The Garden

I remember my first day of finishing school clearly. Nightingale finishing school for Girls was buzzing with pupils, ready for the new school year ahead of them, and telling tales of their . I felt out of place. It might have been that I had the wrong hairstyle, or that my shoes were not the right style, maybe it was the fact that I had nobody to talk to, maybe it was all of these. I know now that it was something much stranger than that, a power that repelled certain people away from me – it was like trying to attract wrong ends of magnets together. I saw a group of girls and decided they must have been the â€Å"popular† clique. There was a buzzing air around them, as well as a larger crowd. They were all stunning; with not a hair out of place. They looked over to me as I stood alone. The look was icy, and I presumed this was just because I was the â€Å"new girl†, an outcast. I turned away and found a place to sit alone, when I felt a sharp tap on my back. It was one of the girls from the corner. She had waist-long, wavy butter-coloured hair. Some of her hair was secured with a very ornate cameo pin. Her fluttering eyelashes curled upwards in the most graceful fashion. Even her drab school uniform seemed to suit her perfectly. She had the elegance and beauty of an exotic white tiger. I turned around and said nothing; I was far too intimidated to answer. It seemed as if the tiger was ready to pounce. â€Å"Who are you?† There was a sharp pause. â€Å"You must be the new girl then.† I tried to reply but simply couldn't. It was like trying to talk when under the pressure of deep water. She looked at me as if I were a leper. Offended, she mumbled something inaudible and snarled like a dog, â€Å"What's the matter with you? I want to warn you not to get in the way here. Don't mess with us and you might just get along here.† All eyes seemed to be on me as she hurried back to her crowd, to regain her place as â€Å"queen bee†. Her friends laughed and then went back to their conversation as if nothing had happened. Half way through my day, I knew that I wouldn't fit in very well; I was frustrated at the fact that I might not find any friends at all. As soon as we were allowed a free period and retire to the hall again, I escaped to the great library. It was a large, magnificent room, which looked as if I could blend in and not be noticed by anyone. The walls, books and floor were my only company. I reflected over my day and what had happened. Nobody understood what I was going through, and how difficult it was for me to speak to them. This triggered thought about my late mother. She died at the tender age of 33. Mostly, I'm over the death of my mother. At the time of her death, I didn't understand what was happening. I thought that I was too young to be wearing a black dress; only older women seemed to wear them. It was more uncomfortable than my normal dress and I didn't want to wear it at all. I didn't understand at my young age that it would have been unacceptable, and disrespectful to my dead mother, for me not to. The clothes my mother dressed me in were much more comfortable, and they smelt of her scent wherever I went. The week after her death, I started to wonder where she had gone. I missed her greatly after a few weeks, because my father was much stiffer and stricter, if he was there for us at all. He seemed more into his work and gambling than caring for his children. My personality, as well as my brothers', changed at this point. I became much more reserved, unwilling to talk to anyone other than my brothers. I didn't particularly feel like talking to them either; I only talked to them when it was necessary. Nobody seemed to worry about me, either. I spent most of my time in our luscious garden. I enjoyed the cool shade of the willow tree in the summer; there I could hear the sweet birds chirping. I could smell the blooming flowers, their rich colours like confectionery to the eyes. Here was the only place I could find peacefulness, and shut myself out from the rest of the uncaring world. I disliked my father for what he had done; he was responsible for sending me here†¦ â€Å"Hello.† My quiet thoughts were interrupted. â€Å"I wondered if you knew where the gardens were.† I looked up at my intruder, confused. There were no gardens, as far as I knew, at this school. He was a tall boy, of about fifteen years. I noticed that he wasn't very handsome, but there was a mysterious air about him which made him seem attractive. I wondered what he was doing here; this was a girls' finishing school after all. I attempted to say that I was new here, and didn't know where it was, but all that came out was a muffled squeak: â€Å"No, sorry.† He started to walk away. He turned around and said â€Å"Oh, okay. Good night. And may I say that you have the prettiest eyes I have ever seen.† I blushed violently, and went back to my book about wild animals. * That night I had a spectacularly vivid dream. I could see luscious green grass and fragrant flowers filled the space. I saw the beautiful colours of the wildlife; exotic birds and unidentifiable mammals. There was a small spinney which caught my eye; the branches were waving slowly in the cool breeze, and a pool of sparkling water beside it. The landscape was truly beautiful; it was like being in a different world. I saw my mother reflected in the water where I leant over. She looked as beautiful as ever, as beautiful as a rose. She was slightly different from what I remember, as if she had bloomed further. Her face was a little more blushing and her nose was slightly more pointed. Her strawberry-blonde locks looked just like mine, as well as her beautifully deep blue-green eyes. I realised after a few seconds that this was not my mother, but I. I was truly taken aback by how much I looked like my mother; I suppose I had not before looked into my own reflection properly. That was the day that changed my life. I had not experienced such a vivid dream before, but they started to happen much more often. They started to affect my concentration in the school; I longed to be outside, free, with no cares and responsibilities. I thought that it was just my imagination running wild, and longing for my comfortable past back. Having an appearance like my mother's helped my self-confidence. I was sure that she was extremely beautiful. I knew that I could never look as dazzling, as striking as her, but I knew that I was certainly not ugly. I noticed that my voice was coming through once again; no longer a muffled squeal. However, I still felt like hardly anyone liked me. I spent my evenings in the library, my secret hideaway. I was starting to get used to this school; life wasn't as bad as it used to seem. * A year later, and my evenings were still as normal, uninterrupted and peaceful. I felt a wave of sleep come over me, so I closed my book and curled up into a ball. I didn't realise at the time that this was not in a most ladylike fashion; my tiredness seemed to take over. It was not unusual to feel tired after a long day, so thought nothing of it at the time. Whilst in my sleep, I had another vivid dream. It was pleasant, the season in my world seemed to have changed to winter, but it was still beautiful. A soft blanket of snow covered the grass, and sparkling ice covered the pool of water where I often sat and thought about my mother. The leaves had left the trees in the spinney, and a layer of frost covered them. It was quite spectacular, everywhere sparkled and dazzled in the midday sun. I stumbled over a root in the spinney, but a striking evergreen bush broke my fall. â€Å"I'm sorry for my impoliteness,† I was awoken. It was a boy, the same boy that I had come across on my first day at this school. â€Å"But I wondered if I could talk to you?† I felt shy, but also warmed by his presence. Something about him made me feel slightly more comfortable than usual. This feeling was similar to the one I had when my mother was still alive. I was daydreaming, and didn't realise; there was a pause in the conversation. â€Å"It's just that†¦ I feel as if we are in the same situation.† He said, and sat down on the couch next to me. As I was slightly taken aback by this, I said nothing. My face asked the questions. â€Å"My mother died when I was young. I came here because I sensed that someone with the power was near.† He said, gently. â€Å"I know that you've had trouble fitting in, just like I did. People like me and you don't, generally. People can sense that you have something different, which wards them off.† I was slightly confused, so I decided to ask him what the power was. Was it the power to enter a secret garden in my sleep? â€Å"What is the power?† â€Å"It is when you have the ability to enter a supernatural world, full of peace and harmony whenever you wish. I gained mine a few years after my mother died; she passed the power on to me. That is why I asked you last year whether you knew the way to the gardens.† I began to understand. This boy truly knew what I was feeling, and I could talk to him, as if I were a normal girl and my feelings mattered to him; he could empathise with me and vice versa. We instantly connected and I felt at ease. I couldn't believe that I had met someone who knew how I felt, and what my life was like! We had been talking for two hours before I noticed that I was late to my dorm room. â€Å"I have to go†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I said. He asked me if I could stay for just a little while longer. I knew that inside, I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay with him forever, but simply had to go. I left after a couple of minutes. I was ecstatic; I couldn't have asked for more than a friend at that point in my life. I don't know what I would have done without somebody to understand me, at least for one day. I never did ask what he was doing at our girls' school that day; the thought never crossed my mind whilst our conversation was flowing. It flowed like a river, never ending, and as we continued to meet it stayed that way. We shared our secret desires and passions, as well as sharing the stories of our past. Together, we also discovered that we could enter the garden with each other. I don't know how it happened, but as we held each other in a warm embrace, the light appeared. We did so more and more, and over the days, weeks and months, the garden appeared to bloom – just like our friendship. The garden's wildlife became more and more stunning. Even the non-living pool appeared to be spilling with life. He was my only friend, and I wanted it to stay that way, forever.

Is Hamlet a man of inaction? Essay

Humans are creatures of habit, we get into a daily routine, and over time, learning from experience our mind equips itself to dealing with certain situations that we encounter on a regular basis, when this routine is broken by an unexpected event our minds can be inadequately equipped to deal with this because you can only learn from teaching or experience. When a lightening bolt strikes out of the blue; a death of a loved one or such we immediately see things from another perspective, something like this can make us see things in a whole different light, things that you once thought you were sure of can take on a whole new face and cause us to wonder how we were ever so stupid to see what may now appear blatantly obvious. This may be for the better or for the worse but in any case it will almost certainly cause a turnaround in how we may see things in the future, this is what makes us human, are ability to learn from experience and put it into practice to hopefully avoid a similar situation ever befalling us again. A personal tragedy will obviously affect every person differently, it all depends on how many comparable situations we have encountered before, how much we expected it and how much we are willing to accept that bad things happen and move on. For any student away studying at university in a foreign country to be recalled out of the blue for such a matter as the death of their seemingly healthy father, who has apparently lost his life in such an unceremonious way as being bitten by a snake while asleep would be a devastating experience. Even in a modern day world something of this nature has enough potential to cause someone so much distress and confusion that it can be emotionally destroying. Now put yourself in hamlets situation you are a seventeenth century prince, a scholar based in a sheltered world, a world where you are oblivious to the fact that people lie, that people can be two faced and it is unbeknown to you that people are selfish and will put there needs before yours and others and will push as many people out of the way as they have to, to get what they want. None of these are things that would ever be part of his thought pattern, this other world; he has never seen it ; never heard of it, for him his world is the world of a prince, a place where no-one would ever make a remark about you to your face or to anyone that may have the ability to let you know about it, a world with servants and sycophants where your wish is everyone else’s command, a world where the most emotionally distressing thing you are likely to encounter is that maybe your best tunic has not been properly pressed for you by your legion of servants. You can already see even before his discovery of his mothers marriage to his uncle and the appearance of  his fathers ghost, that, for a person so uninformed of real emotional issues as Hamlet, that this would lay waste to all his current feelings and desires, leaving him with nothing on which to cling to support him through this time of hardship and solitude. This is why Hamlet is the perfect lead for Shakespeare’s tragedy, here he is saying â€Å"what if? † what if someone so unprepared as hamlet was to have to face something like this? Would the fibres of his whole human existence hold up to what he is about to face? He is forcing a collision between two different ends a scale, not even the same scale, he is submitting a characters (albeit fictional) mind and emotions to the whim of his most unimaginably ill fated predicament. You can understand that when he makes his first appearance speaking to Claudius and his mother, he has a tangible sense of bitterness towards them, especially when they speak to him in such a way that you would think it not uncommon for a woman to marry her deceased husbands brother within only two months of him passing. They enquire why he still is in his mourning dress, and think it inappropriate for him to still be actively grieving as death is â€Å"common. † They do not seem able to accept that they have had time to mourn, and that to him his fathers memory is fresh in his mind and that he is still besotted with grief not only about the death of his father, but even more so about their marriage. Claudius denounces him as showing lack of respect to their marriage and that â€Å"’tis unmanly grief† (act I scene II line 94 pg 13 OUP) he also lets Hamlet know that it is â€Å"most retrograde of their desire† for him to return to university at Wittenburg. For young Hamlet of course the memory is still green, and he has the added emotional trauma of seeing his mother wedded to his dead uncles brother and we get a strong tone of insensitivity from both of them, especially Claudius, you can imagine that hamlet, after just finding out about their marriage would be in a very fragile emotional state and their lack of consideration of his feelings can only be making him question him trust for anyone and pushing him further away from them, and driving his grief deeper inside him causing him to suppress his anger after not being able to relate this to them.

