The Fierce Warrior-Slaves Known as the Mamluks

The Fierce Warrior-Slaves Known as the Mamluks The Mamluks were a class of warrior-slaves, mostly of Turkic or Caucasian ethnicity, who served between the 9th and 19th century in the Islamic world. Despite their origins as slaves, the Mamluks often had higher social standing than free-born people. In fact, individual rulers of Mamluk background reigned in various countries, including the famous Mahmud of Ghazni in Afghanistan and India, and every ruler of the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt and Syria (1250-1517). Slaves of High Standing The term mamluk means slave in Arabic, and comes from the root malaka, meaning to possess. Thus, a mamluk was a person who was owned.  It is interesting to compare Turkish Mamluks with Japanese geisha or Korean gisaeng, in that they were technically considered women of pleasure, yet they could hold a very high status in society. No geisha ever became Empress of Japan, however. Rulers valued their slave-warrior armies because the soldiers often were raised in barracks, away from their homes and even separated from their original ethnic groups.  Thus, they had no separate family or clan affiliation to compete with their military esprit de corps. However, the intense loyalty within the Mamluk regiments sometimes allowed them to band together and bring down the rulers themselves, installing one of their own as sultan instead. The Mamluks Role in History Its not a surprise that the Mamluks were key players in several important historical events.  In 1249, for example, the French king Louis IX launched a Crusade against the Muslim world.  He landed at Damietta, Egypt, and essentially blundered up and down the Nile for several months, until he decided to besiege the town of Mansoura.  Instead of taking the city, however, the Crusaders ended up running out of supplies and starving themselves  The Mamluks wiped out Louiss weakened army shortly thereafter at the Battle of Fariskur on April 6, 1250.  They seized the French king and ransomed him off for a tidy sum. A decade later, the Mamluks faced a new foe.  On September 3, 1260, they triumphed over the Mongols of the Ilkhanate at the Battle of Ayn Jalut.  This was a rare defeat for the Mongol Empire and marked the south-western border of the Mongols conquests.  Some scholars have suggested that the Mamluks saved the Muslim world from being erased at Ayn Jalut; whether or not that is the case, the Ilkhanates themselves soon converted to Islam. Egypts Fighting Elite More than 500 years after these events, the Mamluks were still Egypts fighting elite when Napoleon Bonaparte of France launched his 1798 invasion.  Bonaparte had dreams of driving overland through the Middle East and seizing British India, but the British navy cut off his supply routes to Egypt and like Louis IXs earlier French invasion, Napoleons failed.  However, by this time the Mamluks were outmatched and outgunned.  They were not nearly as decisive a factor in Napoleons defeat as they had been in earlier battles.  As an institution, the Mamluks days were numbered. The Mamluks End The Mamluks finally ceased to be in the later years of the Ottoman Empire. Within Turkey itself, by the 18th century, the sultans no longer had the power to collect young Christian boys from Circassia as slaves, a process called, and train them as Janissaries. Mamluk corps survived longer in some of the outlying Ottoman provinces, including Iraq and Egypt, where the tradition continued through the 1800s.

A.A. Milne Publishes Winnie-the-Pooh

A.A. Milne Publishes Winnie-the-Pooh With the first publication of the childrens book Winnie-the-Pooh on October 14, 1926, the world was introduced to some of the most popular fictional characters of the twentieth century - Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore. The second collection of Winnie-the-Pooh stories, The House at Pooh Corner, appeared on bookshelves just two years later and introduced the character Tigger. Since then, the books have been published worldwide in over 20 languages. The Inspiration for Winnie the Pooh The author of the wonderful Winnie-the-Pooh stories, A. A. Milne (Alan Alexander Milne), found his inspiration for these stories in his son and his sons stuffed animals. The little boy who talks to the animals in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories is called Christopher Robin, which is the name of A. A. Milnes real-life son, who was born in 1920. On August 21, 1921, the real-life Christopher Robin Milne received a stuffed bear from Harrods for his first birthday, which he named Edward Bear. The Name Winnie Although the real-life Christopher Robin loved his stuffed bear, he also fell in love with an American black bear that he often visited the London Zoo (he sometimes even went into the cage with the bear!). This bear was named Winnie which was short for Winnipeg, the hometown of the man who raised the bear as a cub and later brought the bear to the zoo. How the real-life bears name also became the name of Christopher Robins stuffed bear is an interesting story. As A. A. Milne states in the introduction to Winnie-the-Pooh, Well, when Edward Bear said that he would like an exciting name all to himself, Christopher Robin said at once, without stopping to think, that he was Winnie-the-Pooh. And so he was. The Pooh part of the name came from a swan of that name. Thus, the name of the famous, lazy bear in the stories became Winnie-the-Pooh even though traditionally Winnie is a girls name and Winnie-the-Pooh is definitely a boy bear. Other Characters Many of the other characters in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories were also based on Christopher Robins stuffed animals, including Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo. However, Owl and Rabbit were added without stuffed counterparts in order to round out the characters. If so inclined, you can actually visit the stuffed animals that Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, and Kanga were based on by visiting the Central Childrens Room at the Donnell Library Center in New York. (Stuffed Roo was lost during the 1930s in an apple orchard.) The Illustrations While A. A. Milne hand-wrote the entire original manuscript for both books, the man who shaped the famous look and feel of these characters was Ernest H. Shepard, who drew all the illustrations for both Winnie-the-Pooh books. To inspire him, Shepard traveled to the Hundred Acre Wood or at least its real-life counterpart, which is located in the Ashdown Forest near Hartfield in East Sussex (England). The Disney Pooh Shepards drawings of the fictional Winnie-the-Pooh world and characters were how most children envisioned them until Walt Disney bought the film rights to Winnie-the-Pooh in 1961. Now in stores, people can see both the Disney-styled Pooh and the Classic Pooh stuffed animals and see how they differ.

