The Construction of Europe essays

The Construction of Europe essays Exogenous factor shaping economic growth continent wide was the great power conflict. Countries falling for geographical and other reasons within the U.S. and Soviet spheres of influence felt strong pressure to adopt the same form of economic organization as their dominant partner. And how they organized their economies was the most important determinant of Western European societies subsequent economic performance. In the immediate post-World War II period, Europe remained ravaged by war and thus susceptible to exploitation by an internal and external Communist threat. In a June 5, 1947, speech to the graduating class at Harvard University, Secretary of State George C. Marshall issued a call for a comprehensive program to rebuild Europe. Fanned by the fear of Communist expansion and the rapid deterioration of European economies in the winter of 1946-1947, Congress passed the Economic Cooperation Act in March 1948 and approved funding that would eventually rise to over $12 billion for the rebuilding of Western Europe. The Marshall Plan generated a resurgence of European industrialization and brought extensive investment into the region. It was also a stimulant to the U.S. economy by establishing markets for American goods. Although the participation of the Soviet Union and East European nations was an initial possibility, Soviet concern over potential U.S. economic domination of its Eastern European satellites and Stalins unwillingness to open up his secret society to westerners doomed the idea. Furthermore, it is unlikely that the U.S. Congress would have been willing to fund the plan as generously as it did if aid also went to Soviet Bloc Communist nations. Thus the Marshall Plan was applied solely to Western Europe, precluding any measure of Soviet Bloc cooperation. Increasingly, the economic revival of Western Europe, especially West Germany, was viewed suspiciously in Moscow. Economic historians have debated th...

Best Quotes to Pair With Vintage Photos on Social Media

Best Quotes to Pair With Vintage Photos on Social Media Sharing old photos of people, places, and events on social media is a good way to reminisce and add nostalgia. If youve decided to share your favorite images on social media during a Throwback Thursday, Flashback Friday, or some other tagged event involving sharing, there are some great ways to make your contribution even more special - and good things to know about sharing photos in general: Share one photo a week or less. Dont overwhelm your friends and followers with too many old photos. Just because you found an album of old photos doesnt mean you should bombard your social media followers. Choose one day a week, such as a Throwback Thursday or a Flashback Friday, and maybe even skip a week between postings.Be certain youre sharing only old photos. Dont make the mistake of incorrectly tagging recent photos with something like #tbt (Throwback Thursday), for instance. Stick with the old  pictures you would find in a photo album or a stack of Polaroids. Vintage pictures are hugely popular, so the older, the better.Make sure you choose the best photos - ones that tell a story. For instance, if you were a baseball player, post a picture of the time when you scored your first home run. Post pictures that were taken with your entire family  on vacation. Share a picture of a younger you doing something you still do today.Choose photos that might make people laugh. Unflat tering pictures of yourself from the past always make people smile. The goofier you look, the better. That said, if someone else looks unflattering, you might want to get their permission first. After all, this is supposed to be fun. Add other elements that make the sharing more special, such as a special quote from a famous person. The next time you are sharing vintage images online, try pairing them with some of the following vintage quotes from famous poets, novelists, storytellers, and others - these are sure to give an extra appeal. John Banville The past beats inside me like a second heart. Julian Barnes Memories of childhood were the dreams that stayed with you after you woke. Deb Caletti Summer, after all, is a time when wonderful things can happen to quiet people. For those few months, you’re not required to be who everyone thinks you are, and that cut-grass smell in the air and the chance to dive into the deep end of a pool give you a courage you don’t have the rest of the year. You can be grateful and easy, with no eyes on you, and no past. Summer just opens the door and lets you out. Willa Cather I guess everybody thinks about old times, even the happiest people. Sidonie Gabrielle Colette What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner. Walt Disney All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. Albert Einstein Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile. Ralph Waldo Emerson â€Å"For every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness.† William Faulkner How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home. Neil Gaiman I miss the way I took pleasure in small things, even as greater things crumbled. I could not control the world I was in, could not walk away from things or people or moments that hurt, but I took joy in the things that made me happy. Kahlil Gibran Yesterday is but todays memory, and tomorrow is todays dream. Arsene Houssaye Always have old memories, and young hopes. Charlotte Davis Kasl A lifelong blessing for children is to fill them with warm memories of times together. Happy memories become treasures in the heart to pull out on the tough days of adulthood. Elizabeth Lawrence There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again. Laurie Lee Bees blew like cake-crumbs through the golden air, white butterflies like sugared wafers, and when it wasnt raining, a diamond dust took over which veiled and yet magnified all things. C.S. Lewis Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead. You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream. Cesare Pavese We do not remember days; we remember moments. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. Stay hungry. Stay foolish. Marcel Proust There are perhaps no days of our childhood we lived so fully as those we spent with a favorite book. Vladimir Nabokov One is always at home in ones past. Eleanor Roosevelt The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. Dr. SunWolf Some things can only be understood when you’re in a tree house. With a pile of warm chocolate chip cookies. And a book. Charles R. Swindoll Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children. Oprah Winfrey The biggest adventure you can take is to live the life of your dreams. Lisa Whelchel Theres something about childhood friends that you just cant replace. The Wonder Years Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. Memory is the diary that we all carry about with us.

