Knowledge Management and Instructional Technology Essay -- Knowledge M

Knowledge Management and Instructional Technology The new "buzz word" in many corporate circles currently is the term "Knowledge Management or K.M." KM is considered mostly a role for the Information Technologist because of its storage of the company's information on databases. Because of the "info-glut" that is occurring in many corporations, K.M. is strongly becoming the role for the Instructional Technologist to group that information into training modules for the corporate Intranet, so that the corporation's employees can retrieve the "knowledge" in a real-time, need-to-know basis. In this white paper, I will define Knowledge Management from a business and an educational perspective. I will also discuss two basic strategies for Knowledge Management and the role the Instructional Technologist will have in the process. What is Knowledge Management? From the business perspective, the definition of Knowledge Management from the Business College of the University of Texas is The systematic process of finding, selecting, organizing, distilling, and presenting information in a way that improves an employee's comprehension in a specific area of interest. Knowledge management helps the organization to gain insight and understanding from its own experience. Specific Knowledge Management activities help focus the organization on acquiring, storing and utilizing knowledge for such things as problem-solving, dynamic learning, strategic planning and decision making (1998). In the article "Intellectual Capital and You" in Training Magazine, Knowledge Management is defined as " An effort to capture or tap an organization's collective experience and wisdom- including the tacit know-how that exists in people's head... ...eved September 17, 1999 from EBSCO Business Search on the Galileo: http://www.galileo.gsu.edu. Gordon, J. (1999). The whole enchilada: intellectual capital and you. Training Magazine Retrieved on September 13, 1999 from Training Supersite: http: //www.trainingsupersite.com/publications/magazines/training/909cover.htm Hansen, M., Nohria, N. & Tierney, T. ( 1999, March-April). What's your strategy for managing knowledge? Harvard Business Review, reprint 990206 Mudge, A. (1999, April-May). Knowledge Management: Do we know that we know? Communication World, (16)5, Retrieved on September 17, 1999 from EBSCO Business Search: http://mariner.galileo.gsu.edu Van Buren, M. (1999, May). A yardstick for knowledge management, Training & Development, (53)5 pp. 71+ Retrieved on September 17, 1999 from EBSCO Business Search on Galileo: http://mariner.galileo.gsu.edu

Free Much Ado About Nothing Essays: Relationships :: Much Ado About Nothing Essays

Much Ado About Nothing:   Relationships  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Shakespeare In Much Ado About Nothing, most of the characters had interesting relationships with each other.   For example, Hero and Claudio, were deeply in love.   Also, Don Juan, and Don John were fighting with each other.   Another example was the close friendship between Benedick, Claudio, and Don Juan.   But the relationship between Benedick and Beatrice was different than the others.   In their relationship, they hated each other, that brought them together.   Their personalities were so similar, that it made them sick of each other, but the similarities in their personalities is also what brought them together.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Benedick was a smart, good-looking, and funny guy.   He was very witty, and always had a response to anyone's comments.   For example, when he was talking to Beatrice, he always had a comment to finish of the conversation.   He also didn't like the idea of marriage.   Benedick thought that marriage led to the trapping of men.   When he heard about Claudio getting married, Benedick thought that Claudio was crazy, because Benedick felt that marriage was going to change the way Claudio lived.   Benedick was also very stubborn.   He never wanted to give into other people's ideas, and that was why he didn't want to give into the idea that marriage could be a good thing in a person's life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Beatrice was a character very similar to Benedick.   She was a very independent person, and didn't want to rely on anyone for support.   She also was very smart.   She enjoyed reading poetry, and thought about things a lot.   She also was against marriage.   During one conversation, she even said that she would rather die than get   married.   Another characteristic of Beatrice was that she was very emotional.   She often changed her mood all of a sudden for no apparent reason.   Also, Beatrice kept many of her feelings inside her.   Sometimes she would be angry but wouldn't show it,because she always had to feel strong, and look like she didn't need anyone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The traits and characteristics of Beatrice and Benedick were what brought them together, and also what separated them. Beatrice and Benedick were separated because, they always thought that they had to be independent, and not need each other. Another factor that kept them from coming together was that they always fought with each other.   In trying to seem strong, they were actually fighting with each other, and hurting each other's feelings.

