Liberal Theory Essay

This memo outlines the liberal approach to theorizing international relations. Like realism, institutionalism, or non-rational approaches, it is a name given to a family of related theories of international relations. Here it will not be used, as many use it in international relations, to designate theories that stress the importance of international institutions. Nor to designate theories that stress the importance of universal, altruistic or utopian values of a liberal sort, such as human rights or democracy. Nor to designate theories favored by left-wing (â€Å"liberal†) political parties or policies in the US. Instead, it is a theory that stresses the role of the varied social interests and values of states, and their relevance for world politics. Liberals argue that the universal condition of world politics is globalization. States are, and always have been, embedded in a domestic and transnational society, which creates incentives for economic, social and cultural interaction across borders. State policy may facilitate or block such interactions. Some domestic groups may benefit from or be harmed by such policies, and they pressure government accordingly for policies that facilitate realization of their goals. These social pressures, transmitted through domestic political institutions, define â€Å"state preferences† –that is, the set of substantive social purposes that motivate foreign policy. State preferences give governments an underlying stake in the international issues they face. Since the domestic and transnational social context in which states are embedded varies greatly across space and time, so do state preferences. Without such social concerns that transcend state borders, states would have no rational incentive to engage in world politics at all, but would simply devote their resources to an autarkic and isolated existence. To motivate conflict, cooperation, or any other costly foreign policy action, states must possess sufficiently intense state preferences. The resulting globalization-induced variation in social demands, and thus state preferences, is a fundamental cause of state behavior in world politics. This is the central insight of liberal international relations theory. It can be expressed colloquially in various ways: â€Å"What matters most is what states want, not how they get it. † –or- â€Å"Ends are more important than means. † Liberal theory is distinctive in the nature of the variables it privileges. The liberal focus on variation in socially-determined state preferences distinguishes liberal theory from other theoretical traditions: realism (focusing on variation in coercive power resources), institutionalism (focusing on information), and most non-rational approaches (focusing on patterns of beliefs about appropriate means-ends relationships). In explaining patterns of war, for example, liberals do not look to inter-state imbalances of power, bargaining failure due to private information or uncertainty, or particular non-rational beliefs or propensities of individual leaders, societies, or organizations. Liberals look instead to conflicting state preferences derived from hostile nationalist or political ideologies, disputes over appropriable economic resources, or exploitation of unrepresented political constituencies. For liberals, a necessary condition for war is that social pressures lead one or more â€Å"aggressor† states to possess â€Å"revisionist† preferences so extreme or risk-acceptant that other states are unwilling to submit. Three specific variants of liberal theory are defined by particular types of preferences, their variation, and their impact on state behavior. Ideational liberal theories link state behavior to varied conceptions of desirable forms of cultural, political, socioeconomic order. Commercial liberal theories stress economic interdependence, including many variants of â€Å"endogenous policy theory. Republican liberal theories stress the role of domestic representative institutions, elites and leadership dynamics, and executive-legislative relations. Such theories were first conceived by prescient liberals such as Immanuel Kant, Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, John Hobson, Woodrow Wilson, and John Maynard Keynes-writing well before the deep causes (independent variables) they stress (e. g. democratization, industrialization, nationalism, and welfare provision) were widespread. This essay introduces the liberal approach in three steps. It presents two distinctive assumptions underlying and distinguishing liberal theories. Then it further explicates the three variants of liberal theory that follow from these assumptions. Finally, it reviews some distinctive strengths that liberal theories tend to share vis-a-vis other types of international relations theory. Two Unique Assumptions underlying Liberal Theory What basic assumptions underlie the liberal approach? Two assumptions liberal theory make are the assumptions of anarchy and rationality. Specifically, states (or other political actors) exist in an anarchic environment and they generally act in a broadly rational way in making decisions. 2] The anarchy assumption means that political actors exist in the distinctive environment of international politics, without a world government or any other authority with a monopoly on the legitimate use of force. They must engage in self-help. The rationality assumption means that state leaders and their domestic supporters engage in foreign policy for the instrumental purpose of securing benefits provided by (or avoiding costs imposed by) actors outside of their borders, and in making such calculations, states seek to deploy the most cost-effective means to achieve whatever their ends (preferences) may be. Liberal theory shares the first (anarchy) assumption with almost all international relations theories, and it shares the second (rationality) assumption with realism and institutionalism, but not non-rationalist process theories. Liberal theories are distinguished from other rationalist theories, such as realism and institutionalism, by two unique assumptions about world politics: (1) States represent social groups, whose views constitute state preferences; and (2) Interdependence among state preferences influences state policy. Let us consider each in turn. Assumption One: States Represent Societal Preferences The first assumption shared by liberal theories is that states represent some subset of domestic society, whose views constitute state preferences. For liberals, the state is a representative institution constantly subject to capture and recapture, construction and reconstruction, by domestic social coalitions. These social coalitions define state â€Å"preferences† in world politics at any point in time: the â€Å"tastes,† â€Å"ends,† â€Å"basic interests,† or â€Å"fundamental social purposes† that underlie foreign policy. Political institutions constitute a critical â€Å"transmission belt† by which these interests of individuals and groups in civil society enter the political realm. All individuals and groups do not wield equal influence over state policy. To the contrary, their power varies widely, depending on the context. Variation in the precise nature of representative institutions and practices helps define which groups influence the â€Å"national interest. † Some states may represent, ideal-typically, the preferences of a single tyrannical individual, a Pol Pot or Josef Stalin; others afford opportunities for broad democratic participation. Most lie in between. The precise preferences of social groups, weighted by their domestic power, shape the underlying goals (â€Å"state preferences†) that states pursue in world politics. Sometimes, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other actors may form transnational alliances to assist social forces. â€Å"State-society relations†Ã¢â‚¬â€the relationship between a state and its domestic (and transnational) society in which it is embedded—lies at the center of liberal theory. [3] Liberals believe that state preferences cannot be reduced to some simple metric or preference ordering, such as seeking â€Å"security† or â€Å"wealth†. Most modern states are not Spartan: They compromise security or sovereignty in order to achieve other ends, or, indeed, just to save money. Nor do modern states uniformly seek â€Å"wealth. † Instead they strike rather strike complex and varied trade-offs among economic, social and political goals. Nor, finally do they seek â€Å"power† in the sense of â€Å"domination†: Many countries would clearly rather spend money on â€Å"butter† rather than â€Å"guns. To see how consequential the variation in goals can be, one need look no further than the implications for international relations of Germany’s evolution from Adolf Hitler’s preference for militant nationalism, fascist rule, autarky, and ruthless exploitation of German Lebensraum under Das Dritte Reich to the social compro mise underlying the postwar Bundesrepublik Deutschland, which favored capitalist democracy, expanding German exports, and peaceful reunification. Similarly one can look at the striking change in policy between Maoist and post-Maoist China, Soviet and post-Soviet Russia, Imperial and post-Imperial Japan, and so on. Assumption Two: Interdependence among State Preferences Influences State Behavior The second core assumption shared by liberal theories is that the interdependence among of state preferences influences state behavior. Rather than treating preferences as a fixed constant, as do realists or institutionalists, liberals seek to explain variation in preferences and its significance for world politics. The precise distribution and nature of the â€Å"stakes† explains differences in state policy and behavior. States, liberals argue, orient their behavior to the precise nature of these underlying