Aristotle

The virtuous person always exhibits an affectation in the appropriate amount. -for ex. Truthfulness: virtue regarding telling the truth about oneself? Defect: self-depreciating Excess: phony omnipotence- all power and unlimited power †¢Distinguish goods that are, according to Aristotle, valued for the sake of other things, valued for their own sake, and valued for their own sake and for the sake of other things you want some things that gets you other stuff. or example money so its a sake for other things. valued for own sake-having a yacht gives you pleasure but then enjoying it with more friends and travel the world and give you more pleasure. the one good. happiness is the one thing that every one wants and is valued for its own sake. That which is valued only for its own sake and for whose sake everything else is desired †¢That which is valued for its own sake and for the sake of other things †¢That which is valued only for the sake of other things Discuss why Aristotle rejects conventional views that identify happiness with pleasure, honor, and virtue, and what he thinks this tells us about the nature of happiness Aristotle rejects three common conceptions of happiness—pleasure, honor, and wealth. Happiness, he says, cannot be identified with any of these things (even though all three may be part of an overall happy life). Pleasure, he says, is found in satisfying desires—but whether or not we can satisfy our desires is as much up to chance as it is up to us. †¢The life of pleasure. Problem: the life fit for a pig †¢The life of honor. Problem: not under our control †¢The life of virtue. Problem: compatible with inaction †¢Distinguish between psychological, somatic, and external goods, explaining how they contribute to Aristotle’s conception of happiness External goods- attractiveness, wealth.. Psychological Goods- mental health.. Somatic goods- â€Å"Nonetheless, happiness evidently needs external goods to be added, as we said, since we cannot, or cannot easily, do fine actions if we lack the resources. For, first of all, in many actions we use friends, wealth, and political power just as we use instruments. Further, deprivation of certain things —for instance, good birth, good children, beauty— mars our blessedness. For we do not altogether have the character of happiness if we look utterly repulsive or are ill-born, solitary, or childless; and we have it even less, presumably, if our children or friends are totally bad, or were good but have died †¢Discuss the roles of habituation and right reason in Aristotle’s analysis of virtuous action function of human beings is knowledge and it what eparates from animals. virtuous action is what a rational person who acts for the right reason. but you also have to feel the correct emotions and feelings to do virtuous actions and be properly affected which means that you find the right things pleasant. and wants to do the right thing. so if you dont feel like you want to give money to homeless and still give it it do es not count as a virtous thing. the teachers ice cream technique- dont want to do it but do it for ice cream but over time the kids want to do it because it is the virtuous thing to do. Identify and describe Aristotle’s three requirements for friendship and his three different kinds of friendship Pleasure-friendships- Most common among theyoung, fades easily utility-friendships,- most common among the old and also fades easily. character-friendships- You love a person because of the good qualities she or he possesses. genuine friendship. †¢Explain what Aristotle means when he claims that friends are â€Å"second selves† â€Å"A friend is a second self, so that our consciousness of a friends existence makes us more fully conscious of our own existence. and Friendly relations with one’s neighbors, and the marks by which friendships are defined, seem to have proceeded from a man’s relation with himself. For men think a friend is one who wishes well and does what is good, or seems so, for the sake of his friend, or one who wishes his friend to exist and live, for his sake† †¢Explain why Aquinas thinks God’s existence is self-evident, why it nonetheless may not be evident to us, and how Aquinas thinks God’s existence can be made evident Not every human realizes the existence of god. †¢Examples of self-evident propositions: A pig is an animal; a bachelor is an unmarried male †¢Being self-evident in itself versus self-evident to us †¢Aquinas: â€Å"I maintain that God exists is self-evident in itself since its subject and predicate are identical†¦[but] the proposition is not self-evident to us† (197). †¢Question 02: can God’s existence be made evident? †¢Perhaps God’s existence is an article of faith, not of reason †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"There are two types of demonstration: those that argue from cause to effect†¦and those that argue from effect to cause† (198). †¢Hitting a pool ball, pressing the ‘on’ button, hand on the stove So, from what effects do we infer God’s existence? †¢God’s effects in the world, Mozart and his music †¢Understand Aquinas’ ‘unmoved mover’ and ‘teleological’ arguments for the existence of God and articulate at least one objection to each Argument one of five : the unmoved mover (200). Everything has a cause, but causes can’t go on infinitely. The first uncaused cause is God. Objections: why must it be God? Maybe time is infinite? Telos: the end toward which a thing strives. Everything in nature has a telos. If a thing is non-intelligent, some intelligence must give it its telos. Objection: nature is not telonic in this way †¢Discuss why the question ‘can God create a stone that God cannot lift? ’ is said to be paradoxical and how Aquinas tries to resolve the paradox †¢The paradox of omnipotence: can God create a stone he cannot lift? †¢If God can, there is something God cannot do, i. e. , lift the stone †¢If God cannot, there is something God cannot do, i. e. , create the stone †¢If there is something God cannot do, God is not omnipotent †¢Therefore, God is not omnipotent †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"So we conclude that God’s power extends to anything possible in itself and not implying contradiction. Clearly then God is called omnipotent because he can do everything possible in itself. † (p. 249). because if god cannot lift the the stone he created, he is not omintipitent and also if he cannot create that he cannot lift therefore he is not omnipotent so either way god is not omnipotent so aquinas says that god creates certain laws in the universe that he himself cannot break which is considered absolute possibility and relativee possibility is what he can change. †¢Explain what Aquinas means when he claims evil does not exist because evil does not exit because evil is absence of happiness Understand the weak and strong versions of the problem of evil and discuss Aquinas’ solution to the problem Strong version of the problem †¢If an omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good God exists, then evil does not exist †¢Evil exists †¢ Therefore, an omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good God does not exist Weak version of the problem †¢Evil exists †¢The non-existence of God is a more plausible explanation of evil than is the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good God †¢Therefore, it’s more plausible that God does not exist If an omnipotent, omniscient, perfectly good God exists, then evil does not exist Aquinas’ answer to the problem of evil †¢Why is there evil and sin in thet world? †¢Evil is the necessary result of freedom of the will †¢Thus, God does not command sin, God permits sin †¢Does God cause evil and sin? †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"God is responsible for sinful actions but not for sins† 296 †¢Distinguish Aquinas’ conceptions of eternal, natural, and human law †¢Human law †¢ Quoting Cicero: â€Å"laws start with what nature produces, then by use of reason certain things become customs, and finally things produced by nature and tested by custom are sanctified with†¦the weight of laws† (420). Eternal law †¢God as divine legislator: â€Å"Clearly†¦the entire community of the universe is governed by God’s reason† (417). †¢Divine providence: ordering of the universe toward good †¢Natural law †¢Non-moral sense: laws of nature. †¢Moral sense: guides the actions of animals †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Since everything subjected to God’s providence is measured by the standards of his eternal law, as we have said, everything shares in some way in the eternal law, bearing its imprint in the form of a natural tendency to pursue the behavior and goals appropriate to it. Reasoning creatures are subject to God’s providence is a special, more profound way than others by themselves sharing in the planning† (418). Eternal law is identical to the mind of God as seen by God himself. It can be called law because God stands to the universe which he creates as a ruler does to a community which he rules. When Gods reason is considered as it is understood by God.

Civil Rights Sermon Is Mislaid but Not Forgotten Essay

Civil Rights Sermon Is Mislaid but Not Forgotten - Essay Example Many of the accomplished white elites and clergy in those times were resorting to distorted interpretations of the sacred text to justify racism and prejudice. It was amidst these trying times that Bishop Clay F Lee delivered a sermon that boldly criticized and challenged the bigotry he witnessed. Bishop Lee’s act of coming heavily on racial intolerance was indeed really courageous and bold, considering the times and place amidst which he delivered this sermon. There is no denying the fact that during times when intolerance and prejudice command social recognition and support, it is possible even for the most well intentioned people to get swayed in favor of the majority opinion. However, it is the duty of religious leadership in such times to not to give in to popular opinion and sentiments and to uphold the voice of sanity and love. The primary duty of the religious teachers is to lead the people from darkness towards light, irrespective of the opposition and intimidation they are to contend with, as was rightly done by Bishop Clay F

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Selp Reflection - Essay Example Burke and several senior managers of J&J decided to recall Tylenol capsules even though there was no connection between the poisoning and the Tylenol capsules (Jackson, 2004, p. 75), and in spite of the risk that by pulling out Tylenol from the market, the company would forfeit its sizeable share in the pain medication market. The removal of the Tylenol capsule from the market was a business move that disagreed with the recommendation of the company’s legal adviser, who feared that the recall would be an acceptance of corporate negligence. Likewise, the FBI advised Burke not to recall Tylenol because J&J was not responsible for the poisonings (Anderson, 1989, 232). However, referring to the company’s principles, which declare, â€Å"We believe our first responsibility is to the doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and all others who use our products and services,† (Pava & Krausz, 1995, 119) Burke decided to recall Tylenol, proclaiming that the production of these capsules will cease permanently. The company was the focus of Burke’s decisions. However, his main priority was the welfare or security of their customers, even though that move endangered the company’s profitability and image. It is without a doubt that Burke’s judgment was also in the companyâ€℠¢s continuing self-interest. However, it was somewhat surprising that the company would be triumphant in regaining their dominant share in the pain medication market even after withdrawing Tylenol capsules. In fact, according to Pava (1999), many analysts foretold the contrary. Serving one’s own interest does not automatically rule out giving consideration to the wellbeing of others, since the interests of others are usually crucial to success. In fact, it is not possible not to consider the interests of others, if philosophers are correct about human beings’ social nature. Thus, although some are distrustful about the response of J&J to the Tylenol incident, although

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Researching gender and crime - Essay Example This paper, incidentally will be concerned with evaluating and giving a detailed analysis of the research in two stages: stage one will look into summarizing the entire research work while stage two will be on an evaluation of the research based on the methodology. Research in Criminology is often described as an investigation often conducted on any phenomenon that is linked to any or all existing aspects of the criminal justice system (Dantzker and Hunter, 2012).Therefore, any research that pertains to criminology should bear themes that pertain to criminal acts, the social justice, offenders, legal or illegal actions to mention but a few. In the article, the research was carried out on five male ex-offenders who attempted to give a description of their distinct experiences of life after prison; this in itself already qualifies the research with reference to its appropriateness in Criminology. There is also a need to understand that research in Criminology is often divided into two: applied research and basic research; in this particular research, applied research has been incorporated as it focuses on one particular issue, the ex-offenders’ status and how it impacts self and gives implications of the effects top foster change. To know if at all the research is valid; it is necessary to contextualize how it was conducted in light of how criminological research should be carried out. To begin with, the research problem is clearly defined in terms of what the study intends to look into which are the experiences that the ex-prisoners go through after leaving prison specifically in terms of employment, self-change and identity. Objectives in research are detrimental as they give the researcher a sense of direction; in the study the objective is captured under the purpose of study, which is to understand the experience of

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Businesses are built on relationships. What do you think this Essay

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Homeland security preparedness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

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Alternatives for the decision regarding the high lead found in the whistles Essay Example for Free

