kept in the minimum level which resulted to high percentage of unemployment. In addition to this, the increase in the unemployment rate is translated to changes in the GDP. According to economist Arthur Khon, every 1% increase in unemployment rate, the GDP falls by 2.5-3%. Therefore, if the wage rate is always kept at a minimum level, the tendency that unemployment rate will rise also increases, thus it creates a negative effect towards the country’s GDP (Mackenzie). Therefore, an increase in the minimum wage rate will have direct effects in the economy. First, it will translate in the increase of productivity level of the workers, it will also improve the buying power of the consumers and it will lessen the unemployment rate – all of which will have a positive rise in the GDP of the country.

Software engineering principles

Software engineering principles Chapter 1 Software is a great combination between artistry and engineering. When you finally get done and get to appreciate what you have done it is like a part of yourself that youve put together. I think a lot of the people here feel that way. Introduction This report discusses Software Engineering principles in context with Service-Oriented applications. Software Engineering covers a very vast area. It encourages the development of high quality and sustainable software,using quality software engineering tools and techniques. Service Orientation on the other hand is a trend in Software Engineering, its an approach, a way of thinking, a value system that promotes the construction of applications based on activities called services. It was very complicated to conclude the basic principles of Software Engineering and then to make a decision which of these principles are applicable and which are not applicable to the development of Service Oriented Applications. There exists so much information on Software Engineering and Service-Oriented applications but very few talks about the Software Engineering principles and their relation with SOA. However, after browsing through the internet and digging into many Software Engineering and SOA books and journals some conclusion is made which is described in detail in following pages. Like most of the researches, this research also takes into consideration few assumptions which are stated clearly. Chapter 2 In order to be acquainted with the principles of Software Engineering it is essential to have a brief idea about it. The paragraph below will assist in giving some idea about Software Engineering. About Software Engineering. As mentioned above Software Engineering covers a very huge part in a development of any software. It is not a complex approach but over the years everyone has presented a different definition for Software Engineering because of its diversity. To get the more precise and clear picture, a few definitions from different sources are presented below. The establishment and use of sound engineering principles (methods) in order to obtain economically software that is reliable and works on real machines [Bauer 1972]. Software engineering is that form of engineering that applies the principles of computer science and mathematics to achieving cost-effective solutions to software problems. [CMU/SEI-90-TR-003] The application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software [IEEE 1990]. There are aspects of each of these definitions that have a say to the viewpoint of software engineering used in the construction of this report. One particularly important aspect is that software engineering builds on computer science and mathematics. Software engineering encompasses a process, the management of activities, technical methods, and use of tools to develop high-quality, systematic, controlled, and efficient software products. Software is engineered by applying three discrete phases definition, development, and support. Subsequently, there are significant emphasis on analysis and evaluation, specification, design, and evolution of software. In accumulation, there are issues related to management and quality, to novelty and creativity, to standards, to individual skills, and to teamwork and professional practice that play a vital role in software engineering. Chapter 3 Service Orientation is a trend in software engineering that promotes the construction of application based on entities called services [9]. Service-Oriented Architecture A service-oriented architecture is the organizational and technical framework that enables an enterprise to deliver self-describing, platform-independent business functionality and make it available as building blocks of current and future applications. Simply speaking, in an SOA, a business is viewed as a portfolio of services that can be delivered independently and recombined without requiring detailed knowledge of how that service is implemented. [8] According to Wikipedia, incomputing,service-oriented architecture(SOA) has different non-standard and openly-debated definitions. Basically, it is an attempt to provide set of principles or governing concepts used during phases ofsystems developmentandintegration. Such architecture is supposed to package functionality asinteroperableservices within the context of variousbusiness domainsinvolved. Several departments within a company or different organizations may integrate or use such services à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ software modules provided as a service à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ even if their respectiveclientsystems are substantially different. It is an attempt to develop yet another means for software module integration. Rather than defining anAPI, SOA defines the interface in terms of protocols and functionality. Anendpointis the entry point to such an SOA implementation. Chapter 4 Principles of Software Engineering A set of fundamental principles can act as an enabler in the establishment of a discipline; however, software engineering still lacks a set of universally recognized fundamental principles. A fundamental principle is less specific and more enduring than methodologies and techniques. It should be phrased to withstand the test of time. It should not contradict a more general engineering principle and should have some correspondence with best practice. It should be precise enough to be capable of support and contradiction and should not conceal a trade off. It should also relate to one or more computer science or engineering concepts. [1] Principles are common and conceptual statements describing desirable properties of software products and processes. Principles become practice through methods and techniques, often methods and techniques are packaged in a methodology. Methodologies can be enforced by tools. Principles of Software Engineering have a good impact on the process of software engineering and also on the final product. These principles facilitate to develop software in such a manner that it posses all the qualities like: efficiency, functionality, adaptability, maintainability, and usability. Principles are general, abstract statements describing desirable properties of software processes and products. The principles are applicable throughout the lifecycle of the software. Principles are the set of statements which describe the advantageous features of the product and process. Focus on both process and product is needed to deliver software systems. These principles help in controlling process which in turn helps to control the quality of the product. Only the control of process will not guarantee a quality product therefore it is important to concentrate on both process and quality. As said earlier there are no fundamentally recognized principles of Software Engineering but we can list down few that may be used in all phases of software development. Rigor and