Spin Masters Toys Case Write-Up

MG 640 Spin Master Toys (A): Finding A Manufacturer for E-Chargers 1. ) Executive Summary: †¢ Spin Master Toys core competencies are marketing and bringing creative toys to market. †¢ Alex Perez should choose Wah Shing and utilize their core competencies of manufacturing electronic toys. †¢ Electronic components can be difficult to acquire therefore Wah Shing’s relationships with suppliers will be beneficial. Speed to market is key, therefore Wah Shing has the best capabilities to meet Spin Master delivery commits †¢ Building long-term supplier relationship with Wah Shing is imperative if Spin Masters decides to stay in the electronic toy industry. 2. ) My assessment of the process Spin Masters has used to get to this point is, they are really good at developing good relationships with retailers, investors and have in-depth knowledge of research and development of various toys. Spin Masters has expertise in developing low technology â€Å"fad† toys a nd distributing them to retailers quickly.Spin Masters lacks engineering and manufacturing capabilities and therefore it’s necessary to outsource both. The company used their own â€Å"grassroots marketing† campaigns to stimulate interest in their toys. Spin Master’s has a â€Å"botched† process when it comes to the manufacturing and delivery of their toys. This end process appears to always be a â€Å"scramble† especially as they enter the electronic toys market. Since electronic toys are new to Spin Master, they should have utilized an early supplier involvement strategy.A company like Wah Shing early on could help them with the engineering and development from an early stage and then manufacture the plane for Spin Master Toys. Spin masters is good at marketing and bringing creative toys to market, whereas a company like Wah Shing has expertise in engineering and manufacturing of electronic toys. In short, it’s best to take one company's w eaknesses and mate them up with another company’s core competencies. 3. ) As Alex Perez, of the two potential suppliers, I would choose Wah Shing. Wah Shing’s core competencies include the engineering and manufacturing of various electronic toys.Spin Masters needs to find a manufacturer who is capable of providing high quality products in a short time span. Wah Shing has a very large facility which includes 6 engineers, 3,500 total employees and is the preferred electronic toy manufacturer for some of the largest companies in the toy industry. With that said, Wah Shing has a reputation for the manufacturing of high quality electronic toys. One of the biggest obstacles I currently face is getting E-Chargers to market on time to obtain the first mover advantage. Wah Shing has only 20% of its manufacturing capacity available but that is still a lot of freed up space for E-Chargers.The company could possibly devote a total of 700 employees (20% of 3,500 employees) to focus only on the manufacturing of E-Chargers. Currently, Spin Master needs a total of 20,000 units therefore each employee would be responsible for a total of 29 E-Chargers. Since many of the smaller components are sourced from other companies, this appears to be an achievable milestone to meet for the December deadline. In considering Wah Shing as a supplier for E-Chargers, cost and financial risk needs to be taken into account. Wah Shing has annual revenues of nearly $40 million, which is over $10 million more than other Hong Kong competitors.Without knowing any further details, it is safe to assume Wah Shing is in good financial health due to their proven track record with Hasbro and Tiger. There does not appear to be any indicators that Wah Shing has or will have any financial burdens in the near future. In terms of cost, Wah Shing appears to be slightly more expensive than Wai Lung. The per unit difference is about $. 32-$. 37 (HK$2. 45-HK$2. 83) depending on the container load. Wa h Shing also includes critical components such as the motor and the capacitor in their pricing quote where Wai Lung does not.This can be due to the fact that Wai Lung does not have a reliable supply base in line for electronic components. I am faced with stringent time constraints and therefore I cannot risk any possible supply disruptions. As for Wah Shing they have developed good supplier relationships with electrical component suppliers. This is crucial as the components used in E-Chargers are not always readily available. Wah Shing has minimal financial risk, competitive pricing and more knowledge of the componentry that E-Chargers entail.Wah Shing has produced other complex electronic toys and therefore would have the processes and technological capabilities to produce an E-Charger within the stringent tolerances. It would be hard for me to change Wai Lung’s core competencies of die-casting and plastic toys. I do not think with the time I’m allotted I would be abl e to overcome the knowledge gap they have for electronic toys. Wah Shing’s engineers have the ability to closely monitor the production of E-Chargers and correct any problems that may arise in the manufacturing process.It is imperative to have engineers readily available who can help prevent any potential work stoppages as Spin Masters does not have a lot of time to get E-Charges to market. Lastly, after careful consideration I noticed Hasbro does have relationships with both Wai Lung and Wah Shing. Hasbro has contracted less complex toys to Wai Lung as that’s their core business and more complex electronic toys to Wah Shing. This has further imbedded that knowledge is power especially when it