Discussion 8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Discussion 8 - Essay Example This is Heyman’s first element for a proactive organization. In fact, prior to our meetings the person who is to preside over the meeting is expected to send, 24 hours before the meeting, a copy of the sequence of topics for discussion. In the meetings, the scope of the agenda is carefully observed and side topics for further discussion are tabled for another meeting. In the agenda, an item is always included that requests for contribution from all participants in the meeting, and before the meeting is adjourned all participants are clarified on the accomplishments they must fulfill and report for accountability at the next meeting. Rasler (2010) also notes that as far as marketing is concerned, a proactive approach does more than fulfill a need, but rather it aims at creating a need – that is, to explore new markets and new untapped customers who would benefit from the company’s products. This is a direction our company has been taking with our lineup of medical equipment and supplies; rather than targeting the usual hospitals and clinics, we have begun to market to homes and patients who have special interests in certain types of equipment. References Heyman, P (12 Dec. 2012) ‘Is Your Organization Proactive or Reactive?’ Bridging Associates. Available at http://www.bridgingassociates.com/wp/2012/12/12/is-your-organization-proactive-or-reactive/ Rasler, K (27 Dec 2010) ‘Run a Proactive, Not Reactive, Business.’ ACHR News. Available at http://www.achrnews.com/articles/run-a-proactive-not-reactive-business 2.What adaptive challenges face your industry in the next five years?   How equipped is your company / organization to deal with them? There are at least two major challenges that I see in the next five years for the market in medical devices and equipment, the industry in which my organization, St. Luke’s Medical, operates in. One challenge involves the technological changes that are expected to take pla ce, of which there are three key trends. These are: (1) the miniaturization of devices; (2) the development of diagnostic technology capable of earlier and more accurate diagnoses; and (3) advances in IT and e-health technologies (Ford, 2013). The first challenge therefore has to do with keeping the staff and promotional literature current with the new developments. While the staff has good background in the past and current medical technologies, newer, revolutionary medical devices will be operating under new mechanisms and therefore may not be within the understanding and competence of our staff who are more marketing-educated and trained. They will have to see the new equipment in use and understand how they operate so that they (the staff) may be competent to answer the questions of customers. The second major challenge is the developing demographics, the forthcoming changes in the health care legislation, and their implications on the demand for medical devices. This is more di fficult to address than the first challenge because of the uncertainties particularly in the soon-to-be-implemented affordable health care legislation. One of the implications is the 2.3% medical device excise tax which has taken effect as of the start of 2013. While the tax is supposed to be paid by the manufacturer or importer, since this is a cost of doing business the

Nokia HR Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Nokia HR - Essay Example Change in fact, is one of the mostly viewed elements for corporate success (Manfred and Vries 7). Apple for instance initiated social and economic change, which has become prior to its actual leadership in its industry and its actual redefinition of the digital age by its visionary leader, Steven P. Jobs (Markoff). With this move, the company is consistently alert to find out what their competitors are doing in order to protect its competitive advantage (McQuillen). Change remains constant in this world. Believe it or not, we need to change, either for the best or the other way around. The person in front of you today is convinced and is compelled to choose the former. We need to change for good! Look around you, and you will be able to see major changes in our industry. Where do you find us now? Are we heading towards the advancements or are we much left behind by our competitors? Where do we hold our competitive advantage? Ladies and gentlemen, a pleasant day to all! Nokia is one of the dream companies your new CEO hoped to work for before. And it is now a dream come true, but there are still many things left unfulfilled in that dream, for there is a need to involve you in it. Yes, you heard it. Your new CEO would not be able to completely achieve that dream without you. So starting today, let us dream together, and be part of what we must envision as the dream company in the future. It is not impossible to make Nokia that way. With all of you whom your CEO believes to be elemental in the achievement of that dream, together we can make things possible and once again, we could prove to this industry that we have something competitive enough within us that could remarkably spark for change. Technological advancement is imminent. We cannot completely hold our competitors to stop them from investing in technological advancements and changes. They are innovating possibilities, as they try to create needs for their actual product and