formality Separation of concerns Modularity and decomposition Abstraction Anticipation of change Generality Incremental Development Reliability Principles explained. Rigor and formality Webster defines Rigor as. harsh inflexibility in opinion, temper, or judgment : severity the quality of being unyielding or inflexible : strictness severity of life : austerity b: an act or instance of strictness, severity, or cruelty 2: a tremor caused by a chill 3: a condition that makes life difficult, challenging, or uncomfortable; especially : extremity of cold strict precision : exactness Webster defines Rigor as harsh inflexibility in opinion, but thats not the general meaning of rigor in project management. In general Rigor means the strict precision with which you follow some project management belief or practice. Advancements of this approach enable us to construct more consistent product, organize their cost, and boost our confidence in their reliability. Formality is a stronger requisite than rigor; it requires the software process to be driven and evaluated by mathematical laws. As it is seen that Software engineering is a very imaginative design activity, so it must be practiced systematically. Rigor is an essential match to imagination that increases our confidence in our developments. Formality is rigor at the highest degree. Software development can accept neither ambiguity nor inaccuracy. Where rigidness helps to produce consistent products, controlling cost and increases discretion in products, Formality checks the process of software production using mathematical laws. Rigor and formality in context with SOA SOA aims to improve flexibility. The key reason for using SOA is that it should help you in your business. For example, you may need IT solutions that store and manage your data, and allow you to automate the usual processes that deal with this data. A critical factor for business success these days is keeping time to market share. To deliver a quality solution right on time, you need flexibility. But flexibility has a lot to do with clear organization, roles, processes, and so on. Therefore, SOA has to deal with all these aspects. [10] Conclusion For Software Engineering, Rigor means the strict precision with which you follow some project management belief or practice. On the other hand SOA follows agile methodology which can be described as iterative and incremental. As SOA is intended to enable flexibility, adaptability and reusability, this principle is not applicable to SOA. Separation of concerns There is a very popular saying Divide and conquer, it holds good in software development process also. This principle teaches to first divide or break the problem into small and different modules. This helps in dealing with different individual aspects of a problem and we can concentrate on each part separately. A problem can be divided with respect to time, quality, complexity etc. Once the problem is divided into pieces a project leader can thus easily separate the responsibilities among the developers. By doing this development of a big part of the project can be done in parallel, thus saving time. Separation of concerns in context with SOA SOA is all about services. SOA is nothing without services. Services are primary assets of SOA. Services in SOA are modules of business or application functionality with exposed interfaces that are invoked by messages from service consumers. [11]. Conclusion In SOA, complex problems are divided into different modules to design various reusable and interoperable services. Thus this principle does applicable to SOA. Modularity and decomposition Modularity is a kind of Separation of concerns. A complex problem can be divided into simpler parts called modules, allowing details of each module being handled in isolation and separately. A system that is collected of modules is called modular. When dealing with different modules we can ignore details of some not so important modules. Each separated module should be highly interconnected with the rest of the modules so that each module should be understandable as a meaningful unit. Components of a each module should be closely related to one another. Modules should exhibit low coupling means they should have low interactions with other modules. Too much interaction with other modules makes a module dependent on other, thus making it less reusable. Modularity in context with SOA Service contracts impose low consumer coupling requirements and are themselves decoupled from their surrounding environment. [12] Conclusion Loose Coupling is one of the basic principles of SOA. The principle of Service Loose Coupling promotes the independent design and evolution of a services logic and implementation while still guaranteeing baseline interoperability with consumers that have come to rely on the services capabilities [12]. This principle does applicable to SOA. Abstraction A software developer cannot deal with more than a few concepts and their relationships simultaneously. An abstraction allows suppressing details that are unimportant to him/her and emphasize the important information [2]. Abstraction helps manage the intellectual complexity of software [3]. Abstracting means that a higher-level concept disregards certain properties altogether [4, 5]. Abstraction is also related to Separation of Concerns. Here the modules are separated on the basis of purpose of the module. Actually we separate what from how. Then we can easily make out the central aspects of a phenomenon and overlook its details. Abstraction is the only tool through which we can actually master the complexity of the problem. Abstraction depends on the functionality of the module (What) or point of view. To decide which type of abstraction is to apply mainly depends on the purpose of the particular problem. Abstraction in context with SOA Service contracts only contain essential information and information about services is limited to what is published in service contracts. [12] Conclusion Abstraction ties into many aspects of service-orientation. On a fundamental level, this principle emphasizes the need to hide as much of the underlying details of a service as possible. Doing so directly enables and preserves the previously described loosely coupled relationship. Service Abstraction also plays a significant role in the positioning and design of service compositions. [12]. This principle does applicable to SOA. Anticipation of change The only constant is change. Change is everywhere. Even in Software development change always happens. It is very important to identify any likely change in the early phase of software development. When expected changes are recognized, a particular care must be taken to progress in a way that will make future changes easy to apply. The changes occur because usually the entire software requirement is not understood by the development team and this happens because of the communication gap between client and software team. Also most of the times the users and the environment of the requirement changes which leads to the minor and some time even major changes in the application. Such major changes affect the supervision of the software process. A small change in the application pushes the finished product back into the software development life cycle. It becomes necessary to do a regression testing with maintenance. Maintenance is the process where modifications are done to the application to reflect the changing requirements. Anticipation of change in context with SOA Conclusion Generality Generality can be characterized as a state or quality of being not limited to one particular case. Generalisation, as an inductive process, collects information about a number of particulars and presents it in a single description [6]. General description collects a set of