comes to more complex toys.Lastly, after careful consideration Spin Master Toys has invested heavily in E-Chargers and it’s my responsibility to ensure the correct supplier is chosen. Another determining factor that I had noticed is Wai Lung is only at 40% capacity whereas Wah Shing is at 80% capacity. If E-Chargers really take off as planned, I need to engage in a longer-term supplier relationship. This is especially true since Spin Master is aligned with introducing a full line of E-Chargers. While Harary was visiting Wai Lung, he mentioned that they had â€Å"lost a significant portion† of their business due to a â€Å"disagreement with a large toy company†.I realized that Wai Lung may not be our best option as they don’t have a proven track record especially with a large toy company. This could possibly be the result of so much capacity becoming available. Harary also advised that Wai Lung may not be in a position to take on new projects in the short term. Spin Master’s E-Charger does not appear to be a good fit for Wai Lung as they need as much attention as possible to expedite their products through the manufacturing process. 4. ) In implementing my decision to have Wah Shing be the supplier of choice for E-Chargers, I would first have to close the loop of management communication.My main focus is to be the first to market with E-Chargers and in doing so I need to communicate with senior leadership at Wah Shing. I believe messages and priorities are best delivered from the top down, so I need to get my message to the top. Wah Shing currently has a lot of work in house, so even if Spin Masters has to pay expedite charges it will be well worth it if we get to market first. Also, not only would I like to meet senior leadership personally I would like to have our two project managers based in Hong Kong meet them as well. This is a starting point in creating a personal relationship with key contacts of Wah Shing.The ideal relationship I would like to see develop would be to have these two managers visit Wah Shing on a regular basis as it’s only 5 hours away. The next step in implementing my decision would be to understand how Wah Shing communicates with their customers. I would like to know i f they have any electronic data interchange (EDI) capabilities so Spin Master can have daily updates in real-time as to the status of their products. Wah Shing delivers quality products, but anything can happen with a newly developed product in the manufacturing process, for example a batch of E-Chargers could possibly weight too much and not fly.Real-time production updates can better align myself and Spin Master Toys to help Wah Shing overcome such issues. Also with the use of such real-time information we can update our customers and provide current status on their orders. Over the next six months I have to ensure many tasks are carried out in a timely manner. These tasks include, making sure the quote package is completed by July 1st, vendor quotes are expedited to meet our July 10th date, and the final design release is on schedule as well. I will be a busy guy and will have to utilize my project management skills.Once all of my preliminary tasks are complete, I will be traveli ng to Wah Shing frequently to ensure our E-Chargers are on track for our shipment deadline to retailers. I will have to monitor and address the 35-day lead-time for tooling, as this could be an opportunity for us to take some time out of the process. While visiting Wah Shing I will also be addressing key issues such as capacity. I want to ensure that Wah Shing is utilizing the right people to our products as we cannot afford to lose any more time.Capacity is very important at this time as we’re only forecasting 20,000 units right now but we need room to increase our capacity as we ramp up. In the month of November I will be closely monitoring our ramp-up schedule as I do not want any E-charger stock-outs. E-Chargers will be on an end-cap; therefore our product will have a lot of visibility to customers. As I said before as Spin Masters and I develop a good working relationship with Wah Shing a lot of the bottlenecks we face with E-Chargers may not occur in the future if we st ay in the electronic toys market. Word count: 1,647

Management and Organization

Does a strong organizational culture and organizational commitment increase the overall of a firm? Illustrate a real life example to support your arguments. Introduction For choosing this topic for the essay ,It is because organizational culture is the heartbeat of a firm. It determined the way the firm run and the self-value of the founder and the main value of the company ,After reading this essay people can easily under stand the two main element: management practice and innovation and risk taking. And also knowing how the way this two values bring good influence of high performance .The main objectives in the essay is to show people what is the connection between organizational culture,strong organizational culture and commitment of the organization and how they are closely related to the overall performance of a firm. During the essay , theory is there to support the ideas . And to connect the two task we first need to know about organizational culture and the role of it in a co mpany, then we need to understand how does strong culture bring influence to a organizational commitment and how are these three task increase the overall performance of the firm.To present the issues about the organizational culture,strong organizational culture and organizational commitment there is a real -life example