The Role of Power and Politics in Organizations Assignment

The Role of Power and Politics in Organizations - Assignment Example The company that I am going to focus on is called Procter&Gamble. This company was set up a bit more than 180 years ago. The company operates in more than 190 countries and it is planning to expand its performance. Being such a giant in the world of washing powders and cosmetic utilities, the company should meet certain high requirements both in the public and inner policy of the company. The purpose of the company sounds as â€Å"to provide branded products and services of superior quality and value that improve the lives of the world’s consumers, now and for generations to come. As a result, consumers will reward us with leadership sales, profit and value creation, allowing our people, our shareholders and the communities in which we live and work to prosper† (http://www.pg.com). Having a purpose signifies about the planned strategy and policy of the company. Moreover, the company has the clearly-stated vision and strategy. The feedback from the customers is greatly a ppreciated since it adds to the improvement of the company. P&G claims it is striving for the life quality improvement but not for its income. The company has worked out the program of introducing environmentally friendly products. The policy of the company is based on the rule â€Å"to create the prosperous company from within it†. It implies the profound staff and management policy. The general goal of the company is to improve the life of every customer and to make him/her loyal to the company. The major elements of any organizational culture, such as purpose, values and goals, originate with the company formation and they are maintained and are to be transferred to the next generations. The growth strategy that the company of P&G sticks to means attracting new customers every day and making their life more meaningful. â€Å"Our Values reflect the behaviors that shape the tone of how we work with each other and with our partners†( P&G Must Proceed With Caution). Pro cter&Gamble has many principles that it demands from its staff and management. First of all it takes care about respect to each individual -no matter weather it is a customer, a manager or a potential buyer. The organization is indivisible from the people working for the organization and those people who keep it on float. The customers’ needs and demands are the top priority for the organization. The whole functioning of the company is strategically planned and worked out. Certainly, there are some cases, when a company has to act spontaneously in certain circumstances, but in general in has the plan of its development, operation and marketing. The next principle that is of great importance for any company is the one about innovations. Bringing in innovations is the main engine of the company’s development. Innovations are accepted both in the sphere of the product quality and in the sphere of advertising ad merchandising. The next point deals with competition – the company wants to be the best in its field. The only way to win the competition is to gain the customers’ loyalty and work on constant improvement of the company’s performance. Moreover, the company is focused not internally but externally. It means that the feedback with the customers is the dominant element for it. It cannot be said that the managerial system, and corporate culture is ignored - it is just not as important as knowing