individuals according to the features that are applicable to the whole as well as to every member of a set. As noted in Navrat [5], generalisation moves things along the set-superset relation. Specialization, as an opposite operation, moves things in set-subset relation. Less general description determines a smaller set of things, while its transformation to a more general description will determine a superset of the original set. Every member of less general set is a member of more general superset. While breaking a big problem into small modules one should generalize the problem to make the solution more potential for being reused. But a careful balance between performance and cost is necessary while generalizing a problem. Generalization often helps in solving some special case easily. Incremental Development Keep developing until you get it right. Incremental development is based on agile methodology. Agile methods generally promote a disciplined project management process that encourages frequent inspection and adaptation, a leadership philosophy that encourages teamwork, self-organization and accountability, a set of engineering best practices that allow for rapid delivery of high-quality software, and a business approach that aligns development with customer needs and company goals. [7] Incremental development means development in a stepwise fashion. According to this principle a subset of the system is delivered early to get the feedback from the users in the early stages of the development. New features or changes , if any, can thus be added incrementally during the early stages without doing much of changes in the structure of the system. It focuses first, more on the functionality, then turn to performance. It is a step-wise process which makes closer approximations to reach a desired goal. But a closer and careful management interference and documentation is necessary during all the steps. Incremental Development in context with SOA. As stated earlier, SOA is based on agile methodology. A disciplined Agile software development definition can be An iterative and incremental (evolutionary) approach to software development which is performed in a highly collaborative manner by self-organizing teams within an effective governance framework with just enough ceremony that produces high quality software in a cost effective and timely mannerwhich meets the changing needs of its stakeholders. [13] Conclusion Reliability According to ANSI, Software Reliability is defined as: the probability of failure-free software operation for a specified period of time in a specified environment.[ANSI91][Lyu95]. The NASA Software Assurance Standard, NASA-STD-8739.8, defines software reliability as a discipline of software assurance that: Defines the requirements for software controlled system fault/failure detection, isolation, and recovery; Reviews the software development processes and products for software error prevention and/or reduced functionality states; and, Defines the process for measuring and analyzing defects and defines/derives the reliability and maintainability factors. Reliability in context of SOA For services to carry out their capabilities consistently and reliably, their underlying solution logic needs to have a significant degree of control over its environment and resources. The principle of Service Autonomy supports the extent to which other design principles can be effectively realized in real world production environments by fostering design characteristics that increase a services reliability and behavioural predictability. [12] Conclusion Principle of Autonomy is one of the principles of SOA which talks about the reliability and behavioural predictability. This principle does applicable to SOA. References Abstracts from Fundamentals of Software Engineering, Second Edition, by Carlo Ghezzi, Mehdi Jazayeri, and Dino Mandrioli. Krueger, Ch. W., 1992. Software Reuse. ACM Computing Surveys, 24: 131-83. Pree, W., 1994. Design Patterns for Object-Oriented Software Development. Addison-Wesley. NÃÆ' ¡vrat, P., 1994. Hierarchies of programming concepts. Abstraction, generality and beyond. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 26: 17-21, 28. NÃÆ' ¡vrat, P., 1996. A Closer Look at Programming Expertise. Critical Survey of Some Methodological Issues. Information and Software Technol., 1: 37-46. Czarnecki, K. and U.W. Eisenecker, 2000. Generative Programming. Methods, Tools and Application. Addison Wesley. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Cartwright and Doernenburg 48 (3): 26. (2006) Zoran Stojanovic Ajantha Dahanayake. Service-Oriented Software System Engineering, Challenges and Practices. 1 Nicolai. M. Josuttis, 2007. SOA in practice. The art of distributed system design. 12-13. Eric A. Marks Michael Bell, 2006. Service-Oriented Architecture, A Planning and Implementation Guide for Business and Technology. 33-34 http://www.soaprinciples.com SOA: Principles of Service Design, byThomas Erl http://www.agilemodeling.com/essays/agileSoftwareDevelopment.htm http://www.agilemodeling.com/essays/agileSoftwareDevelopment.htm http://www.soaprinciples.com/service_autonomy.asp

How Alcohol May Affect Human Behaviour :: essays research papers fc

How Alcohol May Affect Human Behaviour 4. A young man started behaving in an aggressive and abusive manner after he had a number of alcoholic drinks at a party. The next day he was behaving quite normally and was quite concerned when shown a video of his behaviour the previous night. Explain how alcohol may affect human behaviour. Some Facts(1) Australian industry loses more than one billion dollars a year because of sickness caused by alcohol. Alcohol plays a part in more than 50% of serious crimes in Australia. In violent crimes it plays an even bigger part: more than 75% of them are linked to alcohol. About half of the people killed in road accidents are killed because somebody has drunk to much. Effects of alcohol on human behaviour From the above facts it is clear that alcohol has a major impact on the lives of Australians. This is particularly more so because it is not illegal and because it is so widely used. The effects of alcohol on a individual's body vary according to: (2) with the amount consumed. the way the alcohol is taken. the individual's body (size weight, health). the individual's experience. the individual's mood. the circumstance in which alcohol is consumed (with food, in a social gathering, with other drugs etc.) The immediate effects of alcohol on an individual varies but can produce a wide range of effects including: (2) Loss of inhibitions. Flushing and dizziness. General impairment of brain and nervous system functions. General loss of co-ordination. Impairment of motor (movement) skills. Staggering. Slow reactions. Blurred vision and slurred speech. Aggression. General impairment of senses (e.g. touch, sight, speech, etc.) Vomiting. Unconsciousness. Children and young people are usually more affected by alcohol than adults. This is because of their lower body weight and lack of tolerance. The disturbing aspect is that one is not generally aware of these changes. Instead, the individual think's he/she is behaving more efficiently than normal. In fact, performance is much poorer. In relation to Topic (4) the change in behaviour in the young man at the party following a number of alcoholic drinks can now be explained. As shown above young people are generally more affected by alcohol than adults. The loss of inhibitions and aggressive behaviour can by typical changes after alcohol consumption. It is not surprising that when shown a video of his behaviour the previous night that he was quite concerned about his aggressive behaviour. Again as mentioned previously one of the effects of alcohol is that one is unaware of the changes taking place. As the young man was behaving normally the following day he did not have a hangover. A hangover is a body's reaction to being poisoned by alcohol and