preferences: compatible or conflictual, intense or weak, and their precise scope. States require a â€Å"social purpose† — a perceived underlying stake in the matter at hand — in order to pay any attention to international affairs, let alone to provoke conflict, inaugurate cooperation, or take any other significant foreign policy action. If there is no such interdependence among state objectives, a rational state will conduct no international relations, satisfying itself with an isolated and autarkic existence. Conflictual goals increase the incentive for of political disputes. Convergence of underlying preferences creates the preconditions for peaceful coexistence or cooperation. The critical theoretical link between state preferences, on the one hand, and state behavior, on the other, is the concept of policy interdependence. Policy interdependence refers to the distribution and interaction of preferences—that is, the extent to which the pursuit of state preferences necessarily imposes costs and benefits (known as policy externalities) upon other states, independent of the â€Å"transaction costs† imposed by the specific strategic means chosen to obtain them. Depending on the underlying pattern of interdependence, each of the qualitative categories above, the form, substance, and depth of conflict and cooperation vary according to the precise nature and intensity of preferences. The existence of some measure of divergent fundamental beliefs, scarcity of material goods, and inequalities in domestic political power among states and social actors renders inevitable some measure of pluralism and competition among and within states. Unlike realists such as Waltz and Morgenthau, liberals do not assume these divergent interests are uniformly zero-sum. At the same time, liberals reject the utopian notion (often attributed to them by realists) of an automatic harmony of interest among individuals and groups in international society. Nor do liberals argue, as realists like Morgenthau charge, believe that each state pursues an ideal goal, oblivious of what other states do. Liberals argue instead that each state seeks to realize distinct preferences or interests under constraints imposed by the different interests of other states. [4] This distribution of preferences varies considerably. For liberals, this variation—not realism’s distribution of capabilities or institutionalism’s distribution of information—is of decisive causal importance in explaining state behavior. A few examples illustrate how liberal theories differ from realist, institutionalist or non-rational ones. We have already encountered the example of war in the introduction, in which liberals stress states with aggressive preferences, rather than imbalances of power, incomplete information, or non-rational beliefs and processes. Another illustration is trade policy. Economists widely agree that free trade is superior welfare-improving policy choice for states, yet trade protection is often practiced. To explain protectionism, liberals look to domestic social preferences. An important factor in almost all countries is the competitive position of affected economic sectors in global markets, which generates domestic and transnational distributional effects: Protectionism is generally backed by producers who are globally uncompetitive; free trade by producers who are globally competitive. Moreover, even if the state is a net beneficiary from free trade, domestic adjustment costs may be too high to tolerate politically, or may endanger other countervailing domestic social objectives, such as domestic social equality or environmental quality. Certain domestic political institutions, such as non-parliamentary legislative systems, which governed US trade policy before 1934, grant disproportionate power to protectionist interests. This differs from realist explanations of trade protectionism, which tend to stress the role of â€Å"hegemonic power† in structuring trade liberalization, or the need to defend self-sufficient national security within the prevailing zero-sum geopolitical competition, perhaps by maintaining self-sufficiency or by aiding allies at the expense of purely economic objectives. Institutionalists might cite the absence of appropriate international institutions, or other means to manage the complex informational tasks and collective action problems—negotiation, dispute resolution, enforcement—required to manage free trade. Those who focus on non-rational theories (psychological, cultural, organizational, epistemic, perceptual or bureaucratic) might stress an ideological disposition to accept â€Å"mercantilist† theory, shared historical analogies, and the psychological predisposition to avoid losses. To further illustrate the importance of patterns of policy interdependence, consider the following three circumstances: zero-sum, harmonious and mixed preferences. In the case of zero-sum preferences, attempts by dominant social groups in one state to realize their preferences through international action may necessarily impose costs on dominant social groups in other countries. This is a case of â€Å"zero-sum† preferences, similar to the â€Å"realist† world. Governments face a bargaining game with few mutual gains and a high potential for interstate tension and conflict. Many ancient cities and states, including those of Ancient Athens, often imposed imperial tribute on defeated neighbors or, in extremis, killed the male population, cast women and children into slavery, and repopulated the town with their own citizens—a situation approximating zero-sum conflict. Today, it might still be argued that there are certain cases—trade in agricultural goods by industrial democracies, for example—where entrenched national interests are so strong that no government seriously considers embracing free trade. In the case of harmonious preferences, where the externalities of unilateral olicies are optimal (or insignificant) for others, there are strong incentives for quiet coexistence with low conflict and (at most) simple forms of interstate coordination. For example, advanced industrial democracies today no longer contemplate waging war on one another, and in some areas governments have agreed to mutual recognition of certain legal standards without controversy. One case of mixed preferences is bargaining, where states can achieve common gains (or avoid common losses, as with a war) if they agree to coordinate their behavior, but may disagree strongly on the distribution of benefits or adjustment costs. Under such circumstances, one of the most important determinants of bargaining power is the intensity of the preferences of each party; the more intense their preference for a beneficial settlement, the more likely they are to make concessions (or employ coercive means) in order to achieve it. Another situation of mixed motives is a situation where interstate coordination can avoid significant risks and costs, as in agreement to avoid naval incidents at sea, or to share information on infectious diseases. In such situations, institutional pre-commitments and the provision of greater information can often improve the welfare of all parties. Liberals derive several distinctive conceptions of power, very different from that of realism. One form of international influence, for liberals, stems from the interdependence among preferences that Keohane and Nye (Power and Interdependence) call â€Å"asymmetrical interdependence. † All other things equal, the more interdependent a state is, the more intense its preference for a given outcome, the more power others potentially have over it; while the less a state wants something, the less a state cares about outcomes, the less intense its preferences, the less power others have over it. Situations of asymmetrical interdependence, where one state has more intense preference for an agreement than another, create bargaining power. In trade negotiations, for example, smaller and poorer countries are often more dependent on trade and thus benefit more from free trade, and thus tend to have a weaker position and make more concessions in the course of negotiations. Enlargement of the European Union is a recent instance. Relative preference intensity can also influence the outcome of war, but in a different way. Nations are in fact rarely prepared to mortgage their entire economy or military in conflict, so their power depends not on their coercive power resources, but on their resolve or will. This is why smaller states often prevail over larger ones. Vietnam, for example, did not prevail over the US in the Vietnam War because it possessed more coercive power resources, but because it had a more intense preference at stake. From Assumptions to Theories Taken by themselves, these liberal assumptions—the international system is anarchic, states are rational, social pressures define state preferences, interdependence among preferences dictates state behavior—are thin. They exclude most existing realist, institutionalist, and non-rational theories, but they do not, taken by themselves, define very precisely the positive content of liberal theory. Some might rightly complain that simply pointing to state preferences opens up an unmanageably wide range of hypothetical social influences on policy. Yet, in practice, research has shown that, in practice, the range of viable liberal theories that test out empirically are relatively few, focused, and powerful. Three broad variants or categories of liberal theory exist: ideational, commercial, and republican liberalism. At the core of each lies a distinct conception of the social pressures and representative institutions that define state preferences, and the consequences for state behavior. Some of these have proven, empirically, to be among the most powerful theories in international relations. Let us consider each in turn.