explaining that those three factors that could bring good influence to IKEA, a well known global furniture company from Sweden and explain the theory base on the company dynamic. First this essay will examine some background information about the firm, to help readers to understand more detail about how those three factors influence the corporate.Background information of IKEA IKEA was found in 1943 as a mail order company in a small village in the southern part of the Sweden a place called Smaland. . The founder of IKEA is called Ingvar Kampala,and he stared to deliver with a van to the train station, . IKEA has started to use catalogue for selling and provided a place that customer can be use and touch in the 1950s. The company's three main traits were function, quality , and low price.IKEA started to but their goods from the eastern part of the Europe because of the supply problem. In the 1960s, IKEA opened a storehouse in Stockholm for customers to serve them self , IKEA had turned a difficult problems as a special selling way . By now IKEA has develop over 150 shops around the worldKling;Goteman,2003) . Organizational Culture To analyses how strong corporate culture bring the influence to improve the overall performance,Firstly,identifying corporate culture is the first step to start with.Although organizational culture was definite in variety of ways and aspect,many people think that organizational culture is a group of values, beliefs ,ways of working ,principle ,behavior and attitude that share by all of the member and the image of the company. In the other hand,corporate culture should be considered as the correct way that the things to be done and solution of solving the problems in the firm. The culture of the organization also help the managers to make decision by providing better ways to think, feel and take reaction because the culture of the firm is concluded by experience of the elders of the firm.For new employees,culture is the correct way that to react ,so ,culture can continues corporate survival and development. (sun,2008) The function of the organization culture is another key point , first to build up the feelings to people that they are belonging to the firm and personal commitment along the firm, Secondly, creating a competitive edge to enable the members (especially to new members) in the organization to well understand acceptable behavior and social system stability (Sun,2008).Therefore, a excellent company need to have a strong corporate culture which can attract , keeping and prized employees to behave good , achieving goals and performance as a role model for others. And strong culture alwa ys being professionalism and co-operation in the services of common values(Sun,2008). For IKEA, there organizational culture it's a very informal type ,the culture is based on some values that roots in Smalandish or Swedish culture. And things like informality and cost awareness and a â€Å"down to earth earth â€Å"approach.Also letting their employee to be responsible ,during the communicate and training for the new staff there are a few of values and intention held by IKEA that they always mention about. For IKEA, the firm have the thought that organizational culture is a very important part in running a business. It have been focus on our sales, development and also of marketing. (Kling and Goteman,2003). But having a simple culture is not enough and can not fulfill the condition to achieve success, so a Strong organization culture is needed to increase the performance of the firm.Benefit of strong organizational culture Every company are assuming to have a â€Å"Strong Cultu re† , which is always definite as which key value are deeply and widely hold and also bring strong influence among the members of the organization. Culture is a hidden forces that can provides meaning and direction, that is system that can share the meaning, belief and values that can ultimately affect employees behavior, so is much obvious in strong organizational culture.The performance benefit from strong culture are ,Firstly,general consensus and recognition of corporate values and norm help with the social control inside of the firm, people are broadly agree that the specific acts are more appropriate that others , invasion of behavior will be found out much quickly and corrected faster, and the correction may be usually come from the employees come from different department and different hierarchy. Therefore,social control can reduce the cost and much efficiency that the formal control,.Secondly,the strong organizational culture improve the goals alignment with clear org anizational goals and practice, less uncertainty may happen to the employees and they could know how to react with unexpected situations , it also conductive with the coordination, there are less debate chances for different parties in the firm about the best interest. At last , strong organizational culture enhance employees performance and enthusiasm, because they think that they are free to chose what they want(Jesper B. 2002). For IKEA the CEO of the firm that name Anders Dahlvig thinks that â€Å"culture has to have some baring on and support the business idea or very important part of a company ion the senses that the values of the culture really influence the business itself. †Some certain factors need to be much stronger in some of the countries like cost consciousness in China. commitment of the organization Organizational commitment have it's important place ,base on the knowledge f organizational culture we would know that corporate culture