Religious Persecution of Christian Beliefs :: essays research papers

Religious Persecution of Christian Beliefs What is religious persecution? At the beginning of this project, I thought religious persecution was a black and white topic with a clear definition. I thought that religious persecution was simply the persecution of a group because of their religious faith. However, I discovered that there are no simple explanations of religious persecution, and it is a much more complex and controversial issue than I had imagined. In fact, some events categorized as religious persecution reveal only shades of grey and ambiguities and do not neatly fit this simple definition. I wanted others to come to this same understanding. Therefore, I have formulated my own definition of religious persecution. It is the persecution of individuals within a group in the struggle to maintain their religious identity, or the abuse of power by an individual or organization that causes members of a religious group to suffer. In the case of the Holocaust, there is little argument about who created the extermination camps or what caused the death of approximately 6 million Jews. The Holocaust is probably the most well-known case of religious persecution. But my research shows that the persecution of the Jews extended well beyond simply targeting all the members of a particular faith. Instead, Hitler labeled the Jews as a race, and used his political power to exterminate the entire race. While violence against Christians has been increasing worldwide, and while Christians in the East are becoming "an endangered species," according to author William Dalrymple, attention to the crisis in the broadsheets and broadcasts of the West is "occasional and momentary" at best. No doubt this reticence must in part have to do with the West's tendency to quarantine religion out of public discourse and concern. The persecution of Christians lays a special injunction on the church in the West to examine modern paradigms and strategies for evangelism. Often Christian missionary approaches are founded on racial and religious assumptions that assign native populations and traditional cultures to an inferior status. The general premise is that prior to the arrival of Christian missionaries, people lived in a morass of darkness and depravity. This traditionally has been the basis for the almost-militant missionary scramble for native souls. Some U.S.-based Web sites include references to India as a "a land of 333 million gods" that is a virtual "Babel" linguistically and the self-identification of missionaries as "warriors of Christ," "crusading" for the "lost" and "unreached. Religious Persecution of Christian Beliefs :: essays research papers Religious Persecution of Christian Beliefs What is religious persecution? At the beginning of this project, I thought religious persecution was a black and white topic with a clear definition. I thought that religious persecution was simply the persecution of a group because of their religious faith. However, I discovered that there are no simple explanations of religious persecution, and it is a much more complex and controversial issue than I had imagined. In fact, some events categorized as religious persecution reveal only shades of grey and ambiguities and do not neatly fit this simple definition. I wanted others to come to this same understanding. Therefore, I have formulated my own definition of religious persecution. It is the persecution of individuals within a group in the struggle to maintain their religious identity, or the abuse of power by an individual or organization that causes members of a religious group to suffer. In the case of the Holocaust, there is little argument about who created the extermination camps or what caused the death of approximately 6 million Jews. The Holocaust is probably the most well-known case of religious persecution. But my research shows that the persecution of the Jews extended well beyond simply targeting all the members of a particular faith. Instead, Hitler labeled the Jews as a race, and used his political power to exterminate the entire race. While violence against Christians has been increasing worldwide, and while Christians in the East are becoming "an endangered species," according to author William Dalrymple, attention to the crisis in the broadsheets and broadcasts of the West is "occasional and momentary" at best. No doubt this reticence must in part have to do with the West's tendency to quarantine religion out of public discourse and concern. The persecution of Christians lays a special injunction on the church in the West to examine modern paradigms and strategies for evangelism. Often Christian missionary approaches are founded on racial and religious assumptions that assign native populations and traditional cultures to an inferior status. The general premise is that prior to the arrival of Christian missionaries, people lived in a morass of darkness and depravity. This traditionally has been the basis for the almost-militant missionary scramble for native souls. Some U.S.-based Web sites include references to India as a "a land of 333 million gods" that is a virtual "Babel" linguistically and the self-identification of missionaries as "warriors of Christ," "crusading" for the "lost" and "unreached.

Primal Scenes in Americana and White Noise :: White Noise Essays

Primal Scenes in Americana and White Noise Written in 1989, Frank Letricchia's essay on the overriding themes of Don DeLillo's writing offers a short but concise praise of two of DeLillo's major works: Americana and White Noise. Letricchia offers the thesis in his essay that "two scenes in DeLillo's fiction are primal for his imagination of America" (Osteen 413). It seems that Letricchia is using "primal" not to denote an animalistic sense, but more along the lines of a basic need. The first of these primal scenes takes place in DeLillo's first book, Americana (Osteen 413). In a particular part of this novel, DeLillo describes the invention of America as the invention of the television (Osteen 413). One of his characters even describes it as having "came over on the Mayflower," which Letricchia interprets as meaning not television itself came over, but the desire for a "universal third-person" (Osteen 414). Letricchia argues that television offers to modern Americans today what the Pilgrims' ships offered to immigrants on the old days: something to dream about (Osteen 414). Even DeLillo writes that "To consume in America is not to buy; it is to dream," which, according to Letricchia is to say "that it is not the consummation of desire but the foreplay of desire that is TV advertising's object" (Osteen 414). Which is to say, it is not the advertisements job to make you buy something, only to make you want to buy it, a point I find to be not only accurate, but so mewhat disturbing as well. The second "primal scene" that Letricchia touches on comes from the book White Noise. In the book, there is a small but significant part in which two of the main characters drive twenty miles outside of town in order to visit a tourist attraction known as "The most photographed barn in America" (Osteen 415). While this is the surface subject of the passage, Letricchia asserts that the underlying issue at hand is actually "a new kind of representation as a new kind of excitement" (Osteen 415). In the scene from the book, the characters stand among crowds of people that are taking pictures of a very ordinary barn. One of the characters (Murray Siskind) begins a monologue about the fact that no one there has come to see the barn, but only "to be part of a collective perception" (Osteen 12).