Icts in the Tourism Industry and Its Influences on the Tourist Consumer Behaviour

The tourism industry often needs a various range of information to satisfy and attracts its consumers and most of this information is delivered promptly to the customers with the help of the information and communication technologies (Poon, 1993). And as result, the global tourism industry is rapidly changing and the information and communication technologies ( ICTs) such as the internet is altering the structure of tourism industry and how it market his products and conducts its promotion. In order to understand the role and impacts that ICTs has in the wider tourism industry and to find its influences on the tourist consumer behaviour, it is advised to first know what ICTs are and to comprehend the study on consumer behaviour based on the tourism industry. Information and communication technologies are defined as the collective term given to the most recent development in the mode (electronic) and the mechanisms (computers and communications technologies) used for the acquisitions, processing analysis, storage, retrieval, dissemination, and application of information (Poon 1993 cited in Buhalis 2003, p 7). It can also be defined as â€Å"the use of digital tools for business functions and processes† (Cooper et al 2005, p. 704). When tailing about ICTs, it consist of hardware (self service terminals), software (front office applications), and telecommunications (broadcast of images, teleconferencing †¦ ), and the groupware (tools for group communications such as email). The last one is the humanware which consist of skilled people responsible for the maintenance and programming. Any of these are used in the tourism industry for a better management of operation and communication between stakeholders. The Tourism industry had really gained from the evolution of information technology with the emergence of computerised networks that change the whole stage of the distribution and marketing of tourism products. The most popular and successful applications of ICT used in the tourism industry are the computer reservation systems, the global distribution systems and the internet. In the early 1970s, the airline industry developed the computer reservation systems, an application that became the most important channel of distribution for airlines, and even big hotel companies and tour operators started using it after they recognized the benefit of computerised system. The computer reservation system (CRSs) is† essentially a database which manages the inventory of a tourism enterprise, whilst it distributes it electronically to remote sales ffices and external partners† (Buhalis, 1998). It created the possibility for suppliers to quickly confirm the booking reservations made by consumers but the consumers were also able to use the CRSs to access information of different destinations, packages holidays, and hotels, and used that information to compare prices to find the best deal. The computer reservation system gave tourism organisation the power to manage their products and trade with the rest of the world. The mid 1990 saw the computer reservation system emerged into the global distribution systems (GDSs), the â€Å"system that distribute reservations and information services to sales outlets around the world† (Giaoutzi and Nijkamp 2006, p. 24). It did not just contains information of flights and hotels like the CRSs but had a wide range of services and products linked to tourism such as entertainment, car rental, lodging, train ticketing. Both the CRSs and the GDSs are known also to reduce the cost of communication, and to provide information on the competition. During the time that the GDSs was developing, the internet and World Wide Web was providing direct opportunities for tourism suppliers to interact with its customers by offering less expensive information on services and destinations. Companies like easy-jet uses the internet to offer its services directly to the customers and because the internet also offers consumer the possibility to tailor their own holiday, which is why websites like expedia are becoming expanding and popular. During every step of a transaction or deal of the tourism product, there is a lot of information that need to be exchange between every party involved. So the information and communication technologies role is to help the clients and tourism intermediaries have accessed to accurate information and data. These exchanges of information need to be done quickly as the suppliers rely on it to meets the customers’ requests. So the use of ICTs in the tourism industry has turned into a universal feature and power that help and manage information and transfer them all over the world instantaneously. And Buhalis (1998) states that the day to day operations of the tourism industry have been affected by the use of the ICTS. The distribution and marketing function of the tourism industry has been transformed as they use ICTs to target the consumers meet their needs and also the adoption of information and communication technologies by the airlines companies has been an advantage point for them as it help them control and manage reservations. So t goes to say that the fundamental structure of the tourism industry has been reformed by ICTs and businesses involved in tourism will need to keep improving their services to meet the increases level of customer demand that now require fast and accurate information. Despite the fact that the information and communication technologies has broaden the industry capacity of distribution, there are also some issues brought by the same ICTs that could impacts the future operation of the travel industry. According to Thorn and Chen (2005), the risk of losing human resource in business is higher with the application of ICTs. The increase of demand of employees with new technology skills has left existing employees in fear of losing their jobs as businesses are looking for way to accommodate those customers who need their suppliers to respond to new sophisticated demand and information. In this case, it is up to the management team of each tourism business who adopt the use of new technology to offer some intensive training for staff in order to success. But beside the human resource impact, the most talked about impact is the issue of disintermediation in the tourism industry. Disintermediation happen when suppliers and companies are met by a growing pressure from competitors and rising prices (Werthner and Klein, 2001), so to survive in this new technology environment, they set up their own distribution channel such as a website where they can directly offer the consumers the opportunity to tailor their own holiday and look through various range of products online. And by doing that they often save money and Thorn and Chen (2005) raise the fact that travel agencies are quite a risk because of disintermediation which result to booking at travels agents going down by 35% and also they are at risk of losing some of their commissions that came from selling products from tours operators and airlines companies. ICTs caused then to deal with competitions and those who cannot often lose their business but there are always customers who look for the physical contact when it came to book their holiday. The need of face to face interaction still gives travel agents the chance to stay in the tourism chain. Over the years, the information and communication technologies also had an impact on the consumer too, because of the improvements that ICTs bring on the quality of services given by tourism organisations. By allowing consumers to make fast reservations or save money by comparing price through the internet, ICTs created a new type of consumers who are now becoming more ophisticated and skilled. With the consumer behaviours changing, it is up to the tourism organisations to try and understand the motivation behind their choice of destination, or figure out the type of environment that influence their decision to purchase a product instead of another. All of these researches and their answers are quite important as it would help suppliers and companies develop new marketing strategies for products that would reach the appropriate market. The study of consumer behaviour is based on finding out the reason why consumers purchase some products and trying to understand how they came to the decision of making that decision (Swarbrooke and Horner, 1999). This study gives organisations some clues on the why and how that customer came to make a choice between various destinations or products, so with any results find from this study, it will enable them to target the customers and persuade them to buy their products because of the consumer previous making decision purchase. But for the consumers to make a decision there is a lot of factors that come to play and influence them toward the right product. Those factors are the determinants (what make you choose a holiday or not) and motivators (the drive to travel) (Swarbrooke and Horner, 1999). Determinants in consumer behaviour can be internal and external. Internal determinants often consist of factors which are personal to the customer such as choosing a travel destination based on work or business obligation, fear, health problems or commitment with family. Some of those are quite important and they tend to determine and have an effect on the type of travel to book or they can also prevent the consumer to travel. In the external determinant category, consumer can be influenced by the media around them, friends and sometimes a marketing campaign. Motivators in the other hand are the reasons that push the tourists toward travelling. Often motivators are split into two different categories, the general motivators and the specific ones. Some general motivators mentioned by Thomas (1964, cited in Moutinho, 1987) are the cultural and educational motivators which push tourists to discover new culture and lifestyle, to do some sightseeing or explore monuments, and he also identified pleasure, adventure and relaxation as other motivators that provide people with a reason to travel, especially when trying to switch off from the daily routine of their life and just go on holiday to have some fun. And regarding the specific motivators, Moutinho (1987) also contributed in the study by aying that specific motivators tends to come from knowledge, previous experience , recommendation or opinions given by relatives and friends; and it can also come from the travel organisation via the media. The study of consumer behaviour in tourism is helped by various models and processes adapted from others researchers which show clarifications on what goes on when consumers are deciding to make a purchase. In order to understand some behavi our of tourists, this essay will go through the destination decision making process, the recreational behaviour model and stimulus-response model of buyer behaviour. The tourism industry provides two types of products, the tangibles and the intangibles, but because most of it is intangibles, it is difficult to evaluate the products before purchasing so, it often down to images and information of the tourism products that the consumers can make a purchase decision. The tourist decision making process by kotler (1998) shows, that before coming to a decision about buying a product, the consumer goes through various steps. These stages are the need of recognition; information search; evaluation of alternatives; selection of services or products; and the post purchase assessment. In the need of recognition of the buying decision process, the first thing for consumers is to acknowledge that they have a problem or need to purchase a service or products. And by being aware of their need, it is now up to the consumers to find a solution that would give them satisfaction at the end. So it’s next to the second stage of information search where the customer is motivated into doing some intense research to find the correct information which will lead to a decision. There is lot of ways for the tourist to find the information needed. He can go through the search stage by using his own knowledge of the products or he will rely on the external search (Pan and Fesenmaier, 2006) which consist of advertising resources and personal ones. Brochures, travel books and relatives are some of the examples of sources that consumers used to find information, and because of these external sources, tourism organisation identify and learn about the sources since they provide consumers with valuable information that sway their decision. The internet is also another source for consumer to gain access to information in this stage of the decision making with Lake (2001) stressing that almost 95% of people collect information related to travel via the internet and with 93% admitted to visit websites of tourism companies. After gathering enough information, the next move for the consumer is the evaluation of alternative where come the process of comparing and finding the best solution of their problems. Often at this stage, the quality of the products and services will determine how much it is going to satisfy the consumer when they are trying to compare it the products with other alternatives (Kotler, 1998). During the purchase decision process, Kotler (1998) normally consumers have a tendency to buy their favourite brands or products but occasionally the purchase decision become influenced by other people around the consumers, for example parents who are planning to book a holiday with younger children, will not choose an adult oriented holiday destination because they need to consider their children before going into the purchasing stage. Purchasing the products or service from a specific supplier is the fourth step and it will be wrong to think that paying for the vacation is the end of the purchase decision process. In the post purchase evaluation, the consumer will make an assessment like some feedback to see if they had a happy experience when they used the products. A good experience will often lead the consumers to reuse the same products and verbally promote it. And the tourism organisations also find the post purchase stage really valuable to them as the satisfaction level of consumer will turn into loyalty toward the products or services. In the recreational behaviour model, researchers are looking to observe how consumers behave when they decide to travel and (Clawson and Knetch, 1966 cited in Hanlan, Fuller and Wilde, 2006) said that deciding to travel is not a simple process because it also has five phases that make use of some stages of the destination decision making process. The recreational behaviour model start with the anticipation phase where the consumer is thinking about the trip and where all the planning of the trip is being done by including the stage of need of recognition and search of information that was mentioned in the destination decision making process. After the planning phase, it is the travelling to the site stage which can also includes the mode of transport that the consumer is going to use to reach the destination. For example using the orient express as a mode of transport can be seen as a luxury travel experience by itself for the consumer even before they reach their destination. So once at the destination, the model next phase is the behaviour on the site where the consumer arrive to the destination and make use of the services available to him. The behaviour of the consumer once on site is widely influenced by his experience of the services offered. Everything that happened to the consumers during the stay at the destination will impact the last stage of this model, as after travelling back home, the consumers have to have a recollection and recall stage which will consist of the post purchase evaluation stage that Kotler identified in the decision process. Compare to other models of consumer behaviour, the stimulus-response model of buyer behaviour by Middleton (1994) has been modified in order to help the tourism organisation have an understanding of the consumer behaviour during the buying process. In this model, the determinants and motivators that influenced the buying behaviour of the consumer are separated from each other, and at the same time this model also looks at the impacts that the communication channel used by tourism organisation has on the tourist buying process. The stimulus response model of buying behaviour has been based on four elements with the buyer characteristics and decision process being at the core of the buying behaviour. The travel stimuli, the communication channels, the characteristic of the consumer together with the decision process have all an effect on the consumer buying behaviour. The characteristics of the buyer which is made of the motivators and determinants influence the consumer recognition of the travel stimuli and if the consumer is interested by the products that the travel stimulus offered, the decision making process will determine when the buying process will began. The development of Information and communication technologies transformed the tourist behaviour when it comes to searching, booking and buying processes. In the information search, the consumer has the opportunity to find a wide range of information provided by the accommodation sectors, the destinations and airline companies by the use of new technology. And for making their booking, the reservation system put in place allow the consumers to access and make payment online. So it is clear to say that the tools of ICTs allowed companies to embrace technology to be essential to their communication and marketing approach in order to give consumer the freedom to undertaken any process without the help of an intermediaries. The change in consumer behaviour by ICT has been strongly influenced by the internet because it helps the suppliers communicate directly with the consumers who offer the possibility to tailor the products to their taste and need. (Buhalis and Law, 2008) So to finish, this essay has shown that the development of information and communication technologies and its use in the tourism industry had quite an impact on the structure of the industry. It did bring new opportunities to the business by opening different channel for the promotion and distribution of the tourism products and ICTs also allow the customers to quickly receive information no matter the distance. But the loss of human interaction with the use of ICT and the disintermediation has been some of the challenge or problems that the development of technology brought in the industry. So to be successful and retain their customers, tourism organisations has to adopt the technology and adapt it into their businesses. And by trying to understand the effect that information and communication technologies has on the consumer behaviour, I went on to gather information of three different models based on what goes on the mind of the consumer when they are trying to choose a destination, or buy a product. In the models mentioned in this essay, the consumer is often guided with the help of information gathered during the information search stage to make a decision and these models always end with the feedback stage where the consumer expresses their satisfaction or dissatisfaction. References – Buhalis, D. 1998 â€Å"Strategic used of information technology in the tourism industry†. Tourism Management, 19 (5), pp 409-421 – Buhalis, D. (2003). E-Tourism: information technology for strategic tourism management, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited – Buhalis, D and Law, R (2008) ‘Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the internet – the state of tourism research’ Tourism Management 29, 609-623 – Cooper et al (2005) Tourism, Principles and practice. 3rd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education limited – Giaoutzi, M and Nijkamp, P. (2006) Tourism and regional development: new pathways. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd – Hanlan, J, Fuller, D and Wilde, S (2006) ‘Destination decision making: the need for a strategic planning and management approach’, Tourism and Hospitality Planning and Development, Vol. 3, No. 3, 209-221 – Kotler, P. H. (1998) Marketing Management: Analysis, Planning, and Control, 8th Ed. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall Inc. – Lake, D. (2001) Americans Go Online for Travel Information. [WWW] Available from:

Abstinence Education And Sexual Education

of adolescent children receive some form of sex education before graduating high school. Sexual education units of classes are taught in two ways; comprehensively and abstinence-only. Comprehensive sexual education covers abstinence as an option, but teaches a generally wider array of sexual health options, like contraceptives and ways to avoid sexually transmitted infections. Abstinence-only education, however, teaches students that engaging in sexual activity prior to marriage is morally wrong, and†¦ Having abstinence only education as a form of sexual health education can lead women to be have problems in the future. As in the article â€Å"We need to raise awareness about female fertility before it is too late†, there is a nurse who mentions the importance for young people to be taught the biology of reproduction as a part of a sexual health education class (Denton 32). She states that there are women around their late thirties and early forties who are having a hard time conceiving (Denton 32)†¦ many good reasons to teach abstinence, there is, of course, a great deal of controversy in the communities throughout the U.S., as there would be with any kind of statement that shows a personal opinion. . For example, â€Å"Abstinence-only education isn’t ‘education’. By design, it’s a program that leaves young women and men in the dark and misinformed† (Getting to Responsible Sexual Health Education). This quote, coming from K. Sajuta, states that abstinence-only education should not be taught. In several†¦ all American teenage students. For years the education system in America has either taught an Abstinence only curriculum or not had any form of sexual education. Until the outbreak of human immunodeficiency virus in the 1980’s the exclusively abstinence education curriculum was considered sufficient, then many professionals had to consider another scholastic approach in the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases spreading. An extensive sexual education curriculum has been considered to be the best†¦ Sex Education School systems in the United states have been implementing sexual education into classrooms. Arguments are abundant when dealing with such fragile situations and there are many advantages and disadvantages of sexual education being taught in the public schools. It seems that most parents are either strongly for or against sex education classes, but there are a few parents that are on both sides. In fact, there are more parents that support sex education classes. However, there are†¦ Despite that image, sex education should be taken seriously. What is taught to young people early on about sex, impacts their lives as adults. Abstinence only sex education teaches students to wait until marriage for sex, often leaving out details about STDs and pregnancy. Comprehensive sex education gives students medically accurate and evidence based information about sex, providing them with the knowledge they need to have safe sex and healthy lives. Despite comprehensive education being the most informative†¦ Sexual Education in Schools Sex education in schools is important, but most students that are in a sexual education class have a distorted view of sexuality. They also do not have a good understanding of the word contraception and how to have safe-sex practices. Abstinence-only programs in public schools have become popular because of a law that gives millions of dollars to schools that will teach this program. This program has a great intention of persuading their youth to wait until marriage before†¦ there is no way this would pass for sex education outside of the silver screen, right? Actually, sometimes it does, and that comes with major consequences. Abstinence-only sex education has been taught in United States public schools for decades. This has been the state-preferred form of sexual education in many states, though proven to be ineffective in preventing or lowering the rates of teen pregnancies and STI transmission. Sex positive education, or education that teaches proper methods of protection†¦ Abstinence-based sex education isn’t a practical approach to sex education because it doesn’t give students the necessary resources they need to prevent the consequences of engaging in any type of sexual activity. Teenagers need the proper facts about contraception and birth control to be able to take the appropriate precautions for when they decide to become sexually active. With abstinence-based programs there is no decrease in the amount of sexual activity that students are engaging in and where†¦ The majority of born again Christians also support abstinence only programs because they tend to have different perspectives about sexuality than the rest of America. Eighty-one percent of Christian Americans voted to have abstinence only education while only thirty-one percent of other Americans voted for abstinence only education. The Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) program has mostly funded organizations that have strong religious faith. A Silver Ring program has even been placed†¦

Ethics and Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ethics and Society - Essay Example It involves doing what you consider ethical in the society. In other words, ethical life involves doing the right thing as obliged by the society. The right and good are two different ideas that expound on moral values. These two ideas are very common in our society, and many people tend to interchange them in their communication as well as reference of some things in the society. However, the two are very distinct in what they mean. The idea of the right is related to something obligatory, something that one has to do or follow. In other words ‘right’ defines a moral duty. The idea of good, on the other hand, refers to whatever is desirable. It refers to whatever is worth doing in the society or something that is worth to have. In other words, ‘good’ enhances one’s life mainly when it is part of the life (Timmons, 2012). From the definitions, one can deduce that obligatory and the desirable are totally different things. For instance, pleasure that arise as a result of somebody’s success cannot be regarded as obligatory even though it is morally admirable. Observing social norms is regar ded as a right. Every person is obliged to follow the social norms of oneself society. The activities taking place in the world are a reflection of individual acts. Every person’s act contributes immensely to the way we perceive the world. In other words, the happenings in the world are the products of individual thoughts as well as decisions. My theory can be regarded as an ethical intuitionism because it expounds on the existence of moral beliefs that are determined through not only intuition, but also via intuitive awareness. According to my theory, it is the responsibility of an individual to determine the wrongness or rightness of the decision through referring to these moral beliefs and values. Ethical intuitionism is a value-based theory that is more act-centered that agent-centered (Padilla, 2012). This is evidenced by the responsibility an individual

Canadas Electoral System at the Federal level. Political Participation Essay

Canadas Electoral System at the Federal level. Political Participation in Canada - Essay Example This has not been the situation in Canada. Appointive change has been an exceedingly wrangled about the issue all through Canadian legislative issues. As of now, Canada's appointive framework is being addressed for its powerlessness to mirror the political perspectives of its residents. The single member plurality system (SMP), which Canada utilizes to create a just election, can make agents be chosen without most of the well-known votes. Interestingly, the arrangement of proportional representation disposes of a disparity in parliament synthesis by guaranteeing representation from each gathering that got votes. Despite the fact that this framework would unavoidably bring about minority governments, it would properly take into account the perspectives of the constituents. To create a more successful government, Canada's single member plurality framework ought to be supplanted by an arrangement of proportional representation (PR). Single Member Plurality framework vs Proportional Representation Canada's present single member plurality appointive framework is frequently depicted as a "first past the post† framework. The path, in which this framework capacity works, is that every voter is permitted one vote and the competitor with the most votes (or a majority) gets to be chosen. Then again, proportional representation can be expert through a large number of discretionary strategies. However, for accommodation, we will concentrate essentially on the two most outstanding frameworks: party list framework, and mixed member proportionality. Finally, we will conclude with answering which electoral system would be best for Canada at the federal level?

Strategic Audit of Wal-Mart and Kmart Case Study

Strategic Audit of Wal-Mart and Kmart - Case Study Example It was started in the year 1962 in Rogers, Arkansas, by Sam Walton. It took a long way to reach an annual sales turnover of $1 billion. By the year 2002, Wal-Mart became the world's largest retail giant with sales of $218 billions. In the initial days of starting the business, Wal-Mart designed a strategy to build large discount stores in rural areas. Wal-Mart employed the strategy of selling branded products at a very low price. Initially, the management of the firm decided to develop the firm as a one-stop discounted departmental chain store with a vast variety of general merchandise goods to be offered to the customers that too at a low price. The management's initial focus was on its purchase decisions. The firm focused on exploring each and every opportunity that helped in general merchandise goods. The two important products of the entire Wal-Mart product line on which the firm laid a strong emphasis were health products and beauty products. The stores used to maintain a high stock of these products. When the firma became successful in opening more than 279 stores by the end of the year 1979, the next focus was on designing strategies for expanding the firm aggressively. In contrast, to the other retail stores who built ware houses in order to serve the already existing outlets, Wal-Mart used to first build distribution centers and later started stores around the distribution centers. This strategy of Wal-Mart helped the firm in pooling the advertising and distribution overheads. The firm also focused on the transportation time needed for a customer to reach the outlet. The strategy of aggressive expansion turned out to be a big success because Wal-Mart became the largest retailer and discount stores in United States by the end of the year 1991 which had almost 1,573 Wal-Mart outlets in 35 states. Once the firm attained the position of national discount department store chain, it designed its outlets in such a way that they provided a one-stop-shopping to its customers. The outlets were designed to have 40 different departments like apparel, health products, beauty products, toys etc. Wal-Mart was strict on not spending huge amount on special promotions and advertising strategies etc. It rather operated its outlets on a concept of "everyday low prices." It was a belief in every customer that the Wal-Mart stores would provide them with a friendly, clean and a very pleasant experience every time they shop.The year 2001 was a real challenging era not only to the retail industry but also for many other industries. The reason for this being like a year that ended with a worst holiday season i.e end of 2000, energy crisis, the rise in the unemployment factor, the spending of the consumers became sluggish and last but not least - terrorist blasts of the WTO on September11, 2001. Tho ugh the firm became successful in almost every strategy designed, it did not neglect to focus on the external market environment at the same time. The firm strongly believed that their business in the forthcoming year would definitely be affected by the external market environment. The external factors would also influence the financial figures in the firms' balance