Alternatives for the decision regarding the high lead found in the whistles Essay The situation of determining how to handle the recently discovered high lead content in the large whistles order is a difficult one that will in some way affect the company. Three alternatives have been made to allow options for this decision. Alternative 1: Say nothing; allow the whistles shipment to go without notifying the customer. Alternative 2: Replace the customer’s order by providing whistles that meet the appropriate company standards. Alternative 3: Contact the customer and explain the situation, offer them a discount for on the whistles that are lower than the company standard. Decision Process The process for choosing the three alternatives began by identifying the decision to be made. The decision at hand is what to do with the information discovered about the order of whistles going to a school in South America. This is a big decision that will affect the company in each alternative. The next step of the process is listing options possible for the situation, and then studying those options by listing advantages and disadvantages of each. Then the decision was made by choosing the best overall solution for the decision. And lastly the decision was evaluated to determine if the results were what was expected. The three options for this decision are listed above; say nothing to the customer, replace the order, or try to make a deal for the customer. Each option is motivated by a result that will benefit the company financially, ethically, or a mixture of both. The idea behind the alternative 1 decision was to save money upfront and not bother with order changes and other inconveniences for the company. In studying this option the advantage of this would be to save money and time for the company. The disadvantage would be a possibly unhappy customer, an unethical move which could make employees see the company as being unfair; giving a poor product that could be hazardous to children. The legal ramifications of this alternative would be risky if the a child became ill from the use of the whistles and the company was blamed, sued, etc. The idea behind the alternative 2 decision was to replace the customers order with whistles that are not potentially hazardous and meets the company standards. The advantage of this option is not putting the company in an unethical situation of trying to pass products that are under par for high quality. This will help set a standard of ethics in the company that could motivate employees to do good work. The disadvantage of this option is that it will cost the company $100,000. The financial loss could take a long time to recover from, the positive influence on employees won’t immediately compensate for the loss. There would not be a legal issue with this option. The idea behind the alternative 3 decision was to try and contact the customer and explain the situation and let them decide if they would like the whistles replaced or to take the hazardous whistles at a discount. The advantage of this alternative is that the customer could decide to keep the original whistles which would still save the company a considerable amount of money cutting the losses to a much smaller amount. Also it would show that the company had the customer’s best interest in mind. The disadvantage of this option is that it could reflect negatively on the company still because we can’t really determine how the customer will feel about the whistles that are potentially hazardous. They customer might think that the company is trying to cut corners and save themselves money. This would be bad for future business. Legally the customer would probably not try and sue the company, but there is still the potential issue of the company being reported as manufactur ing products with too high of a lead content. This would kill the company’s reputation and the customer relationships of other clients. Recommendation Alternative 2 is the recommended decision; replacing the customer’s order by providing whistles that meet the appropriate company standards. This decision was made by both ethical and financial decisions. Ethically this alternative is the most appropriate. The customer contacted the company to provide a product to be used in the South American schools. It would be unethical to provide the customer with a product that is below the company and country standards even though they are not violating the South American standard. The customer chose this company over a foreign company to give a quality and safe product. This recommendation will positively affect the company because they will possibly become more favorable in the eyes of the customer, with the possibility of more business in the future from them and their business relations. This option was chosen not only for company recognition, but also to save children from a potentially hazardous experience. This option will be a great cost to the company, but the positive experience from both the customer and employees. By creating a culture of â€Å"wanting to do what is right† will help future sales and the company will gradually earn the loss in funds back over time. Customer relationships Considering the outcome on the customer relationship is an important part of the decision making process. We have to ask ourselves how will the customer feel about our decision, how will it influence them and how will it influence the company? By choosing alternative 2, to replace the whistles, the company will look favorably to the customer, being the school buying the whistles. Though the company will merely be providing the product that was originally agreed upon for the initial sale, the customer will realize that the company is sacrificing to replace the whistles and they will go away with a positive relationship with the company. This experience is sure to foster future business from the customer because of the positive experience they experienced. They will also be more likely to recommend the company to their peers and the company could gain substantial business from the experience. The children who would be ultimately affected by the quality of the whistles will feel good about receiving a quality, non-hazardous product, and the parents of the children will be grateful knowing that the company behaved ethically. This could also create future business for the company by providing the children and parents with a positive experience from the company. The company employees will see the standard of ethics portrayed by the company and it will reflect in their work. By giving an example of a high ethical standard it is likely that employees will take greater pride in their work which will affect the company in a positive way. The company’s decision will affect multiple stages of people, their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors will help the company in the long run to regain the loss taken from replacing the whistles. The financial gains will be gradual yet immeasurable in the long run of creating a company with a superior ethical standard. Social Responsibility In a corporation, social responsibility is behaving ethically as individual workers and together as a company to be sensitive toward social, cultural, economic and environmental issues. This means that the company doesn’t always do what’s best for its self but rather do what is best for their environment, customers, employees, culture, etc. Social responsibility is a big part of the decision making process because decisions made by the company not only affect the company alone, it affects employees, the economy, the customers, and the environment. These decisions and methods are important when considering long-term business operations. The decision making process for the situation had many factors involved. The most noticeable factor was the cost of replacing the lower quality whistles with a product that is up to the company’s standard and isn’t potentially hazardous. There was multiple ways of looking the problem; ignoring it, saving the company money and hoping there was not issues with the product, or there was the option to replace the product with something the company could be proud of, a product that had no hazards for use by children, and doing what was appropriate ethically for the situation. Social responsibility played a major part in the decision to use alternative 2 and replace the order with whistles that didn’t have high amounts of lead. The choice to do what is best for the customer, environment, and the kids of the schools outweighed the option to save the company time and money.

Examining The Mentor Relationship Between Students And Nurses Nursing Essay

Examining The Mentor Relationship Between Students And Nurses Nursing Essay   There are many faces to nursing. The nursing role includes various responsibilities, including more than nursing patients, all  having the same objectives with the aim to producing whatever might improve the development of nursing, which will eventually be of benefit to patients.   Patients do not realize that nurses need to prepare and guide students to help them become competent nurses. Student nurses have to go through a three year program to become a nurse, but the academic side of learning is not enough to become a good nurse. A nurse must practice to master all the skills required to be able to care for patients in a professional manner. The educational nursing process has continued to evolve and new challenges are being raised.   One of the great challenges in development is the process of mentorship and supervision of nursing students, where the main goal is to guide students through their clinical placement, to make sure that they become the most competent practitioners. This process is called mentoring. A mentor is a practitioner who facilitates learning by supervising and assessing the nursing students in their clinical practice area.(English National Board For Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting Department of Health (2001) Preparation for Teachers and Mentors: A New Framework of Guidance. ENB/DH, London.). Mentors helps to bridge the gap between the theory and practice, and so nursing students develop an understanding about their profession. There are clinical tutors available from  nursing universities who can guide students in clinical practice, but mentoring by the nurse working in the ward of practice has the most advantage since the latest techniques, tools and protocols are familiar and used continuously. Jarvis (1992) argued that teachers of nursing cannot be up to date with practice if they are not practicing. A mentor who is non active cannot give expertise guidance to real life scenarios. A  relationship needs to be formed between the nurse and the student, which should be motivated by the fact, that by sharing their knowledge, they are helping to improve the entire health system, through improving the quality and quantity of more competent newly qualified nurses, who will eventually become their own colleagues. Consequently, the more reliable new colleagues will be, the more responsibility and workload in the ward can be shared, and managing the ward can become straightforward. Managers should be more understanding and compliant to mentoring in the wards, as  lack of time is the biggest restriction that obstructs supervising. Time which nurses can dedicate to mentoring is very limited in the wards, as these have to perform their nursing duties as usual. In the past mentors did not exist and student nurses had to learn the hard way, many times through trial and error, which frequently could have been detrimental to the patients. There was no one delegated, with the duty to guide the student nurses, who were young, fragile and afraid when entering this real life scenario. Due to lack of staff, student nurses were used as an extra pair of hands, sometimes doing tasks which they had not mastered.  Some  were so naive,  even confessing to the patient this is the first time Im doing this procedure, and the patient already frightened from being in hospital, has to endure the knowledge that he is being used as a guinea pig. Nowadays patients are not going through these experiences anymore. Today nursing students are in hospital to learn and acquire experience under supervision and are not given tasks to practice on patients, unless a mentor is convinced the student has acquired the ability to perform such tasks. Procedures are explain ed to the mentee so that they can understand while observing their mentor and later bring forward any difficulties or suggestions.   Part of mentoring is being a role model, to be of inspiration to others. A role model does not need to be in the highest rank, just a qualified nurse who carries out a role in a manner that makes others desire to be just like him/her.   Gordon (2003) suggests that role modelling, has a very strong influence on forming how students perform. We are all inspired to become a role model and finding one, who fulfils our expectations, gives us a clear vision of what we want to achieve and what we want to become. Students who are well motivated and have a sound theoretical knowledge can learn a lot through observing a good nurse while practicing. It is easier for the student to retain practical knowledge when it is visualized than when it is thought in the classroom. Students will realize what has been learned from observing, only when given the opportunity to try out the procedure for themselves under supervision. Producing competent professionals, with all its complex combinations of knowledge, performance, skills and attitudes needs contribution from nurses, patients and managers. Without effective mentoring, and knowledge acquired through the professional education, it is difficult to achieve this state of competence   Beyond doubt mentors have a leading role in our profession; their importance is vital in the continued success of nursing and to make the student feel connected to the placement area. A mentor can be seen as an advisor, teacher, role model and counsellor, adapting to different situations. Allowing students to participate in patient care under supervision, while giving them opportunity to experience and practice a variety of skills, will surely result in better quality care delivered to patients.   To conclude Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction John C, Crosby (1859-1943). American politician

Here We Stand Exposed :: Essays Papers

Here We Stand Exposed â€Å"There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known†. –Matt. 10:26 Human interaction is as common to most of us as breathing. Stop and consider your typical day—imagine each face you pass on the street, each passing conversation, each miniscule interaction. â€Å"Hey, how are you?† â€Å"Doing well, you?† â€Å"Good.† For most of us, the number of people we have this friendly non-conversation with alone is too many to remember, and the actual number of people we generally come into contact with throughout the course of a day is too large to approximate. And yet for many people the line of how much to reveal of themselves in each of these interactions is a hazy one. We walk away from conversations such as this, though perhaps pleased to have seen the person, sometimes wondering what would have happened if we had told the truth of how we were doing at that particular moment. This idea of Exposure vs. Concealment is a common thread throughout the writings of CS Lewis. Though he never directly addresses this topic, there is much wisdom to be gained from his writings on the issue. Throughout Till We Have Faces, A Grief Observed, The Problem of Pain, and many of his other writings, we can find many underlying clues to establishing a balance in our degree of self-concealment before God, others, and even ourselves. In the next few pages I will attempt to form a clearer picture of the example God gives humans in relation to the interactions and the co-existence of the two seemingly opposite practices of Concealment and Exposure. When I initially set out to write this paper, I began with a mindset to prove one of these actions to be of greater good than the other. I assumed that if the two oppose one another, it would naturally follow that they be mutually exclusive to one another, for to oppose implies an eventual conqueror: thus, a natural superior and inferior. However, after beginning my attempt at this proof, I found myself presented with another—and somewhat surprising—conclusion: that these two, in truth, depend on one another for their own existence, and that both are necessary to achieving a healthy degree of transparency. Let me outline this discovery. 1. God’s interaction with Himself as a glimpse of God’s interaction with Man:

Othello :: essays research papers

There are many literary works that contain villains who play an essential role in the development of the work as a whole. However, I believe that the ultimate villain of this kind is Iago in Shakespeare’s play, Othello. Through manipulation and scheming, he beguiles the other characters of the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the analysis of Iago’s character, we find that the true motive for his villainous acts is simply jealousy. Throughout the course of the novel, we are confronted with some of the motives for Iago’s jealousy. He believes that Othello has been having an affair with Emilia. He also despises Cassio because of the promotion he received.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the means Iago uses to carry out his plan is the use the other characters. Emilia’s part in his plot is to steal Desdemona’s handkerchief, but she is not aware that she plays such an essential role. Desdemona is also an unwilling and unknowing accomplice in Iago’s plan. Her only role is to play on Othello’s tragic flaw, jealousy. The greatest use of another character is Iago’s usage of Roderigo to finance the enforcement of his plan and to do the “dirty work.'; This is probably the most unscrupulous component of his plan. It produces sympathy for the other characters because they are oblivious to Iago’s actions and the part they play in the scheme of things. At the same time, it produces a feeling of repugnance toward Iago for his scheming and calculating ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  As we become more familiar with Iago’s character, his motives become more apparent. Once we learn of Cassio’s promotion, Iago’s jealousy and his resentfulness toward Cassio become unmistakable. At the beginning, the motive for Iago’s focus on Othello is vague, but later we learn of Iago’s belief that Othello has had an affair with Emilia. However, it is the belief of some that Iago had no true motive. The reason behind the entire plot was that he was plain evil.