shapes people's behavior , and it had also brings big influence in organization, particularly in areas such as performance and commitment. Organizational Commitment is always known as the mentally strength of the attachment between an organizational and the employees, and also refer to the willingness of employee to put their time and energy to their corporate , other than the purely working relationship.According to Lahiry(1994), there was a model that organizational commitment is mixture with three element: affective, continence and nominative commitment that have brings lots of influence. According to Moradi, Hassan and Tohidy Ardahae ,affective commitment is build by three feature, that are belief and accept the organization's goals and value,willing to put effort to achieve the goals and value of the corporate and desire to maintain the membership of the corporate.Continence commitment is that how many the firm need to pay for if the employee leave the firm. Nominative commitment means that employees feelings about bound of remaining the firm. According to Lahiry(1994), â€Å"practitioners should pay special attention that defensive culture patten were found to be positively related to continence commitment. † A high scale of continence commitment may tired up the employee to the firm.In the example of IKEA, the CEO ,Anders Dahvig said that in different countries and market there are different of the values ,national boundaries is not the main attention, It is more about personal , some of the time the difference between one store and another can be even bigger than the store between one country and another, how is the individual managers doing is much more important, because of the different level of the commitment the employee hold, it really influence the culture.Putting attention on culture is to be fair when you are hiring people, you assess and choose a person, then when the operation go on, you will know that a typical of behavior will be prized and it is the way t o streamline . And employee can analyses if the value of the company is suitable for them or not. So the staff who leave are the people that having the organizational commitment . Overall performance For the organizational culture numbers of the research also show that to assume thepresence of a â€Å"strong† culture as a positive influence on orporate performance . According to Han(2012) , an analysis show that the impacts of types of organizational culture affects on corporate performance , showing that family-like clan culture and the entrepreneurial Adhocracy culture had a good influence on the growth of the financial performance. It also show that a strong ,appropriate culture brings effect on the financial performance . The relationship between them are direct, however it always bring effect of strategic orientation.So if the managers put more time and effort a much stronger culture it will improve there performance through increasing interest in culture that employees will like, so the organizational commitment will certainly increase. In IKEA, they allow lots of freedom depending on their employee that who they are and what their specific skills are basing on their core culture value and they had try to connect there culture with their company image, and they also wants the leaders in the IKEA , build up their own style basis on there organizational culture.They also build there selling points base on one of their culture-cost consciousness, they are not the traditional furniture company that had target their customers as middle age people, but on the young families and young people that has low financial foundation and the furniture has to be assemble by yourself. For Organizational commitment, according to Lam (2011), â€Å"that salespeople's dispositional competitiveness relates to their discretionary performance and that affective commitment mediates that relationship†.It had also provided more details evidence that competitive salesp eople commit more emotionally to their corporate when they think their work atmosphere to be more competitive. That study show that affective commitment is another mediator, which helps to clarification why competitive employee are willing to perform discretionary activities behalf of organizations and customers. That findings had show that hiring person that share the same value and goals with the organization is important and affective commitment helps to explain why competitive individuals make good employees.The impact of a competitive personality on affective commitment is always interrelated , it explain that competitive individuals feel emotionally attached to the organizations. In IKEA, there were a lot of co-workers in the company, but there are some turnover of staff that affected in the company, so IKEA need to hire 20,000 new staff into the firm every year , they should get training to met customer basis on the value of the firm, it help the firm to build up their cultur e strongly and connected them the corporate image.They are also selected during the recruitment that share the same value as IKEA, Increasing the organizational commitment ,so the firm can decrease the percentage of turnover and reduce the expense on training new staff , and the loyalty of the employee will improve . The relationship between employee and organization is not purely working relationship. IKEA also give questionnaire to their co-workers of the feeling of the firm , and try to improve the satisfy of their employees. ConclusionFor conclusion , strong organizational culture and organizational commitment have bring