Conflict Resolution Essay

Merriam-Webster (n.d) defines conflict as, â€Å"the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction†. Interpersonal conflicts, whether they are between family members, students and teachers, employees and supervisors, or groups, have certain elements in common. Coser (1967) asserts that conflict is â€Å"a struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power, and resources, in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralize, injure, or eliminate the rivals.† (p. 8) Coser’s definition grew out of the cold war, when conflict between the United States and the former U.S.S.R. dominated Western method to conflict. Conflict was viewed as a win-lose solution. According to Dana (2001) there are only three ways to resolve any conflict; power contests, rights contests, and interest’s reconciliation. Power contest is based on Coser’s (1967) win-lose situation. Each party views their point as right each wanting power over the other. Rights contest is an orderly system which has rules, regulations, policies, precedents and a hierarchy of authority which is used in order to â€Å"win† again this model is a win-lose resolution. The solution to conflict resolution is interest reconciliation. This approach enlists support from both parties to find the best solution. All parties win with interest reconciliation model as their solution. Conflict in the workplace is a condition between or among two or more workers whose jobs are independent, who feel angry, who perceive the other(s) as being at fault, and act in a way that causes a business problem. Conflict has three elements feelings (emotions), perceptions (thoughts) and actions (behaviors). â€Å"Psychologists consider these three the only dimensions of human experience. So, conflict is rooted in all parts of the human nature† (Dana, 2001, p. 5) some confuse conflict with indecision, disagreement, stress, or some other common experience that may cause or be caused by a conflict. However, those elements are not best handled by conflict resolution. The question many ask, is conflict normal? Conflict is a fact of any organizational life. On the job, â€Å"conflict is a stubborn fact of organizational life† (Kolb and Putnam, 1992, p. 311). Rather than seeing conflict as abnormal, Pondy (1992) suggests we view organizations as â€Å"arenas for staging conflicts, and managers as both fight promoters who organize bouts and as referees who regulate them† (p. 259). In addition, Pondy states that in the company, agency, or small business, conflict may be the very essence of what the organization is about, and if â€Å"conflict isn’t happening then the organization has no reason for being† (p. 259). One study surveyed workers and found that almost 85 percent reported conflicts at work (Volkema and Bergmann 1989). With an increasing awareness of cultural diversity and gender equity issues, it is essential that employees become familiar with issues surrounding promotions and harassment. In fact, one can see training in organizations as a form of preventive conflict management (Hathaway, 1995). The recognition of the frequency of conflict at work has led to books on mediating conflict in the workplace (Yarbrough and Wilmot 1995), showing how managers can learn conflict management skills to intervene in disputes in their organization. As employees, daily work with clients, customers, co-workers, or bosses can be a struggle. Conflict is as Wilmot (1995) wrote, â€Å"What determines the course of a relationship . . . is in a large measure determined by how successfully the participants move through conflict episodes† (p. 95). Conflict resolution has five styles, giving in, avoiding, fight it out, comprise, and work together style. No style is right or wrong; however some do work better than others. Accommodation, giving in to the other’s wishes or smoothing waves sacrifices one’s own goals for the sake of the other person. Accommodators often use phrases like: â€Å"Whatever you want is fine with me.† When one party in a conflict genuinely does not care about the outcome of the conflict, accommodation may be the right choice for that situation. However, if accommodation is the only style a person utilizes, he or she is advised to learn more skills. Avoidance is characterized by behaviors that either ignore or refuse to engage in the conflict. While avoidance is by some consider a negative style that shows low concern for both one’s own and the other party’s interests, there are sometimes strategic reasons to avoid conflict. For example, when the relationship is short-term and the issue is not important or when the situation has a potential to escalate to violence, avoidance may be the prudent choice. Fight it out, competition, or win/lose, style maximizes reaching one’s own goals or getting the problem solved at the cost of the others goals or feelings. While always choosing competition has negative repercussions for relationships, businesses and cultures, it can occasionally be the right style to choose if the other party is firmly fixed in a competitive style or there are limited resources. While competitive strategy is not necessarily dysfunctional, competition can easily slip into a destructive situation. Understanding the methods and strategies of others who use competitive styles can assist conflict managers in neutralizing the negative consequences of competition and work toward a mutual gain approach. Compromise is a give and take of resources. The classic compromise in negotiating is to â€Å"split the difference† between two positions. While there is no victor from compromise, each person also fails to achieve her or his original goal. Finally, working together to collaborate is when parties cooperatively team up until a mutually agreeable solution is found. Compromise and collaboration are win-win solution where as the other styles are win-lose. Why do people avoid dealing with conflict? People have a natural instinct of fear and some let that fear overpower them. The fear of harm causes people to fight-or-flight. Individuals will choose the flight option when in a dangerous part of a city that they have never been in before in order to avoid danger, it shows wisdom or strength to get out a of physically abusive relationship, commendable to stay out emotionally abusive relationships. In spite of this, in some cases people have the response to flight to a false perception of harm. People overstress in their minds t he emotional harm that someone can cause harm. The same is said for conflict in the workplace, people will avoid conflict for fear of being harmed by others. Some avoid conflict because of a fear of rejection from others. These individuals feel others will withdraw their friendship or push them away causing more hurt. People have the perception if they do not risk rejection they can suppress their needs and feelings. Loss of relationship is the fear of rejection taken up a level they fear totally losing a relationship. Others avoid conflict to mask their true desires because preserving a relationship is more important than getting what they want. These individuals are trapped into believing their worth is dependant on another accepting them. People avoid conflict for fear of anger. These people do not like listening to someone who is angry. They believe another will hurt them, reject them, or leave them, and they just cannot stand to witness anger. However, anger is just anger and it is not necessarily directed toward them. Individuals do not want to be seen as selfish. In some situations people are not afraid of others reactions, but rather their interpretation of the situation. They fear that they will appear selfish. However, is it wrong to have a need, feeling, or want and to express it? Society has sometimes had it seem that way. Although, there is nothing wrong with asking for what individuals want versus feeling they are entitled to always getting what they want. The truth is if one never asks, then they are depriving people around them from being able give to them effectively. Still, people who feel their wants should not be fulfilled, regardless of what others want, fall into the selfishness category. Sometimes people avoid conflict for fear of saying the wrong thing or something they will regret. Individuals will avoid conflict rather than risk putting â€Å"their foot in their mouth† they