Ethics in Business Decision Making Essay -- Business Ethics, Normative

The field of ethics (or moral philosophy) involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior (Fieser, 2009). Many of the decisions one faces in a typical day could result in a multitude of outcomes. At times it can be hard to determine whether or not the decision you are making is an ethical one. Many philosophies have been devised to illustrate the different ways of evaluating moral decisions. Normative ethics focuses on assessing right and wrong behavior. This may involve reinforcing positive habits, duties we should follow, or the consequences of our behavior (Fieser, 2009). Of the many normative philosophies two stand out to be most accepted; teleology and deontology. Although they oppose each other in how actions are evaluated, they uphold many similar characteristics under the surface. Normative ethics involves either a single rule or a set of principles to evaluate moral conduct. Teleology stipulates that acts are morally acceptable if they produce some desired result. Deontology on the other hand, focuses on the preservation of individual rights and on the intentions associated with a particular behavior. In summation, teleological philosophies consider the ends, or consequences, associated with an action whereas deontological philosophies consider the means (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2011). This is why teleology is commonly referred to as Consequentialism. In addition to the rule, deontology also cites individual absolute rights: freedom of conscience, freedom of consent, freedom of privacy, freedom of speech, and due process. Deontologist employ this set of freedoms because they believe certain rights should never be violated even if it is to produce a greater good (Ferre... ...ord.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/ Encyclopedia Britannica. (2011). Retrieved 24 2011, 3, from Utilitarianism: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620682/utilitarianism Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2011). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning. Fieser, J. (2009, 5 10). Ethics. Retrieved 3 26, 2011, from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/ Frankena, W. K. (1963). Ethics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Sinnott-Armstrong, W. (2003, 5 20). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 3 15, 2011, from Consequentialism : http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consequentialism/ Taliaferro, C. (2010, 4 27). stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 3 11, 2011, from Philosophy of Religion: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philosophy-religion/ Ethics in Business Decision Making Essay -- Business Ethics, Normative The field of ethics (or moral philosophy) involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior (Fieser, 2009). Many of the decisions one faces in a typical day could result in a multitude of outcomes. At times it can be hard to determine whether or not the decision you are making is an ethical one. Many philosophies have been devised to illustrate the different ways of evaluating moral decisions. Normative ethics focuses on assessing right and wrong behavior. This may involve reinforcing positive habits, duties we should follow, or the consequences of our behavior (Fieser, 2009). Of the many normative philosophies two stand out to be most accepted; teleology and deontology. Although they oppose each other in how actions are evaluated, they uphold many similar characteristics under the surface. Normative ethics involves either a single rule or a set of principles to evaluate moral conduct. Teleology stipulates that acts are morally acceptable if they produce some desired result. Deontology on the other hand, focuses on the preservation of individual rights and on the intentions associated with a particular behavior. In summation, teleological philosophies consider the ends, or consequences, associated with an action whereas deontological philosophies consider the means (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2011). This is why teleology is commonly referred to as Consequentialism. In addition to the rule, deontology also cites individual absolute rights: freedom of conscience, freedom of consent, freedom of privacy, freedom of speech, and due process. Deontologist employ this set of freedoms because they believe certain rights should never be violated even if it is to produce a greater good (Ferre... ...ord.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/ Encyclopedia Britannica. (2011). Retrieved 24 2011, 3, from Utilitarianism: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/620682/utilitarianism Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2011). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning. Fieser, J. (2009, 5 10). Ethics. Retrieved 3 26, 2011, from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/ Frankena, W. K. (1963). Ethics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Sinnott-Armstrong, W. (2003, 5 20). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 3 15, 2011, from Consequentialism : http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consequentialism/ Taliaferro, C. (2010, 4 27). stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 3 11, 2011, from Philosophy of Religion: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/philosophy-religion/

Phil History

Many of us didn't know who are we and where we came from. From the quote â€Å"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known†, it says that we, Filipinos don't have any original identity, our identity, like the political, social, economical, and cultural that we have today, came up from the colonization of the other country, like Spain, America, and Japan. Before the colonization of Spain, America, and Japan, Philippines said to have a vast culture In political, economical, social and cultural.In 7,107 Islands In the Philippines there are different people living with different political, economical, social and cultural approach. In pre-colonization, the system of government decentralized, meaning there is no center government to govern the other small government. The leader of the barbarian is a Data, Confederacy is a Rah, and Sultanate is a sultan. Their Judicial system Is oral, which means, whatever the law imposed by the leader It will be s poken through a messenger. They formed alliances through the process of â€Å"Sandburg†.Some lived near bodies of water, and some lived In the mountains or rest. The lifestyle of the people living near the bodies of water are fishing, boat building, pottery, farming, and so many more, while the people living in the mountains are swished, farming, hunting, gathering, etc. People living before the colonization, have a social strata, first is the imaging and data class, a ruling and warrior class. Second Is the maharaja, a wealthy class. Third Is the Tamaki or freeman, a commoner. Last Is the Labial or Roller, debt peons. People In the pre colonization have a system of writing called Babylon.They also have religion, called minims, they worship anoint/Anita, data and their priest/sees is called Babylon. The Muslims saw Misguidance and Sulk first before the Spaniards came to the Philippines and introduce their religion called Islam, where their God is Allah and prophet is Mohammed All. When the Spanish came to Philippines, their only purpose Is the g's: God, Gold and Glory. They colonize us in two ways, one is with religion and the other Is with the use of sword. Religion came to victorious. The Spaniards gave us new way to live our life; they also introduce us to their religion, which is Christianity.We, Filipinos at home set up altars in the Hispanic tradition, adorned with Catholic images, flowers and candles. During fiestas, most communities organize church services and religious processions in honor of a patron saint. Also, we inherit the holiday of the Spaniards, for January 1 – New years day, March or April – Seaman Santa also called Holy week, October 31 – November 2 – All saints day and all souls day, December 24 – Niche Buena also known as Christmas Eve, and December 25 – Christmas. They created two governments, one is the central government and the other is the local government.The central government is he aded by Governor-General, who is the commander-in-chief, head of an army and navy, he also have veto power, meaning if he seems the law is not good enough, he can nullify or cancel the law. He Is the Vice-Real Patron, and lastly, he Is the president provinces and the leader is called Lacked Mayor, Corrections, which are unified provinces, the leader is Corridors, Pueblo-towns, the leader is Gubernatorial, Cicada, the leader is Mountaintop and Barbarian, the leader is Caber. In the course of Spanish colonization in the Philippines, the friars instructed opulent Baroque-style church edifices.These structures are still found today everywhere across the country and they symbolize the cultural influence of Spain in Filipino life. The opulence of these edifices was clearly visible in the ornate facades, paintings, and sculpture, as well as in the behavioral patterns of the people and in the intricate rituals associated with Roman Catholic churches. While it is true that the Spaniards expl oited labor in the construction of the imposing Baroque-style sanctuaries for Roman Catholic worship, it is also true that these same edifices came the means by which Filipino artistic talents and inclinations were expressed.The carpenters, masons, craftsmen, and artisans were mainly Filipinos. In this way, the Roman Catholic Church and religion influenced Filipino architectural and building style, even as the rituals and festivities of the Church influenced Filipino dances, songs, paintings, and literary writings. Through these influences, the Church afforded the Filipinos abundant opportunities for both solemn rites and Joyous festivities and celebrations known as â€Å"fiestas. The services inside the Catholic hurries often spilled out into the thoroughfare in the form of colorful and pageant- filled religious processions in which the rich and the poor participated. Dining, drinking, and merrymaking often followed or accompanied such religious activities. During these feasts, Sp anish culinary specialties like â€Å"paella† which means a dish consisting of a mixture of rice, chicken and shellfish, â€Å"razor valerian† which means glutinous rice and chicken cooked in coconut milk, and â€Å"lingua† meaning sautà ©ed ox- tongue usually with mushroom sauce became part of the local table fare.The rites ND feasts served to provide relief from the drudgery of humdrum village existence, to release pent-up social and economic frustrations, or to foster community spirit and unity. With the help of the Americans, Philippines got its independence after the sacrifices they undergo under the Spaniards. After the independence, Americans redistribute the enormous land properties that were given during the Spanish period to the Catholic Church. Even though they redistribute the land, the small farmers didn't get any land because they can't prove that they are the owner of that land and they can't pay the asked price.The lands became the property of l arge landowners. American General Douglas Mac Arthur landed in Elite, one of the biggest islands in Central Island of the Philippines with 700 vessel and 174 000 army and navy. Since the American led us, the government was divided into three branches: Judiciary, system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of state. It also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes among people. Legislative, the one who make the law or pertaining to the enactment of law. Last is, Executive, the one who enforces the law or have the power to put plans, actions or laws into effect.There are also schools that were built during their time, like the agricultural schools; Philippine Normal University and University of the Philippines. Their medium of instruction was English and the teachers are called Atomies. Also, there were public schools that were open up for the education of the Filipinos. Also, during the introduced to us by the Americans and approximately three hundred thousand Filipinos become protestant. In the economical part, Americans built roads, streets, bridges, and new infrastructures that made movement of products and services more efficient.It also improved the Philippines economy by the development of new industries, increase in agricultural production. In the social part, Filipinos learned to play games, watch movies, new kinds of music introduced to us by Americans, using respectful greetings like â€Å"Magenta magma PDP' were replaced by merely saying â€Å"Good morning†, â€Å"Paganism' was replaced by kissing the cheeks of parents and elders as a sign of respect. We lost our sense of â€Å"banish. † Women wear dresses, high- heeled shoes, and a handbag, while men, Suits, polo shirts, ties and Jeans. The Japanese started when they started attacking the Pearl Habit.It is also in the Japanese time, when the Filipinos do the death march from Bataan to San Fernando Pangaea where many of Filipino died. In their occupatio n, the Japanese introduced to us duck farming, fish breeding, and other influences like removing slippers before entering the house, bonsai planting, and manufacturing farm tools and war weapons. They also taught us origami, their martial art, Judo, and tanning of deer skin. Since the Japanese where here for Just a short period of time, they didn't leave much of their culture but they change the way things are done in the Philippines. Just like strict curfews was enforced.Even though our country has an identity of our own before the coming of the colonizers, like Filipinos know how to survive and have their own ways to live, they can create things by the use of what they see in their surroundings, but we had been greatly influenced by the country that colonized us. I think that the three countries that colonized us changed our political, economical, cultural and social system of our country. I think our identity today, as Filipinos are mixed from the Spanish, Americans and Japanese influence to us. Our lifestyles that we have now came from different influences of other country to us.Today, some of the Filipinos still do â€Å"banish† in some of the provinces in the Philippines, There are many Spanish influences on Filipino culture. Thousands of Spanish words are load in most Filipino languages. We, Filipinos sometime speak Spanish, when we have simple conversation, like mesa, silly, and many other Spanish words, all over the Philippines. The traditions of the Spanish, their holidays, their religion, and even their government are also the influences of the Spaniards as they colonized our country. The influence of the Spanish, like â€Å"paganism as inkstands† still lives in us or inAmerican influence, â€Å"packaging as pissing† some of the Filipino do this as a respect to the elderly or to their parents. The way of how we dress is also influenced by Spanish and America. We wear coat and tie for going to work, Barron and flapping dress for attending marriage or baptism, and gown or dresses for attending formal parties. We also adopt their government which is the local and central government. We also adopt the system of government of America given to us, the legislative, the Judiciary and the executive. With the help of the American, the agriculture of our country has en improved.