Contemporary Struggles Within Christianity and Islam Essay

Contemporary Struggles Within Christianity and Islam - Essay Example These issues are lack of fellowship and the lack of Biblical knowledge amongst Christians. However, apart from these culturally based struggles, Christianity is also split by the pressures that stem from modern society. In essence, certain Christians do not have sufficient knowledge of the Bible or its use. Today, not everyone who professes to reading the Bible does so during a week’s time (Geisler, 2010). The Bible is essentially the word of God, as the foundation of the Christian belief. Today, however, many Christians lack the fundamental beliefs of Christianity, the struggle becomes how such individuals can call themselves Christians while they do not even read the Bible and appreciate the fundamental beliefs of Christianity. In addition, since Christians are called to strengthen their fellowship with God and other believers, one contemporary struggle within Christianity is the maintenance of this fellowship. The church provides a place where Christians can gather and fell owship with God and other Christians. However, contemporary lifestyles limit people’s attendance of church compared to the onset of Christianity. The percentage of churches in the current era has dwindled significantly as Christians continue to draw away from attending church fellowships. Christianity beliefs assert that when Christians’ fellowship with one another, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses them. Today, a key struggle within Christianity is support mechanisms amongst believers who become vulnerable to negative teachings in the absence of fellowship. Traditional Christian beliefs provide that when Christians’ fellowship with one another and God, such Christians do not walk in darkness, for instance; they do not lie, steal or kill. Today, Christianity continues to be split by evils such as stealing; even amongst church leaders. Another significant struggle within Christianity is the lack of Biblical knowledge and its ultimate understanding. Responsibilit ies and lifestyles in the modern day deter Christians from reading or studying the Bible. This results in internal issues among Christians who hold different beliefs. For instance, today, it is common to hear Christian groups asserting they know when the world will come to an end, despite the Bible’s clear teachings that only God is privy to such information (Williams, 2000). This has over the past caused substantial problems among Christians, especially following the emergence of false prophets and prophesies. Another formidable struggle within Christianity is finding the right balance between Christians and Muslims, particularly after the advent of terrorism acts across the globe. Struggles within Islam Islam’s doctrines center on the beliefs of peace and love. However, the Islam’s main struggle today lies in the association of Muslims with acts of terrorism and other heinous crimes like piracy and kidnapping. Since 9/11, Muslims face stigmatization on matters concerning security. This stigmatization further augments struggles within Islam, concerning those who condone acts of terrorism and piracy and those who abide by the traditional beliefs of Islam like the maintenance of peace and love amongst human kind (Al-Alwani, 2005). Allah’s teachings, which are the foundation on which Islam is built, demand the maintenance of virtues amongst Muslims. However, modernity has distorted these virtues allowing Muslims to behave in

Cardio-vascular disease in the United States Essay

Cardio-vascular disease in the United States - Essay Example In order to target this leading national health problem, The American Heart Association (AHA) updated CVD prevention guidelines for women in early 2007, encouraging the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle early on. In previous decades, CVD was thought to affect greater proportions of American men than women. This was an incorrect conclusion, but reinforced by the fact that clinical trials predominantly used male subjects instead of females, and that women are less likely to show cardiovascular symptoms as early as males. In fact, on average, women begin to show symptoms 10 years later in life then do men. It is evident in the research literature as well as in formal published insurance analyses (Murasko 1746) that women continue to receive less aggressive treatment for CVD events than is provided to men and this inadequate treatment worsens with the patient’s increasing age (Murasko 1755-6, Sarafidis 224; Alter et al. 1916). At the same time, women survive CVD events such as myocar dial infarction (MI) more frequently than do men (ibid.), adding to the US population segment comprised of the elderly with cardiac history, inadequate treatment, and higher long-term medical expenses, because their risk of additional CVD events is 1.5 – 15% higher than average: â€Å"After adjusting for baseline differences, the relative rates of angiography and follow-up specialist care for women relative to men, respectively, fell 17.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.6 to 21.3, p â€Å"†¦ for individuals with previously diagnosed heart disease or stroke, a lack of coverage is more strongly associated with lower

Quality and Problem Solving (global tourism management) Essay

Quality and Problem Solving (global tourism management) - Essay Example The organization has successfully captured a favorable contract from a tour operator in the United Arab Emirates and will be receiving a significant proportion of guests. The customers are Emirati guests who espouse a culture highly divergent from western orientations. The challenge is to determine how to successfully address the quality issues in such an arrangement. Before venturing into determining what is required in addressing the needs of the Emirati (citizens of United Arab Emirates) guests, the driving philosophy should first be identified. The staff of the Royal Edwardian Hotel should adopt a quality policy that stresses service quality as opposed to value for price paid or maximum profit. The relationship between service quality and business performance has long been established in hospitality (Hakes, 1991; Bowen and Shoemaker, 1998; Pizam and Ellis, 1999). Researchers such as Caruana (2002), Cronin and Taylor (1992) and Teas (1994) have shown that service quality is antecedent to customer satisfaction. Furthermore, customer satisfaction is antecedent to customer loyalty (Bloemer and Kasper, 1995; Caruana, 2002; McDougall and Levesque, 2000). In the hotel industry, service quality is considered as defined and the discerning customer will evaluate quality and develop satisfaction or dissatisfaction in each encounter (Bitner et al., 1990). As hotel experience is made up of individual discrete encounters, it is important to make sure that everything is perfect (Min et al, 2002). The quality management scheme should therefore emphasize gathering and interpreting correctly the traits and characteristics of the customer. It is important to survey the Arab customers to find what they are specifically looking for in a Royal Edwardian Hotel stay. The hotels should determine customer expectations regarding a British hotel experience. According to Clow & Vorhies (1993), the customer forms expectations through a

Early American History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Early American History - Essay Example It all depended on which next male heir was available to fulfill the position. Women did not hold any government positions. These were only restricted to males within the tribes (Native Languages of the Americas). While men were out warring for the tribe, hunting for food, trading good with other tribes, and governing the people, women were responsible for the care of the children and overseeing domestic matters. They were responsible for the welfare of the family as a whole. They saw to it that meals were prepared and that their husbands were well cared for. Nothing has ever been said about women owning property, as the Algonquin's were nomadic people. They moved about quite a bit, as they had to settle were the food supply was greatest (Native Language of the Americas). As far as economics was concerned, these people primarily survived on trading. Some of the items that they traded were beadworks, tobacco, and other goods with other neighboring tribes, such as the Iroquois, whenever they were not warring with them (Native Language of the Americas). The political, social, and economic characteristics of the Iroquois were very similar to the Algonquin's; however, there were a few differences. Like the Algonquin's, the Iroquois engaged in trading, and their tribes were led by chiefs. ... Unlike the Algonquin people, the Iroquois were not nomadic. While they did hunt for food, their farming lifestyle enabled them to reside in one place (Native Languages of the Americas). Though the Iroquois were led by chiefs, their government was very similar to the United States government of today. As a matter of fact, some of the characteristics of our government were derived from the Iroquois Confederacy. While the Algonquin chiefs were only selected through heredity, Iroquois chief were elected, just as people are elected for offices today. While women were not able to be chiefs, they were certainly allowed to vote (Native Languages of the Americas). The social, political, and economic characteristics of the Muskogee Indians were pretty much the same as those of the Iroquois but with a few subtle differences. Men hunted and fought for the protection of their people, while women stayed behind to care for the families. Just like Iroquois women, Muskogee women grew crops for consumption. On the other hand, Muskogee women did not own their own property, and they did not participate in the election of government officials, nor did they hold government positions (Net Industries). When comparing the sexual divisions of labor of the English settlers, the Iroquois, and the societies of Western Africa, we can see that while there are some similarities, there are also some drastic differences. One similarity that all three groups share is that the women stayed home and cared for the needs of the family. They made sure the members of the family were well fed, as they were the cooks of the house, and they cared for the children. The men always held high positions in government, and they had more authority in society. The differences, however, were the English

No Mans Land Essay Example for Free

No Mans Land Essay I tiptoe through the night, scared for even my sweat to make the slightest noise as it drips off my face and onto the ground. I am not thinking of anything at the moment but my survival and how my life will be once I am free of the Soviet grip around my wrists. My heart feels like it is breaking through my ribs and protruding out of my chest with every breath I take as I run faster and faster towards the barrier that has incarcerated me over the years. As I throw myself over the eleven-foot concrete wall with barbed wire at the top, I can hear gunshots all around, and I pray they are not intended for me. I hit the cold, hard ground on the other side, but I am not even close to being safe any time soon. I am in no mans land now. I would be better off asking for someone to shoot me than to make it out of here alive. I have only one chance. At least that is how I imagined it would have been like if I were in trapped in the tribulations of East Berlin trying to escape into the desired West Berlin between 1961 and 1989. However, it is a gray December day in 2004, and if it werent for remains of the Iron Curtain and Checkpoint Charlie, people would not be able to relive that part of history or be reminded of the dictator that destroyed so many lives. The temperature was eight degrees Celsius as the gloomy sky attempted to cough up snow onto Berlin. Before that moment I had only heard of the Berlin Wall through history books and stories. I would sit and listen to travelers tales told by my courageous father who had walked through Checkpoint Charlie and into East Berlin in seventy-five. He told me how he had to exchange West Berlin money into East Berlin money at Checkpoint Charlie before entering East Berlin. Then going back into West Berlin he had to drop it in a rusty tin can at Check Point Charlie because you were not allowed to keep East Berlin money. He witnessed two tourists getting assaulted by the guards for trying to smuggle East Berlin money into West Berlin. My only expectations of Berlin came from the adventures of my dad. I expected Checkpoint Charlie to be a barricade miles long with tollbooths that have the arms that swing up and down. Similar to the tollbooths that run across the freeways of really large cities, or at the airports you go through after short-term parking. Once you pass through the chomping arms of the tollbooths I imagined East Berlin to be scattered with desolate buildings and run down streets. But as I approached the once controlling wall and Checkpoint Charlie I realized nothing was as I imagined it at all. It was like walking down any other street in a big city. A few people who were always pushing their way through the gaps that opened up between the wandering men and women, obviously in more of a hurry than anyone else on the street. Christmas lights clung to the tall buildings that ran down the streets of Berlin. People popped in and out of the busy stores, squeezing their last bit of Christmas shopping in before the Holiday. Suddenly the bustle of people slowed like a murmur in time as I stood right before the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie which are now surrounded by the commercial buildings of downtown Berlin. My gaze dropped to an engraved brick in the ground that now serves as a commemorative plaque for the Berlin Wall. A chill ran from the tip of my toes all the way to the ends of my hair as I realized how lucky I was to be standing right there in no mans land. I can now speak of the Berlin Wall, not as hearsay from a history book, but as a memory. No mans land, a memorial now, is where 171 people who attempted to escape into West Berlin were shot, and left to bleed to death like a deer on the side of the road. This area contained walls on either side with mines and stern East Berlin guards to make it almost impossible to escape. As I stood in the middle of no mans land facing East Berlin, I looked over my left and my right shoulders only to see black, wooden crosses a little taller than I am. The crosses looked as if snow had only given them the pleasure of its company and nothing else around them, when really it was just white sand covering the ground. I took a deep breath in as if I was trying to swallow it into my memory, making sure to keep it forever. I am motionless. Where the median strip of the road would have been, an American soldiers somber picture was enlarged and hoisted up on a pole staring out towards West Berlin. On the opposite side was a Russian Soldier keeping close watch over East Berlin. Below the soldiers pictures was Checkpoint Charlie. Wilted flowers surrounded this one room shack that once controlled the passage of people from East to West Berlin. Now it also stands as a memorial for people who died crossing over into West Berlin. On either side of me, there were remains of the wall still standing. I got an eerie feeling as I stared at them. My sense of time was completely altered. There I stood at one of the most historical sites imagining what it would have been like to be boxed in by a concrete wall that was suffocating you more and more each day. But when I looked around I was in the middle of one of the largest cities in Germany. It was like time slowed when I was walking through no mans land, but everything else around no mans land and Checkpoint Charlie was full of life. I was in my own little bubble. I walked about a block and returned to the normal noises and the packed sidewalks of what use to be the Soviet controlled East Berlin. My view of Berlin has been altered for the better, with a greater understanding of the saying seeing is believing.