contain their anger and frustration which often leads to that which they fear. When people have conflicts in the past that have failed so they avoid future conflict for the fear of failing those too and begin to believe the confrontation is not worth the em otional energy it takes to deal with others. The fear of failing can impact other aspects of ones life. The fear of hurting another is more than just saying the wrong thing. These individuals are extremely sensitive and caring. They would rather hurt themselves than risk hurting another. The fear of success is a fear that most over look. However, it is much like the fear of failure. Some people are afraid to get what they want; they believe they will never get it. These people feel they do not deserve what they want, the consequences of getting of what they want is regret, or the responsibility is more than they need or desire. The fear of intimacy is the most subconscious of the fears. People do not want to share their dreams, desires, and wants with others. They feel they are private and do not want to be exposed. People do not want to appear weak. If resolution involves giving in, avoiding, or compromise they may feel they appear as though they do not have confidence. People do not want the stress of confrontation. They feel it is better to avoid conflict rather than deal with the stress it will cause them in the workplace between co-workers. Our society tends to reward alternative responses to conflict, rather than negotiation. People, who aggressively pursue their needs, competing rather than collaborating, are often satisfied by others who prefer to accommodate. Managers and leaders are often rewarded for their aggressive, controlling approaches to problems, rather than taking a more compassionate approach to issues that may seem less decisive to the public or their staffs. Conflict resolution requires profound courage on the part of all parties: It takes courage to honestly and clearly express one’s needs, and it takes courage to sit down and listen to one’s adversaries. It takes courage to look at one’s own role in the dispute, and it takes courage to approach others with a sense of empathy, openness and respect for their perspective. Collaborative approaches to conflict management require individuals to engage in the moment of dialogue in thoughtful and meaningful ways, so it is understandable if people tend to avoid such situations until the balance of wisdom tips in favor of negotiation. People have certain perceptions in conflict when dealing with different situations. Culture shapes and frames each individual’s interpretation of appropriate behaviors during conflicts. Conflict across cultures, whether across nations or across the diverse cultures within a country, exacerbates the routine difficulties of conflict management (Fry and Bjorkqvist, 1997). There is no clear conclusion about whether men and women actually behave in different ways while conducting conflicts. However, gender stereotypes do affect conflict behaviors when individuals act and react based on stereotypes of how men and women will/should act rather than selecting behaviors appropriate for the individual one is communicating with (Borisoff and Victor, 1997). Parties respond to conflicts on the basis of the knowledge they have about the issue at hand. This includes situation-specific knowledge and general knowledge. The understanding of the knowledge they have can influence the person’s willingness to engage in efforts to manage the conflict, either reinforcing confidence to deal with the dilemma or undermining one’s willingness to flexibly consider alternatives. The person sharing the message is considered to be the messenger. If the messenger is perceived to be a threat (powerful, scary, unknown, etc.) the message can influence others responses to the overall situation being experienced. For example, if a big scary-looking guy is yelling at people they may respond differently than if a diminutive, calm person would express the same message. Additionally, if the people knew the messenger previously, they might respond differently based upon that prior sense of the person’s credibility. People are more inclined to listen with respect to someone they view more credible than if the message comes from someone who lacks credibility and integrity. Some people have had significant life experiences that continue to influence their perceptions of current situations. These experiences may have left them fearful, lacking trust, and reluctant to take risks. On the other hand, previous experiences may have left them confident, willing to take chances and experience the unknown. Either way, one must acknowledge the role of previous experiences as elements of their perceptual filter in the current dilemma. These factors, along with others, work together to form the perceptual filters through which people experience conflict. As a result, their reactions to the threat and dilemma posed by conflict should be anticipated to include varying understandings of the situation. This also means that they can anticipate that in many conflicts there will be significant misunderstanding of each other’s perceptions, needs and feelings. These challenges contribute to our emerging sense, during conflict, that the situation is overwhelming and unsolvable. As such, they become critical sources of potential understanding, insight and possibility. How do people respond to conflict? There are three responses to conflict emotional, cognitive and physical responses that are important windows into our experience during conflict, for they frequently tell people more about what is the true source of threat that is perceived; by understanding the thoughts, feelings and behavior to conflict, a better insig ht into the best potential solution to the situation. Emotional (feelings) are the feelings we experience in conflict, ranging from anger and fear to despair and confusion. Emotional responses are often misunderstood, as people tend to believe that others feel the same as they do. Thus, differing emotional responses are confusing and, at times, threatening. Cognitive (thinking) are our ideas and thoughts about a conflict, often present as inner voices or internal observers in the midst of a situation. Through sub-vocalization (self-talk), people understand these cognitive responses. Physical (behavior) can play an important role in our ability to meet our needs in the conflict. They include heightened stress, bodily tension, increased perspiration, tunnel vision, shallow or accelerated breathing, nausea, and rapid heartbeat. These responses are similar to those we experience in high-anxiety situations, and they may be managed through stress management techniques. Establishing a calmer environment in which emotions can be managed is more likely if the physical response is addressed effectively. Dealing with someone unwilling to negotiate can be difficult for the person who is trying to resolve the conflict. However, the â€Å"8 Step Model† can be very beneficial, by focusing first on listening to the other person, and seeking to u nderstand the sources of their resistance, the stage can be set for clarifying the conditions he or she requires in order to talk things out. This is not about being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in the situation, but a practical strategy for getting the other person engaged as a partner in the negotiation process. Another alternative is to focus on things we can do to influence conflicts in the future, rather than putting initial energy into understanding (or solving) problems we have had in the past. By remaining relatively flexible about the agenda – taking on topics individuals care about, but not necessarily the most pressing issues – thus, creating an opportunity to reduce the fears associated with resistance. While the conflict may not be able to be truly resolved, some key issues that exist will be managed and will help to prevent the issues from getting worse. Power is an important and complex issue facing anyone seeking a negotiated solution to a conflict. Before negotiating clarify the true sources of power in the room: The boss has position power, associated with the â€Å"carrots and sticks† that come with the role. She or he may also have coercive power, supported by contracts or statute that compels employees to