Nixon and the Happenstances that Brought Him to Nix Essay

On the fateful night of eighth of August in 1974, President Richard M. Nixon announced his resignation from his office due to the pertinent issue that he was facing. According to his resignation speech, he has to leave his office because the Congress has lost its faith on him, and because of that he cannot pursue the completion of his term of office. In his resignation speech, Nixon explicitly stated that he will vacate the White House at exactly twelve o’clock noon the next day, and that his office will be officially entrusted with Vice President Gerald R. Ford. On that fateful night, Nixon uttered the following words â€Å"that process of healing which is so desperately needed in America,†[1] which is considered by his critics as partly true and partly as an escape goat for an imminent impeachment against him. (1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     In American history, Nixon is the first president who surrenders his authority and stature. What are the circumstances that led an esteemed president to his fall down? It was common belief that a president would only be forced to leave his office for two significant reasons: first, if he is a lousy president, regardless if he is innately a good person, his lousiness will bring forth the end of his term, and second, if he is an exceptional president but catapulted an extraordinary scandal that no one can forgive, his days on the White House will definitely be numbered. (2) And in the case of Nixon, he committed the latter.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this paper, I will outline how a seemingly invincible president was crushed down. I will also give nitty-gritty details of Watergate scandal, which is the root of Nixon’s fall down from his office. But let me first provide a brief exposition of Nixon’s autobiographical account of his presidency. The Anthology of Humble Beginnings   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nixon started his political journey when he became a part of United States of House of Representatives in 1946. But it was only in 1948 that his name was propelled with respect and adoration in the public eye due to his discovery of Alger Hiss’ conspiracy with Soviet Union. In 1950, he won the senatorial race outwitting Congresswoman Helen Gahagan Douglas, in which he has a well publicized rivalry. During this senatorial race, Nixon was named as Tricky Dick because he labeled the congresswoman as the Pink Lady. (1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In 1952, Nixon achieved new heights in his political career because he was elected as the 36th vice president of our country. But before he assumed this position, he faced a scandal about malversation of public funds, which led the Democrats and the Republicans in requesting President Eisenhower to eliminate him of their party. Nixon being a good speaker convinced Eisenhower and the public that his conscience is clean and that he is indeed credible for the position after reciting his Checkers speech in the television. (1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Nixon’s journey there were some fiascos along his way. In 1960, he joined the presidential race against President John F. Kennedy, which led to his first disappointment in his political career. He experienced another disappointment after losing his candidacy in the race for Governor of California. (1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But in every storm there will always be rainbow. When Nixon successfully established a strong political party in the guise of what he called â€Å"silent majority†, his political comeback is already certain. In 1969, he became the 37th president of the United States of America upsetting Hubert H. Humphrey with less one percent of the poll. His triumph is due to his promise of ending the Vietnam War, in which he fruitfully put into a realization. With his creation of Nixon Doctrine, he delivered peace not only with Vietnam but with China and Soviet Union as well. (3)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But everything must come down to its end. And this is exactly what happens to Nixon’s political journey when the Watergate scandal started to come out. This time there was nothing he can do to save his diminishing credibility. The Anatomy of Watergate Scandal   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Watergate is nothing but a plain lavish establishment erected in Washington D.C. that doesn’t spell any scandal. But in 1972, it changed our perception of the hotel because it embodies Nixon’s myriad of under the table activities. The beginning of these Watergate activities can be traced back in 1969 when he and Henry Kissinger attempted to stop the leaking of his administration’s shenanigans by wire tapping the phones of several journalists and those officials against who were against him. These Watergate wrongdoings also include the housebreak of Dr. Lewis Fielding in an effort to acquire his psychiatric records, which transpired in 1971; the FBI probing on CBS’ Daniel Horr in 1971; and the investigation of G. Gordon Liddy’s discussion of Jack Anderson assassination also in 1971.(3)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But it was in the seventeenth of June 1972 at around two in the morning that all of these activities where discovered, when five of his men were caught burglarizing the Democratic Party’s headquarters located at Watergate hotel.   According to documents, Frank Mills, a guard in Watergate hotel, was doing his inspection of the place when he found a piece of tape preventing a door from latching. He removed the tape, only to found out later that the door was re-taped. Out of curiosity, Mills phoned the police about the matter. At around 2:30 in the morning, five men were caught installing wire tapping paraphernalia and taking pictures of some document causing them to be arrested.(2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   These men were later identified as Bernard Barker, Virgilio Gonzalez, Eugenio Martinez, Frank Sturgis, and James W. McCord Jr., and proven to have a connection with Nixon. During the arraignment of these burglars, Washington Post’s Bob Woodard overheard some pertinent information from McCord, which led for his own investigation, and later on he discovered that McCord was part of Committee to Re-Elect the President (CRP) security force. As the scandal went on, the link between the Watergate event and the White House was finally established when E. Howard Hunt’s phone number was found in Barker’s notebook. (2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to investigations, Hunt and Liddy served as watchers outside the hotel, wherein both of them were guarding outside the vicinity and communication with the burglars inside Watergate hotel, and later on, it was realized that both were members of â€Å"The Plumbers†. John Ehrlichman was the brainchild of The Plumbers, which is designed to ensure that impossibility of any leakage in Nixon’s office and to destroy the Democrats. (2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Nixon’s forces tried damage control through cover-ups, alibis and denials. Jeb Magruder, L. Patrick Gray of FBI along with others obliterated all significant documents and denied all allegations regarding the scandal. In a desperate attempt to control the situation, Nixon asked White House Chief of Staff Robert Haldeman to do his own probing on the case arguing that it might interfere with the CIA operation, but this investigation was planned so that can get hold of the CIA. (2)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Woodard along with Carl Bernstein continued there research on the scandal until they found a formidable source inside the White House, whom they labeled Deep Throat. According to their reports, Deep Throat only confirmed all the information that they have gathered with regards to Watergate scandal. In 2005, W. Mark Felt validated that he was behind Deep Throat secret identity. (4)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the progression of the scandal, Nixon was re-elected from presidency, and two months after his re-election, the five burglars pleaded guilty while McCord and Liddy were convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping in Judge John Sirica’s trial. Things get out of control as time went by. His underlings started to backstab each other, some of them blackmailed him, and worst of all they left Nixon in the verge of his insurmountable predicament. (4)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   But the biggest mistake he committed happened when he fired Archibald Cox along with some of his subordinate. This incident on the twentieth of October 1973 was known as the Saturday Night Massacre provoked the first serious attempts to Nixon’s impeachment. The first impeachment trial was heard on the ninth of May. But his last straw was pulled out when the smoking gun tape was listened on the fifth of August 1974. The tape disclosed Nixon’s approval to hush money for Hunt who blackmailed him for releasing his part on the Watergate scandal. It also exposed that Nixon asked CIA to speak with the FBI for dropping the investigation on Pigs of the Bay. (1)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The realization of imminent impeachment led Nixon to file his resignation. But he made sure that his exit will be redeeming. In a national television, he announced his resignation with words of a dignified man by stating â€Å"By taking this action, I hope that I will have hastened the start of the process of healing which is so desperately needed in America.† At the end of his speech, he never admitted any act of wrongdoing. The next day, at exactly twelve noon, he left White House and Vice President Ford filled the left position. And on the eight of September, one month after the televised address, President Ford freed Nixon from all of his political crimes. (2)    BIBILIOGRAPHY: 1.) Elish, Dan The Watergate Scandal Scholastic Library Pub, 2004. 2.) Fox, Steve. â€Å"Revisiting Watergate.† Washington Post 2005. 3.) Shepard, Alicia C. Woodward and Bernstein: Life in the Shadow of Watergate Wiley, 2006. 4.) Woodward, Bob. â€Å"Deep Throat Revealed.† Washington Post 2005. [1] Taken from Nixon’s Resignation Address

Case Study Formula 1

Q1. What do you need in order to succeed in Formula One? The case studies emphasise that all three racing teams focussed on different strategies. Their strategies changed within the environment and circumstances, but what is overwhelmingly evident is that a team needs all the elements to be in synergy and for focus to be on every aspect of the strategy. As the old adage, ‘A team is only as strong as its weakest link. This means that in order to be successful and to maintain success, you’ve got to get all the elements right, the overall package, the budget, the designer, the engine, the drivers, the organisation and every aspect, from what is deemed most important to the least important, all play an essential part of sustaining a winning team. The strategy employed has to be all encompassing and must definitely not rely on any one aspect only, as this has proven to be short lived, and cannot sustain long-term success. A distinct advantage is for these racing teams to be afore with latest technology and to ensure a good relationship with its sponsors and suppliers especially the engine suppliers, as was evident with the Honda partnership in supplying engines. Another dimension is the attitude, drive and enthusiasm of the team. Their desire to win and the extra effort they put in, not just to rely on a fast car or good driver, but also to have a focussed mindset and good inter-relationships. 2. Why do you think your team were successful during this period? The Ferrari team was successful during this 2000 –2004 due to them changing their mindset from the conventional and adapting to the rapid advancement of technology. Even though they had the money, resources and discipline they lacked the innovation to move forward and keep up with the rest of the world with respect to technology. By recruiting John Bernand the top technical designer and setting up the GTO plant in Guildford gave Ferrari the edge they needed. This plant focused on long term R & D and the Marnello plant concentrated on the current design and activities. Both long term and short term strategies were being fulfilled and a synergy was formed. The death of Enzo Ferrari gave rise to a new management team with a different management style. This created some problems/shift within the organisation but it also gave way to benefits, as the saying goes, â€Å"Change is as good as a holiday†. The new management team was able to amalgamat the human resource plan, marketing plan and financial plan to ensure sustainability of the organisation. They recruited the right people to compliment the business and take their business to new heights. The new team helped Schumacher to world titles. In addition Schumacher’s talent as a driver coupled with his motivating skills provided a base for an excellent performing team. Ferrari’s supply chain was critical for the sustainability of their company. Long-term commercial and technological partnerships were set up with Marlbaro and Shell which maximised the benefits of Ferrari’s investments. These partnerships provided the technical and financial support needed. 3. Why were they unable to sustain this success? One of the key reasons that Ferrari was unable to sustain their success was as a result of complacency. The developers at Ferrari lack the foresight to acknowledge that the design of the product i. e the F1racing car. The strategy that was adopted by Team Ferrari focused primarily on the engine that ran the car, this owing largely to the fact that this was the ideology of it’s chairman Enzo Ferrari, this strategy was entrenched in the technical development team. Ferrari believe that by building better faster engines that their cars would remain unbeatable. This strategy was effective however only for a period of time. Other teams had realised that there were other aspects of the cars design that contributed to it’s performance. As result the strategy of these teams shifted from finding the perfect engine to designing the perfect race car that was aerodynamically efficient, who’s chassis were lighter and therefore sought to find an engine that compliment these new designs, this was achieved with the use of the V12 engines which perfectly. Whilst all of these technological developments were taking place in the F1 arena, Ferrari chose to focus on it’s long term strategy which focused on the development of the V6 turbocharged engine. This essentially meant that their drivers were now competing with cars that no longer held a competitive advantage, in fact the cars were now considered inferior. The fundamental flaw in this instance was that Ferrari had ignored the change in trends in the immediate environment and stuck to what they felt worked. The strategy was to exploits their strengths but neglected the opportunities that presented themselves. They had failed to respond to an immediate threat, thus exposing their weaknesses and allowing themselves to retrogress to the extent that Ferrari was no longer considered a threat. This was further compounded by the problems that were being experienced between Audetto and Laude, Ferrari’s strength was derived somewhat from the relationship between Team Boss and Driver and with Audetto not being able to accomplish this, it impacted on the performance of the team. In addition, the heavy reliance on the driver, meant that the team was left at the mercy of it’s driver, this was evident when Laude was unable to compete for six weeks, this allowed the competition to close in on the lead that Ferrari had established. What this showed was Ferrari’s inability to adapt to a change in circumstances. The strategy that it had employed during this time did not include contingencies. What could they have done to sustain their success further? A key consideration for Team Ferrari should have been the technological advancements that were taking place in terms of the design of the vehicle. It was undoubted that Ferrari had the necessary resources at their disposal to have developed a car that other manufacturers would have envied which in fact they did manage to do. However their strategy should have been innovative to have explored a more integrated approach to the design of the car. They should have exploited the opportunity of forming alliances with key design engineers that specialised in the field of aerodynamics as that was a growing trend in the F1 arena. Management should have been more in tune with the immediate environment and had the foresight to have identified the shifting trends and re-strategized to accommodate the trends thereby ensuring that they remained more competitive. Further, the changes in the management team should have been limited to allow for the team to adapt to the technological changes that were taking place around them. The strategy of Ferrari should have focused on fully utilising its strengths to exploit the opportunities that presented themselves thereby addressing the threats imposed by it’s competitors. 4. Conclusion: In order to have remained competitive or in fact dominant Ferrari should have adopted a more entrepreneurial approach to it’s business and seized the opportunities to be innovative to point of being the benchmark in Formula One racing. The strategy should have been influenced more by the technological environment in which it competed as a opposed to the historical goals of a single individual. It should have sought to make it offerings to the F1 world current and innovative, resourced should have been channelled towards an integrated approach to the manufacture of a Formula One car that was both innovative yet extremely competitive, thus ensuring that Ferrari remain at the forefront of innovation and Formula One racing.