improvement to the overall performance of the firm , in management and financial . Strong organizational culture is the organizational culture that had been widely and deeply held by their employees , it help the corporate to improve their financial performance, For IKEA,they allow freedom to their leader to build their own management style basis on the value of their company ,they are also building their core value as there products selling points.Organizational commitment is a mentally strength of the attachment between the employee and the organization, it help the organization to decrease there staff turnover and reduce the expense on training, so strong organizational culture and Organizational commitment has increased the overall of the firm and people can understand much easily basing on the example of IKEA. References Daniel I. Prajogo, Christopher M.McDermott, (2011),†The relationship between multidimensional organizational culture and performance†, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 31 Iss: 7 pp. 712 – 735 Han, H. J. (2012). Corporate Culture, Strategic Orientation, and Financial Performance. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 53  (3), 207– 219. Hassan, M. & Tohidy Ardahaey, F. (2012). The Role of Emotional Intelligence in  Organizational  Commitment  . social science r esearch network,  . Jesper, B. The Strength of Corporate Culture and the Reliability of Firnn Performance. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Kling, K. & Goteman, I. (2003). IKEA CEO Anders Dahlvig on international growth and IKEA's unique corporate culture and brand identity. Academy o/ Management Executive, 17  (1). Lahiry, S. (1994). organization cultures, research studies Building organizational commitment through Organization culture. training and development, Lam (2011). Impact of competitiveness on salespeople's commitment and performance  .Journal of Business Research,  1328-1334. Lim, B. (1995). Examining the organizational culture and organizational performance link. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 16  (5), 16-21. Sun, S. (2008). Organizational Culture and Its Themes. International Journal Of Business and Management, 3  (1). Zabid, M. D. , Sambasivan, M. & Johari, J. , The influence of corporate culture and organizational commitment on perform ance. Journal of Management Development,  .

The Problems of Lima City

The problems of Lima city Lima city is full of charm and scenic beauty, so visitors from around the world come to enjoy its typical dishes, museums,countless beaches and scenic wonders. Although Lima seems like a paradise,Not all what we find there is as as good as we think. Believe it or not, but Lima has several serious problems such as the poor public transportation,crime-violence and the bad infrastructure due to the lots of suburbs and places that have lack of lots of services. The first and most important problem in lima is its inadequate public transportation system. Thousand of residents rely on the city’s buses and minibuses to travel throughout this large city, however the bus routes are poorly planned wich cause rush hours and traffic. For example: a person who should take the bus at 7:45 am may not take it until eight o’clock or even later. Sometimes three or more buses or minibuses arrive in bunches at time that people are waiting, but they can’t the buses because they are full. That’s why, passengers frequently become unhappy become this problem causes them to be late for work or to miss important appointments. THE TRANSPORTATION,2010 ISABEL GUERRA The second serious problem that Lima faces is crime and violence. The security in Lima has declined in the last years because police corruption have increased in line with rising level of poverty. Besides the profileration of low-income settlements wich are known as â€Å"barriadas† that have as members young people that steal.. Nowadays, we can see lots of people who are complaining about the security in this city. According to some city polls, 82% of people who live in Lima say that they were robbed at least once while they were walking around the streets of this â€Å"insecure† city. Not only that, but people are also concerned about leaving home alone. To illustrate it, more than 50% houses were robbed during the last holydays. So to wrap out this, people are not secure neigher on the streets nor at home. BULLETIN OF LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH VOL. 27, NO. 2 The final problem is the lack of good infrastructure of housing and services in Lima. This is an interesting city that offers a good lifestyle for young, ambitious business and professional people. Also, immigrants are attracted to this city because is has tourist attractions and offers variety of typical dishes. All of these tourists or immigrants would need rental units that are in good conditions like apartments, flats and single family houses. But, unfortunately, Lima’s rental units have an old infrastructure. That’s why most of the buildings of Lima downtown are declarated in danger. Even though this, we insist on living in those old buildings. That is not secure for all the people who live, work or go to those places at all. â€Å"LIMA:BIG CITY AND BIG PROBLEM†, 2000 GILBERT A. In conclusion, Lima city must improve its public transit system for avoiding the traffic, develop a project to become places safe and housing in good conditions. In others words, Lima city must improve its image, or it will soon become just mediocre city due to the lack of administrative responsability to solve these problems. .