behave in certain ways and do certain tasks associated with the job. Some may have a great deal of expertise power, accumulated from doing your job over a period of time. Either conflict participants may possess normative power, through which they know â€Å"the lay of the land† in their department and, therefore, how to get things done. And either may possess referent power, through which others show respect for the manner in which the employee conducts themselves. Generally, referent power accrues to those who demonstrate a mature willingness to seek collaborative solutions. An impasse is the sense of being â€Å"stuck†. Impasse is the point within a dispute in which the parties are unable to perceive effective solutions. People feel stuck, frustrated, angry, and disillusioned. Therefore, they might either dig their heels in deeper, anchoring themselves in extreme and rigid positions, or they might decide to withdraw from negotiation. Either way, impasse represents a turning point in our efforts to negotiate a solution to the conflict. As such, rather than avoiding or dreading it, impasse should be viewed with calmness, patience, and r espect. Multi-party disputes are complex situations, and they require careful attention and persistence. However, the same â€Å"8 Step Model† can be applied to the disputes. In spite of using the same process expect everything to take a bit longer than if there where only two or three people. Patiently make sure that all points of view are heard, that issues are clarified for all to see, and that all members in the group accept the agreements being negotiated. If there are limits to the group’s decision-making power, then it is important to acknowledge those limits and understand how they are perceived by all members of the group. There are many different ideas of the steps for resolution, some claim five steps while others claim six or seven for the purpose of this paper Weeks (1992) eight step resolution style is identified. Step one – Create an Effective Atmosphere Creating the right atmosphere in which the conflict resolution process will take place is very important, yet most overlook its importance. The atmosphere is the frame around the canvas which will be painted the negotiations and building of better relationships (Weeks, 1992). Step two – Clarify Perceptions Perceptions are lenses through which a person sees themselves, others, their relationships, and the situations they encounter. Perceptions have a great influence on behavior of people. Once people perceive something in certain way, even if the perception is wrong, in the mind it is that way, and often base behaviors on that perception (Weeks, 1992). Step three – Focus on the Individual and Shared Needs This step builds on the previous step as needs as the conditions people perceive they cannot do without, those conditions critical to each persons wellbeing and relationships. However, step three focuses more on skills involved in the conflict partnership approach. There are several key points to keep in mind in this step. 1) Needs are the foundation of relationship and are an essential part of that foundation. 2) People sometimes confuse needs with desires. 3) Personal needs in relationships perceived by individuals must allow for respect of the needs or the relationship (Weeks, 1992). Step four – Build Shared Power Power is a part of every relationship. However, the way people perceive and use power is seen frequently as a dirty word. Such as when people use power as means to control or to manipulate some else to get what they want. Although, power is and of itself not corrupt, it is the way in which people use their power and whether they allow such power to corrupt. Developing positive self power through a clear self-image means that we base our perceptions of ourselves not on what others expect of us or want us to be but what we believe to be our own needs, capabilities, priorities and goals (Weeks, 1992, p. 152). Step five – Look to the Future, Then Learn from the Past. All relationships and conflicts have a past, present and future. Resolving conflicts requires dealing with all three. The conflict partnership process encourages the use of positive power to focus on the present-future to learn from the past. The past experiences people face set the landscape for present and future decision making and how relate to others (Weeks, 1992). Step six – Generate Options People have the ability to discover new possibilities in their relationships as well as conflict resolution. However, both are often impaired by the packaged truths and limited vision people hold onto in times of stress, insecurity, and conflict. Generating options breaks through the predetermined restrictions brought into the conflict resolution process. Generating options imparts choices which specific steps to resolve conflicts and enhanced relationship can be agreed upon (Weeks, 1992). Step seven – Develop â€Å"Doables†: the Stepping-stones to Action Doables are the necessary stepping-stones taken along the way to resolve conflict. Doables are explicit acts that stand a good possibility of success, meet some individual and shared need, and depend on positive power, usually shared power to be carried out. Working on and accomplishing some doables can help the conflict partners see more clearly where they need to go. Many conflict partners have changed their preconceived definitions of both the conflict itself and the expected outcome due to the lessons learned and clarified perceptions through working with doables (Weeks, 1992) Step eight – Make Mutual-Benefit Agreements Mutual-benefit agreements are the next step on the pathway to conflict resolution. Conflict resolution agreements must be realistic and effective enough to survive and the potential to develop further as challenges arise in the future. Mutual-benefit agreements replace the need or want for demands, see the others needs, shared goals, and establish a standard wherein power is identified as positive mutual action through which differences can be dealt with constructively (Weeks, 1992). Conclusion Conflict is an unavoidable aspect of everyday life whether it is with family, teachers, students, friends, or an organization. The best approach to resolving conflict is interest reconciliation. It joins both parties of the dispute to find the best solution. In so doing, all parties win. People respond to conflict in three ways emotional (feelings), cognitive (thinking), and physical (behavior). All are important to the conflict experience. They allow a better awareness to best furnish a solution to the situation. An important tactic to conflict resolution is to develop persuasion skills with the ability to clearly explain one’s point of view and to argue for their conclusions and convictions. Week’s Eight-Step Process is a valuable tool in helping people to become more strategic about resolving conflict. References Borisoff, D., and D. A. Victor., (1997). Conflict management: A communication skills approach, 2nd ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Conflict, (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflict Coser, L. A. 1967. Continuities in the study of social conflict. New York: Free Press. Dana, D. (2001). Conflict resolution. New York: Mcgraw-Hill. Fry, D. P., and Bjorkqvist K., (1997). Cultural variation in conflict resolution. Mahwah, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hathaway, W., (1995). A new way of viewing dispute resolution training. Mediation Quarterly, 13(1), 37-45. doi:10.1002/crq.3900130105 Kolb, D. M., & Putnam, L. L. (1992). The Multiple Faces of Conflict in Organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, (3), 311. doi:10.2307/2488478 Pondy, L. R. (1992). Reflections on organizational conflict. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 257-261. Volkema, R. J., and Bergmann T. J., (1989). Interpersonal conflict at work: an analysis of behavioral responses. Human Relations 42: 757-770. Weeks, D. (1992). The eight essential steps to conflict resolution: preserving relationships at work, at home, and in the community. Los Angeles, J.P. Tarcher; New York: Distributed by St. Martin’s Press Wilmot, W. W. (1995). Relational communication. New York: McGraw-Hill. Yarbrough, E., and Wilmot W., (1995). Artful mediation: Constructive conflict at work. Boulder, Colo.: Cairns Publishing.