Decision Analysis

CREATE Research Archive Published Articles & Papers 1-1-1980 Structuring Decision Problems for Decision Analysis Detlof von Winterfeldt University of Southern California, [email  protected] edu Follow this and additional works at: http://research. create. usc. edu/published_papers Recommended Citation von Winterfeldt, Detlof, â€Å"Structuring Decision Problems for Decision Analysis† (1980). Published Articles & Papers. Paper 35. http://research. create. usc. edu/published_papers/35 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by CREATE Research Archive.It has been accepted for inclusion in Published Articles & Papers by an authorized administrator of CREATE Research Archive. For more information, please contact [email  protected] edu. Acta Psychologica 45 (1980) 71-93 0 North-Holland Publishing Company STRUCTURING DECISION PROBLEMS FOR DECISION ANALYSIS * Detlof von WINTERFELDT ** University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90007, USA Structuring decisio n problems into a formally acceptable and manageable format is probably the most important step of decision analysis.Since presently no sound methodology for structuring exists, this step is still an art left to the intuition and craftsmanship of the individual analyst. After introducing a general concept of structuring, this paper reviews some recent advances in structuring research. These include taxonomies for problem identification and new tools such as influence diagrams and interpretative structural modeling. Two conclusions emerge from this review: structuring research is still limited to a few hierarchical concepts and it tends to ignore substantive problem aspects that delineate a problem it its real world context.Consequently structuring research has little to say about distinctions between typical problem classes such as regulation, siting, or budget allocation. As an alternative the concept of â€Å"prototypical decision analytic structures† is introduced. Such st ructures are developed to meet the substantive characteristics of a specific problem (e. g. , siting a specific Liquid Natural Gas plant) but they are at the same time general enough to apply to similar problems (industrial facility siting). As an illustration, the development of a prototypical analytic structure for environmental standard setting is described.Finally, some typical problem classes are examined and some requirements for prototypical structures are discussed. An introduction to problem structuring Decision analysis can be divided into four steps: structuring the problem; formulating inference and preference models; eliciting probabilities and utilities; and exploring the numerical model results. Prac* This research was supported by a grant from the Department of Defense and was monitored by the Engineering Psychology Programs of the Office of Naval Research, under contract # NOOO14-79C-0529.While writing this paper, the author discussed the problem of structuring exte nsively with Helmut Jungermann. The present version owes much to his thought. Please don’t take footnote 3 too seriously. It is part of a footnote war between Ralph Keeney and me. ** Presently with the Social Science Research Institute, University of Southern California, University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90007, (213) 741-6955. 12 D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems titioners of decision analysis generally agree that structuring is the most important and difficult step of the analysis.Yet, until recently, decision analytic research has all but ignored structuring, concentrating instead on questions of modeling and elicitation. As a result, structuring was, and to some extent still is, considered the ‘art’ part of decision analysis. This paper examines some attempts to turn this art into a science. Trees are the most common decision analytic structures. Decision trees, for example, represent the sequential aspects of a decision problem (see Raiffa 1968 ; Brown et al. 1974). Other examples are goal trees for the representations of values (Keeney and Raiffa 1976) and event trees for the representation f inferential problem aspects (Kelly and Barclay 1973). In fact, trees so much dominate decision analytic structures that structuring is often considered synonymous to building a tree. This paper, however, will adopt a more general notion of decision analytic structuring. According to this notion, structuring is an imaginative and creative process of translating an initially ill-defined problem into a set of welldefined elements, relations, and operations. The basic structuring activities are identifying or generating problem elements (e. g. , events, values, actors, decision alternatives) nd relating these elements by influence relations, inclusion relations, hierarchical ordering relations, etc. The structuring process seeks to formally represent the environmental (objective) parts of the decision problem and the decision makers†™ or experts’ (subjective) views, opinions, and values. Graphs, maps, functional equations, matrices, trees, physical analogues, flow charts, and venn diagrams are all possible problem representations. In order to be useful structures for decision analysis, such representations must facilitate the subsequent steps of modeling, elicitation, and numerical nalysis. Three phases can be distinguished in such a generalized structuring process. In the first phase the. problem is identified. The elements which are generated in this phase are the substantive features of the problem: the decision maker(s); the generic classes of alternatives, objectives, and events; individuals or groups affected by the decision; characteristics of the problem environment. This list is pruned by answering questions such as: what is the purpose of the analysis? For whom is the analysis to be performed? Which alternatives can the decision maker truly control?At this stage only very rough relations betw een problem elements are constructed. Examples include organizational relations D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems 73 among decision makers, influence relations between classes of actions and events, and rough groupings of objectives. Products of this problem identification step are usually not very formal, and are seldom reported in the decision analytic literature. They may be in the form of diagrams, graphs, or ordered lists. Among the few documented examples are Hogarth et al. (1980) for the problem of city planning and Fischer and von Winterfeldt 1978) for the problem of setting environmental standards. In the second structuring step, an overall analytic structure is developed. The elements generated in this step are possible analytic problem representations. Besides tree structures, these may include more complex structures previously developed for similar problems such as screening structures for siting decisions or signal detection structures for medical decis ion making. Paradigmatic structures of alternative modeling approaches (e. g. , systems dynamics or linear programming) which could fit the problem should also be examined at this step [ 1 I.A creative activity in this structuring phase is to relate and combine part structures, e. g. , simulation structures with evaluation structures, or decision trees of different actors. From the candidate structures and their combinations an overall structure is selected which is judged most representative of the problem and manageable for further modeling and elicitation. Only a handful of analytic structures have been developed which are more complex than decision trees. Gardiner and Ford (in press) combined simulation and evaluation structures.Keeney (in press) developed decision analytic structure for the whole process of siting energy facilities. Von Winterfeldt (1978) constructed a generic structure for regulatory decision making. The third structuring phase coincides with the more traditio nal and limited notion of structuring. In this step the parts of the overall analytic structure are formalized in detail by refining the problem elements and relations identified in the first step. This includes a detailed construction of decision trees, event trees, and goal trees. Linkages between part structures are established, e. g. between simulation and evaluation structures. Decision makers and groups affected by possible decisions are specified together with events or actions linking [l] Although such structures alternatives to decision analytic in the remainder of this paper. structures should be considered, I will ignore 14 D. von Winterfeldt/Structuring decision problems them. Examples of this structuring step can be found in most decision analytic textbooks. This three step structuring process of identifying the problem, developing an analytic structure, and formalizing its detailed content seldom evolves in strict sequence.Instead, the process is recursive, with repeat ed trials and errors. Often the analyst decides on a specific structure and later finds it either unmanageable for modeling or non-representative of the problem. The recognition that a structure needs refmement often follows the final step of decision analysis, if numerical computations and sensitivity analyses point to places that deserve more detailed analysis. Knowing about the recursive nature of the structuring process, it is good decision analysis practice to spend much effort on structuring and to keep an open mind about possible revisions.The above characterization of the structuring process will be used as a format to review the structuring literature. First, the use of problem taxonomies for the step of problem identification is examined. Methods to select analytic approaches are then reviewed as possible aids for the second structuring step. Finally, some recent advances in formalizing part structures are discussed. * Two conclusions emerged from this review and motivated the subsequent sections of this paper: (1) Although structuring research has much to say about analytic distinctions between decision problems and structures (e. . , whether a problem is multiattributed or not), it has little bearing on substantive problem distinction (e. g. , the difference between a typical regulation problem and a typical investment problem). (2) Structuring research is still limited to a few, usually hierarchical concepts and operations. Emphasis is put on simple, operational and computerized structuring. Little effort is spent on creating more complex combinations of structures that represent real problem classes. As an alternative, the concept of prototypical decision analytic structures is introduced.Such structures have more substance and complexity than the usual decision trees or goal trees. They are developed to meet the substantive characteristics of a specific problem, but are at the same time general enough to apply to similar problems. As an illustra tion, IIASA’s [21 development of a prototypical decision analytic [2] International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria. D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems 75 structure for environmental standard setting will be described. Finally, several typical classes of decision problems will be examined and some requirements or prototypical structures will be discussed. Taxonomies for problem identification The taxonomies described in the following typically classify decision problems by analytic categories (e. g. , whether a problem is multiattributed or not) and they attempt to slice the universe of problems into mutually exclusive and exhaustive sets. The purpose of such taxonomies is twofold: to facilitate the identification of an unknown element (e. g. , a medical decision problem) with a class of problems (e:g. , diagnostic problem); and to aid the process of matching classes in the problem taxonomy (e. . , diagnostic problems) with an analyti c approach (e. g. , signal detection structures). Thus, by their own aspiration, problem taxonomies should be useful for the early phases of structuring decision problems. MacCrimmon and Taylor (1975) discuss on a rather general level the relationship between decision problems and solution strategies. Decision problems are classified according to whether they are ill-structured or well-structured, depending on the extent to which the decision maker feels familiar with the initial state of the problem, the terminal state, and the transformations equired to reach a desired terminal state. Three main factors contribute to ill-structuredness: uncertainty, complexity, and conflict. For each category MacCrimmon and Taylor discuss a number of solution strategies. These strategies include, for example, reductions of the perceptions of uncertainty, modeling strategies, information acquisition and processing strategies, and methods for restructuring a problem. Taylor (1974) adds to this class ification scheme four basic types of problems: resource specification, goal specification, creative problems, and well structured problems (see fig. 1).Problem types are identified by the decision maker’s familiarity with the three subparts of the problem. Taylor discusses what types of decision strategies are appropriate for each of these problem categories, for example, brainstorming for creative problems and operations research type solutions for well structured problems. Howell and Burnett (1978) recently developed a taxonomy of tasks 16 D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring Problem Type Initial State decision problems Terminal State Transformation Type 1, Resource Specification Problems UnfamllIar Type 11, Goal Specification Problems Type III, Creative ProblemsType IV, Well-Structured Problems Varies Varies Unfamihar Varies Vanes Familiar Unfamiliar Familiar Fig. 1. Types of problem structures (Taylor 1974). and types of events with the intention of assessing cognitive options for processing probabilistic information for each taxonomy element. Uncertain events are classified according to three dichotomies: frequentistic – not frequentistic; known data generator – unknown data generator; process external – internal to the observer. Task characteristics are complexity, setting (e. g. , real life us. laboratory), span of events, and response mode characteristics. For each vent/task combination Howell and Burnett discuss how different cognitive processes may be operating when making probability judgments. For example, in estimating frequentistic events with unknown data generators, availability heuristics may be operative. Brown and Ulvila (1977) present the most comprehensive attempt yet to classify decision problems. Their taxonomy includes well over 100 possible characteristics. Decision problems are defined according to their substance and the decision process involved. Substantive taxonomic characteristics are mainly derived from th e analytic properties of the situation, i. . , amount and type of uncertainty, and amount D. von Winterfeldt/Structuring decision problems 71 and types of stakes, types of