Using research (eating Christmas in the Kalahari) explain how social actors give meanings to their actions through social interactions. Essay Example for Free

Using research (eating Christmas in the Kalahari) explain how social actors give meanings to their actions through social interactions. Essay Using research (eating Christmas in the Kalahari) explain how social actors give meanings to their actions through social interactions. Also consider how this can lead to cultural misunderstanding. In ‘Eating Christmas in the Kalahari’ Richard Lee kills an Ox for Christmas dinner. Richard kills a big ox for the tribe to eat on Christmas but instead of being greeted with the tribe saying well done for killing such a big ox like he clearly expects he is greeted with tribesmen telling him that the ox is just bones and how no one will eat or dance on Christmas. The tribesmen are the social actors in their Culture, the Kalahari and Richard Lee is a social actor from another culture, America. As they are from different cultures their actions and the way they act will be different because they have completely different social statuses so the way they act socially will be different. The !Kung give this reaction to the ox because they believe that no man should be greater than another man just because he can bring the tribe food and they don’t want anyone to be arrogant. Richard misinterprets their actions and feels bad, as he believes that the tribe will not have a good Christmas because of his misjudgment but learns in the end that it was just how they acted. In every culture there are social actors and social statuses but for every culture these social statuses may be different which means the way people act are different too. Because in every culture people have different roles this will lead to misunderstandings because different roles have a wide variety of meanings in separate cultures as Richard Lee finds out.

Management Information System Uses At Unilever Information Technology Essay

Management Information System Uses At Unilever Information Technology Essay The world is considerably very small because of globalization. The virtual closeness of the countries has made the trade and commerce an international event. Global businesses make every community more closely around the world. The discussion in this report shall involve the strategic role and analyze the information requirements of an organization operating in a competitive global environment, decision making at each of the managerial levels, the critical relationship between the Business strategies, Information System (IS) strategy and the Information Technology (IT) strategy in an organization and the latent ethical issues of information systems. In this case, the situation surrounding Unilever will be taken into consideration. The following annotations and propositions discussed in this discussion are supported by claims on journals, books and Unilever website. The modern technology is really helping those businesses where is using a Management Information System in the various level of managerial approach. The chosen company is Unilever to describe in this report how Unilever is benefitting using Management Information System in various level of the company. The discussion in this report shall involve the strategic role and analyze the information requirements of an organization operating in a competitive global environment, decision making at each of the managerial levels, the critical relationship between the Business strategies, Information System (IS) strategy and the Information Technology (IT) strategy in an organization and the latent ethical issues of information systems. Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 Background of the company 4 Analyzing Mission Statement 4 PESTEL Analysis of Unilever 4 Political Factors 4 Economical Factors 5 Socio-Cultural Factors 5 Technological Factors 5 Environmental Factors 5 Legislative Factors 5 SWOT Analysis of Unilever 5 Strength 6 Weaknesses 6 Opportunities 6 Threats 7 Recommended Information Systems 7 Strategic Level 8 Management Level 9 Knowledge Level 9 9 Operational Level 9 Ethical issues related in using Information System at Unilever 10 Conclusion 11 References: 12 Background of the company Unilever is a Dutch-British multinational company which acquired many consumers product brands in foods, ice-creams, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products. Unilever got two headquarter one in Rotterdam, Netherlands and other one in London, United Kingdom. The Unilever is a dual listed company which has same directors and runs effectively. The current non-executive chairman of Unilever is Michael Treschowand and Paul Polman is Group Chief Executive. The main Competitors for Unilever are Proctor Gamble, Nestle, DANONE, Reckitt Benckiser, Kraft Foods, S.C Johnson and sons and Henkel. Analyzing Mission Statement The mission statement of Unilever UK represents two dimensions of their company, one is how Unilever products attached to the people everyday life and the other part is what Unilever wants to do in the nearest future. Everyday around the world, more than 150 million people in over 150 countries using Unilever products because people know they can help themselves feel good look good and can get more out of life, a few examples, Flora helps keep hearts healthy, a cup of PG Tips refreshes, Magnum gives an indulging treat, Persil to clean familys clothes, Domestos keeps germs free, Sure helps unbeatable protection and hair wash with Sunsilk helps looks great also gives confidence to take on life. The company is committed to provide a healthy lifestyle, variety, taste, quality products, enjoyment supporting increasingly precious commodity. The company is also committed to the vitality of the environment and the communities. The Unilever doing business in a responsible way has a positive b enefit also working in partnership with governments, international agencies (such as, UNICEF) and nongovernmental organizations (such as, WWF) to make a difference. PESTEL Analysis of Unilever Political Factors Unilever operating their businesses in globalise environment around the world. Unilever now operates their business over 150 countries around the globe. The performance of Unilever is highly influenced by legislative and political conditions of individual serving countries. If consider the employment legislations, the rules is different for every countries there need to be followed a rules for providing a mix job opportunity including flexible, lower paid locally based jobs, higher paid centrally located jobs etc. Also there has to be meet a demand from vast population categories like students, working parents and senior citizen, disabled people. Economical Factors Unilever is concern about economic factors because this is related with demand, costs, prices and profits. There is another most influential factors of economy is high unemployment which is directly related with the demand of many products and adversely affected on that may products. Those kinds of economic factors can not be controlled by the Unilever Socio-Cultural Factors The consumers demand the type of goods and services on the basis of consumers social condition, consequent attitude and beliefs. Now a day, the consumers are more aware of health related matters and the attitudes towards products are constantly changing. Technological Factors Technology is a macro-environmental variable which help the development of the Unilever products. The new technologies are beneficial for both companies and the customers; customer satisfaction rises because products are readily available. Unilever uses latest technologies for example wireless devices, intelligent scale, radio frequency identification etc. The use of Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS), Electronic Fund Transfer systems (EFTPoS) and electronic scanners have greatly improved the efficiency of distribution and stocking activities etc. (Finch 2004) Environmental Factors There are some issues threatening the producers and retailers have been environmental factors. In 2003, there was an increased pressure on many companies and managers to acknowledge their responsibilities to the society and act in a way which can help society (Lindgreen Hingley 2003). Unilever corporate social responsibility has to be concerned in this way where any organization exceeds minimum obligations to stakeholders specified through the regulation. (Johnson Scholes 2003) Legislative Factors There is the law of land and policies have a direct impact on the performance of Unilever. There is an enforceable Code of Practices have to be followed to set up banning many of current practices, for example, the payments from suppliers and changing agreed prices . (Mintel Report, 2004) The powerful competitors established brands creates a threat of intense price wars and a strong requirements for product differentiation. The governments policies for monopoly controls and reduction of buyers power can limit entry to this sector such controls on license requirements and limits on access to raw materials. (Mintel Report, 2004; Myers, 2004). SWOT Analysis of Unilever Successful businesses build on their strengths, correct their weaknesses and protect against internal vulnerabilities and external threats. Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis helps businesses to understand overall business environment and exploit new opportunities more faster than any other competitors. Strength The market Share is increasing day by day because of playing a great profitable contribution the world economy. High reputations for quality products are a key strength. Unilever got excellent product safety in health, beauty and foods. Unilever is a global business which do business more than 150 countries around the world. There is a high performance of distribution where the suppliers are located around the UK. Competitive pricing is also a key strength in Unilever. Unilever uses latest technology which helps the company to introduce consumers good products. Unilever got experienced and qualified research and development team for product development. Weaknesses Brand image some time affect the common customer. High pricing for various products causes low earning customer to buy another companys less price products. Customer Relationship Management must be a qualified team as there have no retail shop company business always depends on sole distributors. Lack of market research in Unilever reduces total sales figure in a financial year. They do not have retail and online shop, it some time causes high pricing of products in the distributors retail shop. Depends on the distributors where some time does not take proper initiative to increase the sales. Opportunities Increasing market share comparable to the competitors is really a good opportunity which can help company to increase the growth rate. Unilever can open retail shop which will help to approach direct consumer. Increasing brand value by providing good quality of products. Unilever can acquire more companys brands and services which can be a key step to increase the value in the market. Greater promotion of some products can get more customers to use their products. Threats All successful businesses attract competition so the competitors would be a threat. International competitors may also intrude as Unilever expands. Every products can not be marketed every countries because of different race of people around the world. Natural disaster could damage many area of the business, for example, earthquake in Haiti and Chile. Recession causes loss of jobs where people less use of branded products, for example recent recession in USA, UK and Europe caused a vast impact in world economy. Recommended Information Systems The following cross-functional system concepts and how they can provide significant business value to Unilever will be discussed in this document: The operational level is for taking day to day decision. Transaction Processing System can help to take operation level decision like supermarket, Biometric device etc. The knowledge level of decision is takes for research, design and procurement. Knowledge Work System can help to take knowledge level decision. The tactical or managerial control level decision takes for 1 to 3 years, it is for resource allocation. Management Information System or Decision Support System can help to take the managerial level decision. The strategic level decision takes for 3 to 10 years, it is for long term. Executive Information System can help to take the strategic level decision. Figure 1 Strategic Level Complex Mathematical Model: Unilever can use a Complex Mathematical Model for monitoring operations, costs, revenues, market shares, share prices etc. Unilever is categorized as fast moving consumer goods, quick acquisition, processing of market information. The information of market is usually collect from research companies, historical data and individual analysis. Enterprise Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence Solution: In order to gain a clear view of business performance across Unilevers companies in around the world. Unilever Information Program: When transformation is taking place in the organisation, information systems are inevitably involved. Currently Unilever is reshaping operational responsibilities for greater clarity between what is better done by the local company, at regional level or global organisations. The Unilever Information Program (UIP) is to develop an infrastructure to support the Path to Growth strategy, with the key priority of finding a quick data integration solution to allow user access to any number of data sources for in-depth analysis. Management Level Supply Management Information System: Unilever can integrated a supply management information system which will helps local, regional and global supply managers make appropriate sourcing of decisions, allowing them to collate and analyze informations more quickly and easily. The system enables managers to negotiate with suppliers in a transparent and efficient way where benefiting both parties. Knowledge Level Procurement System: The procurement is inevitability for future supply chain optimisation the supply market, particularly in Europe is still suffering from under-development. The Procurement System can help total supply chain operation rather than just transactional activity. The Procurement System provides a catalyst for positive improvement in supply management profiles. Supply-Chain Management Systems: The using of a variety information system and several other supply chain management technologies, Unilever can enhance the usability of the supply chain. Research Development System: Used for formula development Operational Level Specifications System: Specification System will help in packaging, formula, raw material, finished products and process specification. Manufacturing Planning System: Manufacturing Planning System can help in production orders, purchase orders, standard costs, inventory, financial transactions, and production reporting. Planning System: Planning system can help in Demand Planning (DP), Demand Requirement Planning (DRP), Constrained Product Planning (CPP), Finite Scheduling. Order and Cash System: Order and Cash system can help in order entry management, terms of sale, deduction tracking, stock allocation and invoicing. Finished Goods Management System: Finished good management system can be used for shipping, warehouse, transportation, production and traceability. Ethical issues related in using Information System at Unilever A new technology introduces some new ethical dilemmas. Computer technology is used for gathering, storing, manipulating data and spread the processed data which is information. Information system uses local and global networks, databases, programs for processing information. Information is a key to prosperity and it is a source of power also. This is very important to think about ethical considerations, how information will be used in an information system because there is social and political issues involved. There are severe social problems exist today because government and business organisations have failed to uphold the highest ethics standard in Management Information System use. These problems exist in such forms as invasion of privacy and software piracy. The most widely publicized classification of human rights in the computer area is Richard O. Masons PAPA. The letters in PAPA stand for Privacy, Accuracy, Property and Accessibility. (McLeod and Schell, 2001) Privacy: The right of privacy is threatened by two forces. One is increasing ability is of the computer to be used for surveillance and other one is the increasing value of information in decision making. Decision maker sometime invade someones privacy to get the information. Unilever need to do market research in need to know what type of products customers really need or what they use. There is a ethical issue concerned because of Data Protection Act, UK 1998. Accuracy: The Management Information System is given credit for making possible a level of accuracy and which is not unachievable in manual system. Most of the time errors cost much greater. Property: There is some intellectual property like computer programs. The software or the systems Unilever using are they copyrighted, agreed to use from the vendors. Access: There are some information is available to the general public in the form of printed documents or microform of images stored in libraries which includes news stories, results of scientific experiments, government statistics and so on. Access right is required to access some other databases to get information. A right to access is a Modern-day ethical issue. Conclusion Finally it can be said that Unilever can make their market position stronger than before by using different information system at different level. But Unilever must have enough consideration in various sectors to use Management Information System.