Famine, Affluence and Morality Essay

The essay will be presented by means of giving a brief explanation on the argument of Singer that giving charity is, to some degree, obligatory. After a detailed yet concise explanation of the same, an exploratory presentation will be given on account of the claim whether or not the number of people who give can affect how much a person is obliged to give. The gist of Singer’s argument that giving charity is obligatory is founded on practical and moral grounds. First, the basic mantra that no one is an island proves to be true in all occasions and at all times. As applied to the existence of world governments, the international arena nowadays is viewed as global society. All countries are viewed as part of one’s political philosophy thereby formulating and implementing foreign policy of nations. Thus, a country may get involved of what is happening in other parts of the world. There is no doubt that some countries of the other side of the globe are not in good condition. Famine, pestilences, extreme poverty and calamities brought about by man or by nature exist that affect a large number of people. As Singer argued, the suffering and death of other people are not inevitable and not unavoidable. Therefore, there is hope that those people that are considered victims of the aforementioned catastrophes can be saved and comforted in order to survive. In matters of moral standards, it is proper to help those who are in need, may it be private and public in manner. In other words, private citizens who are in the position to help those countries that are plagued with myriad calamities can do the same and at the same time, the government can formulate and implement laws that give aids for such victims of natural and man-made calamities. In addition, it is also practical to help those who are in need in times of difficulties since man by nature is logical and reasonable. Man can choose between what is good and evil and most likely, helping others is a natural act. On the point of view of countries, Singer pointed out that it is not beyond the capacity of the richer nations to give enough assistance to lessen any further suffering to very small proportions. Wealthy countries hold the power to help poor nations since they are able to do so. It is up to these countries if they would give financial, technological and material aid. But if it is in the power of richer nations to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, they should, based on moral grounds, do the same. People are obliged to help not because they need to, but because they have the capabilities to do so and their conscience counts a lot knowing that countries who are suffering myriad dilemmas are not unknown in the international community. Moreover, giving charity is obligatory since those who are capable to do so are looked upon by others that cannot possibly share their scant resources. Yet, no matter how we rationalize our willingness to help is of no moment on the fact that some people are dying everyday in some countries of which they could have lived if not for our selfish interests and motives. What Singer is trying to convey is that since it is within the power of a rich nation to help poor countries, there should be no reason not to help. On account of the claim on whether or not c, the arguments of Singer provided more on the negative. This is because what Singer wants to convey is that all people who has the capabilities to contribute for those who are in need must give as much as they can without affecting their own needs for the reason that more people are in need everyday. It is the safest way to help other people for we are not sure that all people who could afford to contribute charity would respond to the call to give. Hence, the number of people who give can not affect how much a person is obligated to give as charitable contribution. It is true that some people who can afford to give may not contribute much for the poor and the needy. However, Singer made it to the point that if people accept any principle of impartiality, universality, equality, or whatever it is, they cannot discriminate against someone merely because he is far away from them or that they are far away from him. With that, giving help is both voluntary and obligatory for the benefit of all people. If there will be less people who will give contribution, then there should be an increasing efforts to invite those who can afford to share their blessings. One has only to ask this question to see the absurdity of the view that numbers lessen obligation. As Singer emphasized, the question should be: should one consider less obligation to pull the drowning child out of the pond if on looking around one could see other people, no further away than where a person is who have also noticed the child but are doing nothing? In this case, Singer is telling us that helping others should be dependent on the presence of other people but what is important is no matter how other people would react to a given situation wherein help is needed, one should help as much as possible. It is always proper to give more than what is needed as long as available and no equally important needs could be affected. The more we can give, the more we can possibly help in a given situation. It does not matter if there are more people who contributed to a charitable institution as long as a particular person gave more help. Aside from that, the amount of help that we should give should not be dependent on the number of people who will give since there are increasing needs in the society. Those who are poor needs more help everyday and due to population increase their number will also increase. Imagine how chaotic a society is, that does not care to look at other people’s welfare. The responsibility of each one of us is to make