alternatives. Only a few elements of this part of the taxonomy can be directly related to problem content, i. e. , current vs. contingent decision, operating vs. information act. The taxonomic elements of the decision process refer mainly to the constraints of the decision maker, e. g. , reaction time, available resources. The taxonomy by Brown and Ulvila incorporates most previous problem taxonomies which tried to define decision problems by categories derived from decision analysis.These include taxonomies by von Winterfeldt and Fischer (1975), Miller et al. (1976), and Vlek and Wagenaar (1979). To be useful for problem identification, the above taxonomies should lead an analyst to a class of problems which has characteristics similar to the decision problem under investigation. Unfortunately, the existing probl em taxonomies are ill-suited for this purpose, because they use mainly analytic categories to distinguish problems. Such categories are derivatives of the decision analytic models and concepts, rather than characteristics of real world problems. For example, the analytic categorizations f problems into risky vs. riskless classes is based on the distinction between riskless and risky preference models. Analytic categories create more or less empty classes with little or no correspondence to real problems. For example, none of the above taxonomies allows distinguishing between a typical siting problem and a typical regulation problem in a meaningful way. It appears that substantive rather than analytic characteristics identify real problems. Substantive characteristics are generalized content features of the problems belonging to the respective class. For example, a substantive eature of regulation problems is the involvement of three generic decision makers: the regulator, the regula ted, and the beneficiary of regulation. To become useful for problem identification, taxonomies need to include such substantive problem characteristic& Methods for selecting an overall analytic structure Most taxonomies include some ideas or principles for matching lems with analytic structures or models. MacCrimmon and attempted to match their basic type of decision problems with tive solution strategies, Howell and Burnett speculated on which tive processes may be invoked by typical task/event classes in probTaylor ognicogniproba- 18 D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems bility assessment; von Winterfeldt and Fischer identified for each problem category appropriate multiattribute utility models. But in none of these papers explicit matching principles or criteria for the goodness of a match are given. Rather, matches are created on the basis of a priori reasoning about the appropriateness of a strategy, model, or a cognitive process for a particular class of decision problems. Brown and Ulvila (1977) attempted to make this selection process more explicit by creating an analytic taxonomy in correspondence with the problem taxonomy.The analytic taxonomy classifies the main options an analyst may have in structuring and modeling a decision problem. The taxonomy includes factors such as user’s options (amount to be expended on the analysis), input structure (type of uncertainty), elicitation techniques (type of probability elicitation). These categories identify options, both at a general level (optimization, simulation, and Bayesian inference models) and special techniques (e. g. , reference gambles, or Delphi technique). To match problems with analytic approaches Brown and Ulvila created a third taxonomy, called the â€Å"performance measure taxonomy†.This taxonomy evaluates analytic approaches on attributes like â€Å"time and cost measures†, â€Å"quality of the option generation process†, â€Å"quality of communicat ion or implementation†, etc. Different problem classes have different priority profiles on the performance measure categories. Similarly, different analytic approaches have different scoring profiles on the performance measures. The analytic approach chosen should perform well on the priority needs of a particular problem, Brown and Ulvila discuss the ‘goodness of fit’ of several analytic approaches to a number of decision situations in terms of these performance measures.For example, they argue that a contingency type analysis (an element of the analytic taxonomy) is appropriate for decision problems that occur repeatedly and require a fast response (elements of the decision situation taxonomy) because contingency type analysis allows fast calculations (elements of the performance measure taxonomy). Several authors have developed logical selection schemes, which can identify an appropriate analytic approach or model based on selected MacCrimmon (1973), for exampl e, developed a problem features. sequential method for selecting an appropriate approach for multiattrib&e evaluation.The first question to be answered is whether the purpose of the analysis is normative or descriptive. Further questions D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems 79 include whether the type of problem has occurred frequently before, if there are multiple decision makers with conflicting preferences, and whether alternatives are available or have to be designed. All questions are of the yes-no type and together create a flow chart for selecting among 19 possible approaches. For example, if the purpose of the analysis is normative, if direct assessments of preferences (e. g. ratings) are valid and reliable, and if the type of problem has frequently occurred before, regression models or ANOVA type approaches would be appropriate. Johnson and Huber (1977) and Kneppreth et al. (1977) discuss a three step procedure for selecting a multiattribute utility assessment approach. In the first step, the characteristics of the multiattribute problem are listed, including discreteness vs. continuity of dimensions, uncertainty vs. no uncertainty, and independence considerations. In the second step the evaluation situation is characterized on the basis of judgments about the task complexity, mount of training required for assessment, face validity required, assessment time, accuracy and flexibility. In the third and final step the profile describing the evaluation problem is compared with a profile characterizing five different generic assessment models or methods. The technique that best matches the situation profile is selected. For example, lottery assessment methods and models would be appropriate if the evaluation problem involves uncertainties, does not require high face validity, and allows for a good amount of training of the assessor. Both the taxonomy riented and the sequential selection methods for matching problems and analysis suffer from c ertain drawbacks. As stated earlier, problem characteristics used in taxonomies typically neglect substantive aspects of the decision problem. Consequently, an analyst may choose an analytic approach based on a match with a spuriously defined problem class. For example, when facing a medical diagnosis problem, an analyst may find that some detailed substantive characteristics of the problem (e. g. , the way doctors process information, the physical format of information, etc. ) suggest a signal detection structure.Yet, as far as I can see, none of the above matching processes would directly lead to such a structure. Advances in formalizing structures Influence diagrams are a recent development in decision analytic structuring (see Miller et al. 1976). Influence diagrams draw a graphical 80 D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems picture of the way variables in a decision model influence each other, without superimposing any hierarchical structure. For example, a decision v ariable (price) may ‘influence’ a state variable (demand) and thus ‘influence’ a final state (successful introduction of a new product into market). Influence diagrams have been conceived mainly as an initial pre-structuring tool to create a cognitive map of a decision maker’s or expert’s view of a decision problem. In the present stage influence diagrams are turned into hierarchical structures and analyzed with traditional tools. But research is now underway at SRI International on the use of influence diagrams directly in EV or EU computations. Another generalization of the tree approach is Interpretative Structural Modeling (ISM) developed, for example, in Warfield (1974) and Sage (1977). In interpretative structural modeling, matrix and graph heory notions are used to formally represent a decision problem. First, all elements of the problem are listed and an element by element matrix is constructed. The structure of the relationships betwe en elements is then constructed by filling in the matrix with numerical judgments reflecting the strength of the relationship, or by simply making O-l judgments about the existence/non-existence of a relation. Computer programs can then be used to convert the matrix into a graph or a tree that represents the problem. Influence diagrams, value trees, decision trees, and inference trees can all be thought of as special cases of ISM.For example, in value tree construction, the analyst may begin with a rather arbitrary collection of value relevant aspects, attributes, outcomes, targets and objectives. Using alternative semantic labels for the relationships between these elements (e. g. , ‘similar’, ‘part of’), an element by element matrix can be filled. Finally, the analyst can explore whether a particular relational structure leads to useful goal tree structure. Besides these generalizations of traditional hierarchical structuring tools, several refinements of special structuring techniques have been suggested, particularly for evaluation roblems. Keeney and Raiffa (1976) devoted a whole chapter to the problem of structuring a value tree. They suggest a strategy of constructing a value tree by beginning with general objectives and disaggregating by using a pure explication logic (i. e. , what is meant by this general objective? ). This approach has previously been advocated by Miller (1970) and others. Mannheim and Hall (1967) suggest in addition the possibility of disaggregating general D. van Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems 81 objectives according to a means-ends logic (how can this general objective be achieved? ).Other disaggregation logics (problem oriented, process oriented, etc. ) could be analyzed in the ISM context. There are a number of papers that suggest more empirical or synthetic approaches to value tree construction. Of particular interest is a repertory grid technique described by Humphreys and Humphreys (1975) and Humphreys and Wisuda (1979). In this procedure similarity and dissimilarity judgments are used to span the value dimensions of alternatives. Several computer aids have been developed recently to aid decision makers or experts in structuring decision problems. Some of these are discussed in Kelly ( 1978), and Humphreys (1980).These aids typically rely on empty structuring concepts (decison trees, value trees, inference trees, or influence diagrams) and they guide the decision maker/expert in the analytic formulation of his/her problem. Special aids are OPINT for moderately complex problems which can easily be formulated into a decision tree or matrix structure, the decision triangle aid for sequential decision problems with a focus on changing probabilities, and EVAL for multiattribute utility problems (Kelly 1978). In addition to these structuring and assessment aids, there are now computerized aids under development xploiting the idea of influence diagrams and fuzzy set theory . Influence diagrams, ISM, and computer aids are indicative of a trend in structuring research and perhaps in decision analysis as a whole. This trend turns the fundamentally empty structures of decision trees, goal trees, and inference trees into more operational, computerized elicitation tools, without adding problem substance. There are clear advantages to such an approach: a wide range of applicability, flexibility, user involvement, speed, limited training, and feedback, to name only a few. It also reduces the demands on the decision analyst’s time.There is, of course, the other extreme, the prestructured, precanned problem specific version of decision analysis applicable to essentially identical situations. A military example is Decisions and Designs Inc. % SURVAV model (Kelly 1978) which applies to routing decisions for ships to avoid detections by satellites. Such a structure and model can routinely be implemented with almost no additional training. In turn it gives u p generalizability. Neither extreme is totally satisfactory. Empty general structures must consider each problem from scratch. Substantive specific struc- 82 D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring ecision problems tures have limited generalizability. The middleground of problem driven but still generalizable structures and models needs to be filled. Problem taxonomies may help here by identifying generic classes of problems. But as was discussed earlier, existing taxonomies are ill equipped for this task since they neglect substantive problem features. The question of filling in the middleground between ‘too general’ structures and ‘too specific’ structures thus becomes a question of searching for generalizable content features of problems that identify generic classes of decisions.These generic classes can then be modelled and structured by â€Å"prototypical decision analytic structures† which are specific enough to match the generalizable problem feature s and general enough to transfer easily to other problems of the same class. At the present stage of research this search process will necessarily be inductive because too little is known about problem substance to develop a problem driven taxonomy and matching analytic structures. An inductive research strategy may attempt to crystallize the generalizable features of a specific application, . or compare a number of similar applications (e. . , with siting problems), or simply use a phenomenological approach to delineate problem classes in a specific application area (e. g. , regulation). In the following two sections some possibilities for developing prototypical decision analytic structures will be discussed. An example of developing a prototypical structure The following example describes the structuring process in the development of a decision aiding system for environmental standard setting and regulation. The work was performed as part of IIASA’s (see fn. 2) standard se tting project (see von Winterfeldt et al. 1978), which had oth descriptive and normative intentions (how do regulators presently set standards? how can analytic models help in the standard setting process? ). Because of this wide approach of the standard setting project, the research group was not forced to produce workable models for specific decision problems quickly. Consequently, its members could afford and were encouraged to spend a substantial amount of time on