The Magic Circle :: essays research papers

The Magic Circle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Magic Circle, by Donna Jo Napoli dealt with three main characters. In the story a woman named The Ugly One possesses the power to heal. The woman has a beautiful daughter named Asa. The Ugly one is a sorcerer; who also helps sick people who are possessed by demons. The Ugly one becomes a witch after biting the finger off a deformed baby child and desiring an exquisite golden ring.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main character is The Ugly Sorcerer who is a hunchback. At first she helps deliver children at birth and then she becomes a sorcerer when her neighbor persuades her to learn the ways of a healer. She uses an amethyst stone that is holy so that she can draw a circle known as a magic circle. The circle keeps her safe while summoning demons that try to turn her into a witch. A man asked her to heal his child with an extra finger, but instead of using her powers she simply bites it off and then she foolishly steps out of the magic circle to grasp the once desired ring and is regrettably she is turned into a witch.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A boy named Peter is one of her patients. The Ugly one cures him and they become friends. Peter teaches her all he knows about the devils. Peter is a normal young child who keeps his faith in The Ugly one till the end. Peter turns into a strong young man who is very knowledgeable about anatomy and demons due to his studies in books.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bala was the neighbor who convinced The Ugly One to heal people. The Ugly One was not sure if the Bala was good or evil because of her name. The letters in Bala's name were so similar to the Devils' names. Bala treated The Ugly one very cruelly and had no respect for her because she was a hunchback. When The Ugly One turned into a witch, Bala was very quick to turn against her and sided with the crowd. The Magic Circle :: essays research papers The Magic Circle   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Magic Circle, by Donna Jo Napoli dealt with three main characters. In the story a woman named The Ugly One possesses the power to heal. The woman has a beautiful daughter named Asa. The Ugly one is a sorcerer; who also helps sick people who are possessed by demons. The Ugly one becomes a witch after biting the finger off a deformed baby child and desiring an exquisite golden ring.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main character is The Ugly Sorcerer who is a hunchback. At first she helps deliver children at birth and then she becomes a sorcerer when her neighbor persuades her to learn the ways of a healer. She uses an amethyst stone that is holy so that she can draw a circle known as a magic circle. The circle keeps her safe while summoning demons that try to turn her into a witch. A man asked her to heal his child with an extra finger, but instead of using her powers she simply bites it off and then she foolishly steps out of the magic circle to grasp the once desired ring and is regrettably she is turned into a witch.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A boy named Peter is one of her patients. The Ugly one cures him and they become friends. Peter teaches her all he knows about the devils. Peter is a normal young child who keeps his faith in The Ugly one till the end. Peter turns into a strong young man who is very knowledgeable about anatomy and demons due to his studies in books.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bala was the neighbor who convinced The Ugly One to heal people. The Ugly One was not sure if the Bala was good or evil because of her name. The letters in Bala's name were so similar to the Devils' names. Bala treated The Ugly one very cruelly and had no respect for her because she was a hunchback. When The Ugly One turned into a witch, Bala was very quick to turn against her and sided with the crowd.

The Great Depression in America Essay -- essays research papers

There were many primary causes for The Great Depression, Unequal distribution of money to the economy, and the stock market speculation, and much more which all played a major factor for The Great Depression. The Great Depression impacted everyone, it impacted different people of all kinds of backgrounds. It was a low time for Americans in the 1920's, and for other countries also. One of the causes were Uneven Prosperity, 0.1% of families made 100,000$ a year, and 80% had zero savings. 200 companies controlled 49% of all U.S industry which caused uneven prosperity. Although the economy was booming in the 1920's most purchasing was done by credit. U.S wealth was not spread evenly and the economy was unstable. The U.S. economy was booming in the 1920’s and Uneven prosperity made recovery difficult. People were buying thousands of shares of stock for as little as 10% down. Then people lost ten times as much as they put in.For the economy to function properly, total demand must equal total supply. In the 1920's there was an oversupply of goods. 60 percent of cars and 80 percent of radios were bought on credit. The U.S. economy was also reliant upon luxury spending and investment from the rich to stay afloat during the 1920's. The significant problem with this reliance was that luxury spending and investment were based on the wealth's confidence in the U.S. economy. imbalance of wealth lead to large market crashes. Black Tuesday, 1929. People saw stocks were actually falling. People hurried to get out of stocks and minimize their losses. As this happened, more people did the same which exacerbated the situations. On Black Tuesday, a record16.4 million shareds were sold. This led to bank failures. Many people lost as much as ten times their initial investment in the crash of Black Tuesday Speculation in the 1920s caused many people to by stocks with loaned money and they used these stocks as collateral for buying more stocks. The stock market boom was very unsteady, because it was mostly borrowed money and false optimism. When investors lost confidence, the stock market collapsed, taking them along with it.People loss confidence and since they were developing mistrust of the economic situation, many wanted there money out of banks and buried in their yards. The same thing that happened to the stock market. Banks ran out of cash an... ...his programs aimed at stimulating business recovery were 'too late.' His hesitation to initiate government action gave the economy time to spiral further downward and for his relations with the leaders of big business to sour. The RFC, Hoover's only major attempt to aid the recovery of business and finance, pumped much needed capital into the economy, but it was little more than a bread line for business, according to its critics. The RFC simply gave handouts to businesses, rather than taking a role in shaping the ways in which those funds were used. Hoover eschewed direct governmental intervention under the principle of small government and free market economics. The experience of American citizens during Hoover's term left them desiring something new from the government. The nation demanded intelligent and effective governmental intervention to revive the flailing economy. They demanded a president who would be a hero and representative of his people rather than an aloof, uncompassionate bureaucrat--a departure from the do-nothing presidents of the 1920s. Franklin Roosevelt, elected in 1932, strove to answer this call during the remaining years of the depression.