Gender-role socilization Essay Example for Free

Gender-role socilization Essay Gender socialization is the way society shapes our sexual attitudes and behavior through various mechanisms, it defines the roles that we as males or females in society are expected to play. According to Ann Oakley, who first introduced the terms, sex refers to the biological divisions into being male or female while gender reflects the parallel and socially unequal division into being feminine or masculine (Sex, Gender and Society 1972). Sex is therefore can be seen as the biological constructed aspect of differences between men and women. As oppose to sex, gender can be seen as the socially constructed knowledge, values and practices linked to sex based differences mostly by the process of socialization. The term gender has been extended since than and not only reflects the individual identity and personality but also, at the symbolic level, to cultural ideals and stereotypes of masculinity and femininity. Gender roles are the societal expectations attached to being male and female. Through gender role socialization, a person is introduced and taught the behaviors expected to be played by them. The home often called gender factory by some sociologists, reproduces societys traditional gender roles through parental reinforcement (Appelbaum and Chambliss, 223). From birth to death, males and females are constructed to act according to societys mold of gender identity. Parents describe their newborns with adjectives pertaining to traditional gender roles. Newborn girls are described as tiny, soft, delicate, and fine-featured, while newborn boys are described as strong, alert, and well coordinate (223). Even during breast-feeding gender divides, males are treated rougher and given more milk while females are treated delicately and given less. This can best be illustrated by an experiment to show how gender stereotyping enters almost every part of an infant since the day he or she was born. The experiment better known as the Sussex experiment tried to unveil how people perceive the way an infant either a male a female should act. Infants dressed in blue were quickly thought to be male while infants dressed in pink were treated as female. Therefore gender stereotypes can be defined as one-sided and exaggerated images of men and women which are deployed in  every day life. Similarly, in the old days and even in some societies today, womens place was regarded to be in the home while men are expected to be the bread winner for the family. But there is no permanent and definite framework on how men and women should behave. Such definitions vary from one society to another. For example the study conducted by Margaret Mead in Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (1935). In some of the tribes in which she had visited women were place in a higher status than men. They were regarded as the bread winner, hold important positions in the tribe and even made important decisions. Contradict to this, men were placed in lower positions and even played the role as housewives. The roles and behaviors expected to be played by both sexes also change over-time. For example, the roles played by women in ancient Greek and Roman were limited. Women were portrayed as submissive and inferior. They did not hold any important positions in society. Most of them only played the roles of mother and housewife. Women nowadays are more aggressive and in some areas are more dominant than men. Women during the Victorian era, were expected to be grace and beauty was signified by having small waist. They were forced to wear corset to get the shape considered to be beautiful. Sexuality is defined as the sexual feelings and drives as well as the sexual practices common to a society. There is some debate on whether sexuality is innate or learned. To answer this question sociologists have come out with four main approaches: psychobiological, psychoanalytic, learning and sociological. Sociobiology is the study of human behaviors on the basis that they are not learned instead determined by the biological aspects. In other words, human behaviors are innate. They believed that certain sexual behavior emerge through the process of evolution. These behaviors emerged and are maintained simply because they have been chosen through evolutionary means as the most  advantageous features to maintain the survival of human being. Therefore sexual behaviors, whether they show feminity or masculinity are genetically programmed. Sociobiologys version of sexuality has been criticized for ignoring other factors that may contribute to the development sexual behavior such as surroundings, societys expectation, norms and culture. In psychoanalytic approach, human sexual behaviors are both determined biologically and culturally. Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalytic approach asserted that human sexual behavior is determined by three factors, the id, the ego and the superego. The id exist after an infant is born shapes the characteristic of the baby before he or she came into interaction with the outside world. The ego is the next stage of human development. In this stage a person will come into contact with external forces and this will influence the direction, whether he or she will adopt a feminine or masculine behavior. As the superego develops, the person will learn the norm and values of society. He/she will discover what the society expected from him/her. By learning the expected ways of society, the moral conscience of the person will develop. He/she will be able to distinguish what the society perceived as right and wrong. Freud held that sexual experiences will influence adult sexual behavior and personality. A girl, raised among boys will develop a masculine-like behavior. Though it may change overtime, the sexual experiences faced by the girl will have a deep impact on his adult behavior and personality. Freud has been criticized for his over-emphasis view on biological factor as the determinant of ones sexual behavior. Though he did say that sexual behavior may be cause by the process of socialization, Freud personally agreed that the biological factors play a greater role in determining ones behavior than culture. He has also been criticized for only conducting most part of his experiment  using mentally disturbed patients. His views stem from therapies with these patients. He has also being criticized for being bias in his work. He made an implicit assumption that women are biologically inferior. The learning approaches have a different view on how sexuality is developed. According to the advocates of these approaches much of sexuality is innate that is based on the cultural aspects rather than biologically. These approaches went further by identifying the process of self-identification and imitation. These approaches portrayed individuals as a reactor to society, neglecting the fact that he or she may also be an actor who constantly makes decisions to change society. These approaches have been criticized for treating individuals like puppet on the string. Individuals have no choice to make decisions, everything has been set up for them by the society. Their actions must be in line with the social expectation or they will be punished. In contrast with the earlier approaches, the Symbolic Interactionism based their theory on the assumption that individuals as social actors make have their own opportunity to make decision. They have the choice on which path they want to take. According to symbolic interactionism, sexual behavior is the result of individuals constantly engaging in interaction and communication with others. We attach sexual meaning to behavior and ourselves by observing others and their reactions on certain stimuli and labels to our behavior. By interacting with each other, we learn to play specific roles and as the result of constantly involving in these roles we learn a series of scripts. These scripts help us to define sexual behavior. For example, the specific script for a woman and a doctor at a gynecological exam. The script or the roles played by the two social actors do not give any sexual meaning or sexual assault in situation in which the doctor has to check the woman breast and genitalia. Symbolic interactionism has been criticized for not being able to explain adequately spontaneous sexual behavior and sexual behavior that occurs in ambiguous situations. It has also failed to explain the situation in which two or more individuals with different sets of scripts engage and interact with each other. Differences in sexual scripts is often given as the reason for date rape where on person defines it as sexual and the other does not. Functionalism believed that the disruption is sexuality, on how male and female should behave will lead to society to fall apart and social stability unachieved. Therefore, through the norms, values, laws and beliefs sexual behavior is regulated. Functionalists study the effect of regulations on sexuality and its contribution in the maintenance of society. Functionalism has also been criticized for putting to much emphasis on the culturally aspects that determine social behavior and ignoring the fact that some sexual drives may be innate. Ann Oakley outlines how socialization in modern societies shapes the behavior of boys and girls from an early age. Basing her work on the findings of Ruth Hartley, Oakley discusses four main ways in which socialization influences gender roles. The first way is by the process of manipulation in which parents play a huge role. For example, boys are dressed in masculine clothes. The next stage is the canalization where children are given toys to build up their gender identity. Boys are given pistol and toy trucks while girls are given teddy bears, dolls and soft toys. The third is the use of verbal appellation where such sentences like you are a naughty boy will build up boys sexual identity. The fourth stage is where boys and girls are given a set of different activities. This will encourage children to perform the sexual expectation of society and enable them to identify in which gender they belong. Ann Oakley has been criticized for her emphasis on socialization in shaping  gender roles. What about boys who have a high level of estrogen. Are they likely to behave like girls or will they due to the effect of early socialization behave like normal boys? Similarly, girls who have a high level of androgen, will they behave like boys? Or can the early process of socialization shape them to become like any other ordinary females? Ethnomethodology regard the process of developing gender roles as socially constructed. Suzanne J. Kessler and Wendy Mckenna stated that individuals categorized the world around them according to their own perspective. Therefore the decision whether to regard a person as male or female is socially produced. The process of gender- role socialization begins at the early age of childhood and continues throughout life. Society still typifies males and females according to gender-role trait expectations. There are however evidences that gender attitudes are changing beginning in the 1970s towards a more egalitarian, liberal attitudes. No matter what theories have been introduced in explaining sexual behavior whether it is innate or learned, I believed that both factors contribute in the development of gender-role identity. I based this statement on the fact that biological aspects play an important role in shaping an infant in his/her early age at least until he/she reaches the age of three. After that it is up to the family and society to shape his/her sexual behavior and define appropriate gender-roles for him/her. Gender role socialization is a life-long process. Therefore, I believe that cultural aspects play a greater role in shaping one sexual behavior than the biological aspects because they influence individuals from young until old.