structuring. Inputs into the structuring process were: – retrospective case studies of specific mental protection agencies; standard processes of environ- national Railway Corporation energylevelmeasure 3 measurefor aeroplanenoise 1 Japanese dB’ ‘SO†, AT SOURCE RULES ROUTING USE SCHEMES SCHEMES LAND Fig. 2. Regulatory alternatives for Shinkansen noise pollution. IMPLEMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENT /I ALTERNATIVE OF HOUSE IN HOUSE IN FRONT lMldB(A) WCPNLl MEAS†6iiA~â€Å"> 30 †“ d&i) MEASURED LEO’ EQUIP- TION FICA- SPECI- MENT SPE:D CONTROL RES+RlCT TIMES OPERATION 84 D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems – previous models suggested for standard setting; – field studies of two ongoing standard setting processes (oil pollution and noise standards).In addition, the structuring process benefited much from continuing discussions with leading members of environmental agencies in the United Kingdom, Norway, Japan and the United States. Although the structuring effort was geared towards decision analysis, substantial inputs were given by an environmental economist (D. Fischer), an environmental modeller (S. Ikeda), a game theorist (E. Hopfinger), and two physicists (W. Hafele and R. Avenhaus), all members of IIASA’s standard setting research team. The overall question was: how can standard setting problems best be formulated nto a decision analytic format and model such that the model is specific enough to capture the ma in features of a particular standard setting problem and, at the same time, general enough to apply to a variety of such problems? In other words, what is a prototypical decision analytic structure for standard setting? Since the regulator or regulatory agency was presumed to be the main client of such models, the initial structuring focussed on regulatory alternatives and objectives. In one attempt a wide but shallow alternative tree was conceived which included a variety of regulatory ptions ranging from emission standards, land use schemes, to direct interventions. An example for noise pollution standards is presented in fig, 2. Coupled with an appropriate tree of regulatory objectives, a decision analysis could conceivably be performed by evaluating each alternative with a simple MAU procedure. A possible value tree is presented in fig. 3 for the same noise pollution problem. This simple traditional structure was rejected since regulators seldom have to evaluate such a wide rang e of alternatives and because it does not capture the interaction between the regulators and the regulated.Also, regulators are much concerned about monitoring and implementation of standards, an aspect which a simple MAU structure does not address. The second structure was a narrow but deep decision tree, exemplified in fig. 4 for an oil pollution problem. In addition to the regulator’s alternatives, this tree includes responses of the industry to standards, possible detection of standards violations, and subsequent sanctions. This structure was geared at fine tuning the regulators’ definitions of D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems 85 of hospitals, schools, retwement homes MINIMIZE f residential life DISTURBANCE other / EEggF M,NIM,zE HEALTH Hearing EFFECTS < PsychologIcal Synergetic (aggravation of existing illness) Investment for pollution equipment MINIMIZE COST ~—–< Operation of pollution eqwpment RAILWAY CORP. OBJECTIVES Speed MAXIMIZ E SERVICE -< Aeliablllty ClXlllOrt wth mtemational regulation CONSISTENCY OF REGULATION with other national â€Å"cise standards (car, mr. other trams) POLITICAL OBJECTIVES -/ Enwonmental policy AGREEMENT POLICY WITH GOVERNMENT Transportation policy t Ewnomtc growih policy Fig. 3. Regulatory objectives for noise pollution control. he standard level (maximum emission, etc. ) and monitoring and sanction schemes, and to assessing environmental impacts. The structure is specific in terms of the regulatory alternatives. But by considering industry responses as random events, and by leaving out responses of environmental groups, it fails to address a major concern of regulatory decision making. The third structure was a three decision maker model, in which the regulator, the industry/developer and the environmentalists/impactees are represented by separate decision analytic models (see von Winterfeldt 1978).A signal detection type model links the regulator’s decision through poss ible detections of violations and sanction schemes to the the industry model. An event tree of pollution generating events and effects links the developer’s decisions to the impactee model (see fig. 5). The model can be run as follows: the regulator’s alternatives are left 86 EPA average UK aver,, UK maximum Norway average DEFINITIONS OF OIL EMISSION STANDARDS parts per million ofoil No pollution – Grawty Separator c&ugated Plate Inter- equipment Gas Flotation Filters ceptrr n ob STANDARD LEVEL in watt r ofoil POLLUTION EQUIPMENT PERFORMANCE o00 patis per milhon in water n First vidabon of No udat#on of standard occurs at tulle DETECTION STATES standard dunng all opemons n t POLLUTION EQUIPMENT DECISION BY THE OIL INDUSTRY PENALTY No pdlution equipment Gravity separator Gas Flotatux corrugated Plate bltw- Pais Filters EQUIPMENT PERFORMANCE per million n Second wdation POLLUTION EQUIPMENT DECISION BY THE OIL INDUSTRY No more vidations DETECTION STATES Find eflect s~ on environment (pdlution levels) FINAL EFFECTS – industry (cost) – regulatlx (political) Fig. 4. Segment of a decision tree for setting oil pollution standards. A standard is usually defined by the number of samples to be taken, how many samples form an average, and how many exemptions from a violation are allowed. For example, the EPA average definition is as follows: four samples are to be taken daily, the average of the four samples may not exceed the standard level (e. g. , 50 ppm) more than twice during any consecutive 30 day period. 87 D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems REGULATORY 1 DECISION MODEL I U R (0 1 DETECTION OF REGULATION VIOLATION DEVELOPER – SANCTIONS POLLUTION GENERATING EVENTS I IMPACTEE DECISION MODELPOLLUTION EFFECTS Fig. 5. Schematic representation of the regulator-developer-impactee model. 1: variable standard of the regulator d(r): expected utility maximizing treatment decision of the developer a[d(r)]: expected utility maximizing decision of the impactees variable. The developer’s response is optimized in terms of minimizing expected investment, operation, and detection costs or maximizing equivalent expected utilities. Finally, the impactees are assumed to maximize their expected utility conditional on the regulator’s and the developer’s decision. At this point the model stops.The structure only provides for a Pareto optimality analysis of the three expected utilities accruing to the generic decision units. This model allows some detailed analyses of the probabilities and value aspects of the standard setting problem, and it proved feasible in a pilot application to chronic oil discharge standards (see von Winterfeldt et al. 1978). Regulators who were presented with this model, con- 88 D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems REGULATOR’S CHOICE Fig. 6. Game theoretic structure of the regulation I problem. sidered it meaningful, and it offered several insights into the standard setting problematique.Yet, there was a feeling among analysts and regulators that the static character of the model and the lack of feedback loops required improvement. The final structure considered was a game theoretic extension of the three decision maker model. The structure of the game theoretic model is presented in fig. 6. In this model the standard setting process in explicitly assumed to be dynamic, and all feedbacks are considered. In addition, transitions from one stage to another are probabilistic. The model was applied in a seven stage version in a pilot study of noise standard setting for rapid trains (Hapfinger and von Winterfeldt 1978).The game theoretic model overcomes the criticisms of the static decision analytic model, but in turn it gives up the possibility for fine tuning and detailed modeling of trade-offs and probabilities. Considering such aspects in detail would have made the running of the model impossible. Therefore, relatively arbitrar y (linear) utility functions and simple structures of transition probabilities have to be assumed. Although the appropriateness of the different structures was not explicitly addressed in this study, two main criteria come to mind when judging structures: representativeness of the problem and manageability for further analysis.Each of these criteria can be further broken down. For example, representativeness includes judgments about the adequacy of the structural detail, and coverage of important problem aspects. The overall conclusions of many discussion with regulators, analysts, D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems 89 industry representatives, and the results of the pilot applications led us to accept the third structure as a prototypical decision analytic structure for relatively routine emission standard setting problems. The model is presently considered for further applications in emission tandard setting and an extension to safety standards will be explored. Tow ards a kit of prototypical decision analytical structures Not every decision analysis can afford to be as broad and time consuming as the previous study. Decision analysis usually has a much more specific orientation towards producing a decision rather than developing a generic structure. Still I think that it would be helpful if analysts were to make an effort in addressing the question of generalizability when modeling a specific problem, and in extracting those features of the problem and the model that are transferable. Such an inductive pproach could be coupled with more research oriented efforts and with examinations of similarities among past applications. Such an approach may eventually fill the middleground between too specific and too general models and structures. But rather than filling this middleground with analytically specific but substantively empty structures and models, it would be filled with prototypical structures and models such as the above regulation model, more refined signal detection models, siting models, etc. In the following, four typical classes of decision problems (siting, contingency planning, budget allocation, and regulation) are examined nd requirements for prototypical structures for these problems are discussed. Facility siting clearly is a typical decision problem. Keeney and other decision analysts have investigated this problem in much detail and in a variety of contexts (see the examples in Keeney and Raiffa 1976). A typical aspect of such siting problems is sequential screening from candidate areas to possible sites, to a preferred set, to final site specific evaluations. Another aspect is the multiobjective nature with emphasis on generic classes of objectives: investment and operating cost, economic benefits, environmental impacts, social impacts, and political onsiderations. Also, the process of organizing, collecting, and evaluating information is similar in many siting decisions. Thus, it should be possible to develop a prototypical structure for facility siting decisions, 90 D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems simply by assembling the generalizable features of past applications [ 31. Contingency planning is another recurring and typical problem. Decision and Design Inc. addressed this problem in the military context, but it also applies to planning for actions in the case of disasters such as Liquid Natural Gas plant explosions or blowouts from oil platforms.Substantive aspects that are characteristic of contingency planning are: strong central control of executive organs, numerous decisions have to be made simultaneously, major events can drastically change the focus of the problem, no cost or low cost information comes in rapidly, and organizational problems may impede information flows and actions. Although, at first glance, decision trees seem to be a natural model for contingency planning, a prototypical decision model would require modifying a strictly sequential appr oach to accommodate these aspects.For example, the model should be flexible enough to allow for the ‘unforeseeable’ (rapid capacity to change the model structure), it should have rapid information updating facilities without overstressing the value of information (since most information is free), and it should attend to fine tuning of simultaneous actions and information interlinkages. Budget allocation to competing programs is another typical problem. In many such problems different programs attempt to pursue similar objectives, and program mix and balance has to be considered besides the direct benefits of single programs.Another characteristic of budgeting decisions is the continuous nature of the decision variable and the constraint of the total budget. MAU looks like a natural structure for budget allocation decision since it can handle the program evaluation aspect (see Edwards et al. 1976). But neither the balance issue nor the constrained and continuous characte ristics of the budget are appropriately adressed by MAU. A prototypical decision analytic structure would model an evaluation of the budget apportionment, or the mix of programs funded at particular levels.Such a structure would perhaps exploit dependencies or independencies among programs much like independence assumption for preferences. Regulation covers a class of decision problems with a number of recurrent themes: three generic groups involved (regulators, regulated, [,3] I believe that. Keeney’s forthcoming book on siting energy facilities is a major step in that direction. Of. course, it could also be a step in the opposite direction. Or in no direction at all (see also first asterisked footnote at the beginning of the article). D. von Winterfeldt /Structuring decision problems 91 beneficiaries of regulation), importance f monitoring and sanction schemes, usually opposing objectives of the regulated and the benefrciaries of regulation, and typically highly political o bjectives of the regulator. In the previous section, the more specific regulation problem of standard setting was discussed, and a prototypical decision analytic structure was suggested. A decision analytic structure for regulation in general can build on the main features of the standard setting model. This list could be extended to include private investment decisions, product mix selection, resource development, diagnostic problems, etc. But the four examples hopefully re sufficient to demonstrate how prototypical decision analytic structuring can be approached in general. In my opinion, such an approach to structuring could be at least as useful for the implementation of decision analysis as computerization of decision models. 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