Comparing the Families in Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Az

Comparing the Families in Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Hoban’s The Mouse and His Child Creating â€Å"worlds of their own, with particular kinds of boundaries separating them from the larger world†, families ideally provide encouragement and protection for each of their members (Handel, xxiv). In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, however, the Dursleys and Aunt Marge fail to fulfill their roles as Harry’s primary caregivers. In Russell Hoban’s The Mouse and His Child, the father mouse is unable to give his child all that he needs and longs for. In these two children’s stories, the expectation that families will provide physical support, emotional support, and encouragement for their children is not met. In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the orphaned Harry is physically neglected by his only living relatives, the Dursleys. Harry’s Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and cousin Dudley think that by endorsing Harry’s non-existence in their lives, their fear of non-Muggles would disappear. Treating Harry like a wild animal, the frightened Dursleys physically confine Harry to their home and do not allowing their nephew any contact with the outside world. When Harry finally runs away from the Dursleys, he panics because his family never gives him Muggle money. While forcing Harry to stay indoors, the Dursleys also encourage Harry â€Å"to stay out of their way, which Harry [is] only too happy to do† (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, 24). Shunning communication and distancing themselves physically from Harry, the Dursleys fail at being the loving family that Harry needs and craves. By giving Harry little to eat and old clothes to wear, the Dursleys contin ue to treat Harry as n... ...ting and abusing him. In The Mouse and His Child, the father mouse is fond of his little son, but he is inept at keeping his family of two stable. Being a passive and pessimistic parent, the father mouse, like Harry’s aunt and uncle, fail at providing the mouse child with physical support, emotional support, and moral encouragement. Although they are family, the Dursleys and the mouse father provide a dysfunctional setting for Harry and for the mouse child, forcing their children to grow up painfully faster. Works Cited Handel, G. Introduction to the first edition, 1967. In The Psychosocial Interior of the Family. Ed. G. Handel and G.G. Whitchurch. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 1994. xxiii-xxx. Hoban, Russell. The Mouse and His Child. New York: Harper & Row, 1967. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Vancouver: Raincoast Books, 2000.

Michelangelo Buonarroti, the greatest of the Italian Renaissance artists

Michelangelo Buonarroti, the greatest of the Italian Renaissance artists, was born on March 6, 1475, in the small village of Caprese (Today, Caprese is known as Caprese Michelangelo or Tuscany, Italy). Michelangelo grew up in Florence, Italy. His Father was a government administrator and his Mother died when he was only six years old. After the death of his mother Michelangelo lived with a stone cutter and his family in the town of Settignano, where his father owned a marble quarry and small farm. Along with living with a stone cutter (where he learned to handle marble), Michelangelo's influences included da Vinci and Dominico Ghirlandaio. Michelangelo showed no interest in school, he preferred to copy paintings from churches and seek the company of painters. His artistic talents were noticed at a very early age. At the age of thirteen, Michelangelo was apprenticed to the painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. At age fourteen Michelangelo’s father persuaded Ghirlandaio to pay Michelangelo as an artist, which was unusual at the time. Demonstrating obvious talent, he was taken under the wing of Lorenzo de' Medici, the ruler of the Florentine republic and a great patron of the arts. For two years beginning in 1490, he lived in the Medici palace and attended the Humanist academy, where he was a student of the sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni and studied the Medici art collection, which included ancient Roman statuary. At the academy, both Michelangelo’s outlook and his art was influenced by many of the most prominent philosophers and writers of the day. At this time Michelangelo sculpted the Madonna of the Steps (1490-1492) and Battle of the Centaurs (1491-1492). Lorenzo de Medici, the man who gave Michelangelo the tools and schooling to perfect his artistry, passed away in 1492. Michelangelo decided that it was time to return home to his family, but he continued studying on his own. Although the practice was forbidden at the time by the church, Michelangelo got special permission to study anatomy of the dead at a hospital in the church of Santo Spirito. He used his new knowledge of the human body to create some of his most famous works, including the famous statue of David (1501-1504), the sculptures in the Church of San Pietro, and the Creation of Adam on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling, which there is a hypotheses that part of it is shaped like the human brain. Michelangelo’s love for sculpture continued to grow, and so did the attention of the world to his work. His demand as an artist grew, and he began creating some of the most famous works of his career. And then there is his architecture, where Michelangelo reordered ancient forms in an entirely new and dramatic ways. Michelangelo was principally a sculptor and always claimed that architecture was not his profession, but, with a sculptor's vision, he saw buildings as dynamic organisms – metaphors of the human body and he designed some of the most impressive architecture in all history. Among his best-known buildings are the Medici Chapel and the Laurentian Library in Florence and he finished the architectural work on St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Michelangelo renewed architectures potential for the next generation of architects, freeing them from the need to slavishly imitate models from the past and allowing them to arrive at their own forms of expression. Michelangelo, though best known for his sculpture, was also a poet. He composed over 300 pieces of poetry during his life time including the poem about the hardships of painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling. In his poems he discusses categories pertaining to love, death, evil and good, and beauty. His writing is similar to his art in that every word is carved into the realities of life. Michelangelo's art is his love of male beauty, which attracted him both by the nature of natural beauty and emotionally. Such feelings caused him great anguish, and he expressed the struggle between reality and desire for the male body in his sculpture and his poetry. The sculptor loved many youths, many of whom posed for him. His greatest love was Tommaso dei Cavalieri, who was 16 years old when Michelangelo met him in 1532, at the age of 57. Cavalieri was open to the older man's affection and Michelangelo dedicated many poems to him. Some say Michelangelo’s relationship with Cavalieri was only a deep friendship and not sexual. Even if Michelangelo had homo-erotic impulses, there is no evidence he acted on them. Cavalieri was not the only inspiration for Michelangelo’s poetry. Later in life he fell in love with Vittoria Colonna. She was a widow and friend to Michelangelo in his later maturity. Between Michelangelo and Vittoria Colonna a deep friendship developed, one might almost say an absolutely pure love, inspired by poetry and faith, out of which were to emerge some of Michelangelo's finest lyric poems, overflowing with admiration and devotion. She died at the age of 56 and Michelangelo was deeply affected by her death writing many commemorative pieces in her honor. Michelangelo worked until his death in 1564 at the age of 88. He caught a fever and a few days later he passed away. Michelangelo's revolutionizing artistic techniques altered the artist's method for centuries, and still effect how art is made today. His view on the world and its leaders changed the way artists portray their subjects and how bold they allowed their artwork to be. Michelangelo will always be known as one of the most influential artists the world has ever known. ttp://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Michelangelo www. sparknotes. com Several hypotheses have been put forward about the meaning of The Creation of Adam's highly original composition, many of them taking Michelangelo's well-documented expertise in human anatomy as their starting point. In 1990, an Anderson, Indiana physician named Frank Lynn Meshberger, M. D. noted in the medical publication the Journal of the American Medical Association that the background figures and shapes portrayed behind the figure of God appeared to be an anatomically accurate picture of the human brain. 5] Dr. Meshberger's interpretation has been discussed by Dr. Mark Lee Appler. [6] On close examination, borders in the painting correlate with major sulci of the cerebrum in the inner and outer surface of the brain, the brain stem, the frontal lobe, the basilar artery, the pituitary gland and the optic chiasm. [5] Alternatively, it has been observed that the red cloth around God has the shape of a human uterus (one art historian has called it a â€Å"uterine mantle†[7]), and that the scarf hanging out, colored green, could be a newly cut umbilical cord. 8] â€Å"This is an interesting hypothesis that presents the Creation scene as an idealized representation of the physical birth of man. It explains the navel that appears on Adam, which is at first perplexing because he was created, not born of a woman. â€Å"[9] Michelangelo was both highly literate and plain-spoken. He felt passionate toward individuals, both female and male (Vitoria Colonna and Tommasco Cavalieri in particular. Platonic love suited Michelangelo because the demands of his profession came first. Vittoria, who was independent and highly intelligent, was inaccessible. She was the woman who came closest to being his intellectual equal, and a person characterized by loftiness, nobility and virtue–all of which appealed to the poet. He turned to her for guidance and idealized her through the ecstasy of his religious mindset; Michelangelo was a deeply religious person who believed in prayer and all the accompanying Renaissance religious imagery characteristic of his era. She was a widow and friend to Michelangelo in his later maturity. She died at the age of 56 and Michelangelo was deeply affected by her death writing many commemorative pieces in her honor.