The Importance of the Tutor in The Flies :: Lord Flies Essays

The Importance of the Tutor in The Flies In Jean -Paul Sarte's play, "The Flies", the main character Orestes manages to lift a curse that has plagued the dwellers of Argos for decades. Both the current king of Argos and Zeus himself are perpetuating this curse for as long as possible for the curse keeps the people subservient and in a state of mourning and terror of their own actions; two things that both the king and Zeus favor in their rule over people. Orestes was actually a resident of Argos and is the first child of the Queen Mother and the dead king. He returns to Argos with a traveling companion, the Tutor, who used to be the child's teacher in the ways of the world. Now the man is Orestes' slave and close advisor. Orestes' stance towards the Tutor and their past relationship essentially effects his ability to break the curse in Argos. In a completely literary sense he was both a counselor for Orestes and a sort of Narrator to fill in holes in dialogue and the story line. Orestes' background was the foundation for his decision-making in this play and Sartre had to find a way to let the audience know what this background was, not only for a linear and complete plot, but also as a testament to the thoughts themselves. The Tutor completed his role in both senses, tying the plot together at the beginning and the very end, and also moving the story along with gifts of advice and observations to Orestes. He almost in a sense doesn't belong in the play. He is a complete contrast to all of the other characters other than maybe Orestes himself. And yet he seems to be a part of Orestes, like his conscious, his voice of reason in this whole tribulation. As a character, the Tutor is much more complicated than one might assume upon first glance. The Tutor as a person was fairly simple in his wisdom and ideas. He had no delusions, no emotional or religious ties, and no 'truth' other than simple and deductive logic. As for personality traits, he was a skeptic, an atheist, and help a kind of detachment from the world and it's people. He is an admitted skeptic of the world, telling Orestes that he had "been trained in skeptic irony" (61).