English-language films Essay

?I saw this quote in Mr. Laxman Gnawali’s laptop and I copied it right away, I don’t know but I liked that line very much. The quote was written on the wall of some park the place was really clean and that picture showed that it was really nice clean with lots of trees. After searching it in the internet I found it that it was the attribute to those who lost their lives in the war. We were talking about the teaching training session. We were told that we can achieve the next level in our career but we need to concentrate and do the session delivery seriously. There the quote was quite related because we had the freedom to be a teacher trainer but we have to be more responsible and develop certain habit, there with the freedom comes the responsibility. Looking at the history of freedom one can always see war as the synonyma for the freedom. The first thing that comes in our mind when we talk about freedom is war and quarrels. This phrase is mostly used by the people to show gratitude towards those who have lost their life in wars. There are so many articles and books written on them or about them. Shiv Khera have written a book â€Å"freedom is not Free† and there are mny other people who have talked about it and this is the phrase I think will be talked in coming future or as long as the existence of the human beings. Freedoms are rights of individuals, according to Webster it’s a state in which somebody is able to act and live as he or she chooses, without being subject to any, or to any undue, restraints and restrictions. As our country is democratic country and we proudly say that we are free, we have every freedom to do whatever we like to but in the beginning we fought for our freedom, can we still be fighting. In the beginning we fought for our freedom, with the birtishers, we fought with them not for the freedom but to keep our country free. We fought for the democracy from the Rana rulers and then we fought for the cruel royal rule and we achieve the freedom but the question remains that we have been fighting within ourselves. Now we have the ability to exercise free will and make choices independently of any external determining force, but are we truly free. I think we are still fighting within ourselves for the freedom we dream of. History has been our eyewitness that whenever we fought we fought to rule and not for the development or growth and we are still doing that. First we had MAHISHPAL than came GOPALA DYNESTYR and KIRAT after that many other than the most influential SHAH now we have politicians ruling still to rule not to develop. If I talk about the freedom realting with our history than it will never finish. Historians believe we’re not free, but on the other hand I just say we have our rights and restrains. Because completely unrestricted freedom of action would make peaceful human existence impossible, some restraints on freedom of action are necessary and inevitable. But, we do have to recognize that basic limitation, to make our life safe. We the people have to turn over some of our rights so that our country performs right and many say that the government is in our business but if they weren’t all chaos would occur. But, Freedom becomes a cost, a cost of just giving up some rights in return to be a great nation. But, some cost could become a concern. In the declaration of independence, Thomas Jefferson have clearly stated the difficulties and problems that America has to face on the process. The very recent and clear example abo;ut freedom is not free is our own country’s fight against the maost. We faced difficulties than one can imagine but ultimately we overcame with all the difficulties we faced. In the process of freedom government has to include all the armies of moist as well. There comes the pay for freedom. We had to go through traumas which many of the nation have been through but that trauma was from our own people to their own family. India, the biggest country with large population, which is emerging ijn every field in this modern time, have faced problems. They were colonized by British people and treated in the most cruel behave that one could ever treat to another human being in their own country but they fought for their freedom and have lost so many lives but at last they are free. The payment that they paid for the freedom are the lives, the great politicians and enthusiastic youths, there county were divided into parts and there is still fight among those country. Though they got the freedom they are still paying for it, that is why freedom is not free. America the land of opportunity, was not free and with the help of many freedom fighters they declare the independence. Instead of freedom they call it independent, as everyone knows in America most of the people are from different countries, the native people, the red Indians have actually lost their identity in order to be independent or free. the country have faced so many difficulties and still facing but it is the free country everyone says and believed that but they have the most criminal records and most frustration within their country. The fragmented society, self-centered individual, loss of culture and focus point of terrorism are the payment USA is paying with. Every country have their own struggle and history of freedom and the kinds pf payment they are paying as the freedom is not free. All the great people in this world has paid one or the other way for the freedom they fought for. Countries have faced the war and loss of the youngsters but the individual who are the great influential for that event lost their family ,loved once, and their own life as well. Hitler’s life story also suggest that freedom is not free. he hated zuse and to free himself from them he committed the crime which no human can forget and he is the most cruel person in this world. He could not face the failure and to make himself free from the thought of failure he continued doing the things which kept him free from that thought and the payment for the freedom of his thought is being cruel and called murderer and be alone in all his life. However his murder is still have no actual evidence but he was killed because he was becoming cruel and threat for many people so in the quest of freedom to free the abuse and feeling of failure he paid it with his life. Mahatma Gandhi, India call him their BAPU, was hated by his son because he had no time to spend with the family as he was in great mission to free his country from the Birtish. He freed his fellow country but the payment was his own children, he was killed by the very young person as people saw that his generosity is causing the country into many countries. He was free from all the material things and loved by all the people but to gain this freedom to loved by everyone with his life. The four martyrs, who was killed by rana rulers for their freedom speech also shows that whatever our country have got is not free. in whatever way we are enjoying or complaining about is actually the payment that those martyrs paid. They were from well known and educated family but in the quest to free the country from the ranas they paid their life and we got freedom. Being anyone as human is not free from all the responsibilities and rules that we need to follow. As a baby you are free to cry over anything but the payment is most of the time people don’t understand what your problem is. As a student you are allowed to make noise or make wrong choice but the payment is later on you have to fail in your exam and in your life. As a social worker you have the freedom to help others and take their pain as your own and the payment you have to pay is your time, for you and for your family, as an engineer, your freedom is to use any model but the payment is you have to be responsible for the lives of the people who will stay there, as writer you are free to write anything but the payment is no one will write about you, as the teacher you have the freedom to conduct your classroom as you wanted but the payment is you have to be the model all the time, you cannot make any mistake if you do you have to deal with all the consequences that might occur or the payment is your time and effort. When you see some advertisement on television about the free scheme, we always need to buy something with it because nothing is free, not even the water, the air. Freedom is actually the metaphor for all the responsibilities that comes with freedom. When one becomes the minister or join the politics, like in our country everyone blames them to be the negative one, you are free to be the politician but the payment is you won’t be trusted. When I first started to teach I don’t have any freedom to chose what I do in the classroom, so I was just following whatever the teacher told me to do and there no one expected anything from me so I was free from the responsibility and the payment I was paying is getting the low pay. As I developed the teaching learning skill and given the full responsibility of the class, I had the freedom to do any kind of things in the classroom and make it my own and include everything I have learnt but the payment is time and the continuous work load and no self time. Likewise with the PGDE course we had the freedom to garnish ourselves and the payment is all the criteria that was set for us to be what we were trained to be. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE, even the quote is controversial because when freedom is not free than why would one use these words and if it is used why it is mostly related with the people who have done so much for the betterment of the human being?