sure that there are no individuals who are suffering from too much poverty if we really understood the meaning of moral and ethical standards. People cannot tolerate the presence of children who are homeless and parents who are jobless. Therefore, giving much for charitable institutions is a must, hence obligatory. The rules and regulations as well as the laws that the government implements are useless if there are poor people who are crying for relief just to survive from too much poverty. The help that people could give should not be limited to what is needed, but to how much one could contribute. Singer also argued that moral attitudes are shaped by the needs of society, and no doubt society needs people who will observe the rules that make social existence tolerable. However, the moral point of view requires us to look beyond the interests of our own society. While it is true that it is quiet inessential to help people outside one’s own society, it is also unacceptable that a society disregard the call for giving charity. Hence, the prevention of the starvation of millions of people outside our society must be considered at least as pressing as the upholding of property norms within our society. Moreover, the people knew what to do. If they require others in giving charity, they must think that it is up to these people on how they will follow the moral code since asking them to do so could be absurd. Helping others must be done on the people’s own free will under the guidance of moral philosophy and ethical principles. The message of Thomas Aquinas was even mentioned by Singer on account of the fact that as God do not intend men to suffer; sharing to others must be practiced without counting on who should give more or less to the poor and the needy. Thus, the purpose of God is to prevent misery such that those who have more in life must give something to the poor and the needy. The distribution of resources as mandated by law must not prevent the purpose to cater the needs of all people. In connection with that, the burden of proof of showing how their refusal will bring about governmental action is on those who refuse to give. Finally, giving privately is not enough, and that we ought to be campaigning actively for entirely new standards for both public and private contributions to famine relief. This means that constant campaigns to help other people in need do not prevent an individual to give more despite the fact that the number of people who gave contributions increased. To reiterate what Singer had argued, the strong version of which that required people to prevent bad things from happening unless in doing so they would be sacrificing something of comparable moral significance, does seem to require reducing their selves to the level of marginal utility. This claim for that matter is the correct one. Thus, the number of people who give cannot affect how much a person is obligated to give. People are free to give what they could afford for charitable circumstances.

Metaphysical Poetry Essay

Metaphysical poetry arose as a reaction to the extremes of Petrarchism; one problem with Petrarchan poems is a kind of predictability-the conceit is found, presented, & elaborated, but there are few subsequent surprises. Donne and his followers like to catch us off-guard, change direction, etc., to foil expectations. Metaphysical poetry is, in general, characterized by its ingenuity, intellectuality, and frequent obscurity. In terms of subject matter, metaphysicals reject not only Petrarchan rhetoric but also the pose of abject worship of the mistress which sonneteers had inherited via Petrarch from the troubadours; in its place they put sexual realism and an interest in introspective psychological analysis of the emotions of love and religion (sometimes expressing the one in terms of the other, and sometimes actually being metaphysical in subject matter too). These poets showed a penchant for the novel and the shocking, and relished obscurity, rough verse, strained imagery, and at their best can be startlingly effective. Donne set the pattern by writing in a diction & metre modelled on the rough give-and-take of actual speech, and usually organized his poems in the dramatic and rhetorical form of an urgent or heated argument (with reluctant mistress, intruding friend, God, Death, himself). Employed a subtle and often deliberately outrageous logic; realistic, ironic, and sometimes cynical in his treatment of the complexity of human motives, whether in matters of love or religion. Reputation-decline in 18th-19th centuries during which time they were seen as interesting but perversely ingenious and obscure eccentrics.; big upsurge in the 20th due to the favourable press from the likes of T.S. Eliot and Dylan Thomas. Metaphysical Conceit->a highly ingenious kind of conceit widely used by the metaphysical poets, who explored all areas of knowledge to find, in the startlingly esoteric or the shockingly commonplace, telling and unusual  analogies for their ideas. Metaphysical conceits often exploit verbal logic to the point of the grotesque and sometimes achieve such extravagant turns on meaning that they become absurd (e.g. Richard Crashaw’s description of Mary Magdalene’s eyes as â€Å"Two walking baths; two weeping motions,/Portable and compendious oceans†). These conceits work best when the reader is given a perception of a real but previously unsuspected similarity that is enlightening; then they may speak to our minds and emotions with force. Examples of potential metaphysical conceits->love is like an oil change; love is like a postage stamp; love is like a pair of compasses; the soul of a sinner is like a damaged pot. As you can see, the temptation to be merely clever must be hard to resist, while the difficulty in making such a conceit truly effective is quite considerable.