Popular culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Popular culture - Essay Example The main character is ostensibly Jeff Winger (played by Joel McHale), a handsome, conniving lawyer who has to go to a community college when he is revealed to have a fake degree. However, the key character is actually Abed Nadir, a young Arab-American who has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. This plays on the audience’s assumption that the handsome white man is always the hero and the most important character. For the first few episodes, the audience is led to believe that the show is about Jeff and his pursuit of the beautiful blonde Britta while a group of co-stars provide comic relief; later we see that the show is actually about Abed and his attempts to understand other people. Because of his Asperger’s syndrome, Abed is fixated on television and movies, and comparing everything in his life to TV and movies is his only way to relate to the people around him. Every episode either references the plot of specific movies and shows, or parodies a particular genre of movies. As the viewer watches for several episodes, it becomes apparent that the entire show is filtered through Abed’s perspective. This is different from other shows. With nearly all other TV shows, there is an unspoken agreement between the makers of the show and the audience that the audience will suspend their disbelief and pretend for an hour or a half an hour each week that the events in the show are true. Community betrays this agreement by subtly suggesting to the audience that the events in the show might not be real. Of course the audience knows this, but everyone is supposed to pretend that that’s not the case. It then makes the audience unsure of what is real within the world of the show. Is Abed real? Is he imagining everything, or just modifying reality a little bit? If we could see the show from outside of Abed’s perspective, would the characters even really be Abed’s friends, and would any of the events we’ve seen them ena ct have actually happened? The humor in the show requires the audience to have a base of knowledge about pop-culture in order to get the jokes. The show doesn’t assume that the audience is stupid and needs everything to be simple or have everything explained to them, but instead assumes a certain amount of shared cultural experience. The assumption is that enough people have seen The Breakfast Club, for example, or perhaps Pulp Fiction, that when an episode references one of those movies, most of the audience will get it. According to Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good for You, this is a recent phenomenon in television. TV used to be much simpler and did not require the same amount of memory or mental work to understand. This points to an increase in the demand by audiences for more intelligent and challenging humor (85-87). Community also does not give the same clear-cut moral messages that other TV shows did in the past. Most television shows from previous era s held to the same moral and political values. They preached against racism and in favor of diversity, paid lip-service to feminism while still mostly showing women in traditional roles, and spoke in favor of traditional â€Å"family values.† Community portrays a world where things are not that simple. For example, it shows rather than tells us that race and diversity is a confusing topic and that things do not fit perfectly into a â€Å"

The Nursing Shortage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Nursing Shortage - Essay Example It is vital to know that recruitment is not enough to assure an adequate supply of nurses. American Nurses Association has created a national initiative to deal with the issues that have galvanized the profession. Every hospital in the country must focus on both retention and recruitment as future cornerstones of an adequate workforce. A nursing shortage as defined by IOM â€Å"is a condition whereby there are not enough of professional nurses to provide quality of care of patients† (as cited in Quinn, 2002, p.2). National studies and reports have identified factors that have led to a profound nursing shortage: the aging of society (Martin et al., 2001); an aging nursing workforce (Buerhaus, Staiger, and Auerbach, 2000a; Minnick 2000) a decline in nursing enrollments (American Association of Colleges or Nursing [AACN], 2001); this shortage is uniquely serious in that it is connected to both an increased demand for, and also a decreased supply of nurses. There have been lots of articles published in both nursing journals and public newspaper across the country about the worldwide nursing shortage. First and foremost is aging of the nursing workforce. The average age of nurses in the United States is 46 (Buerhaus, 2000). There has also been declining enrollment in nursing programs over the past decade, as women are able to move into other science focused roles besides nursing (Buerhaus, 2000). Also, highschool counselors tend not to recommend nursing to male or female students interested in science. The salary structures in many health care facilities keep experienced registered nurses at lower salaries compared to other industries. A decreasing emphasis on retention of working nurses by many hospitals has caused nurses to feel that their concerns about stress and patient safety are not being heard or acted upon. Poorly trained managers or brusque, unkind preceptors often leave staff nurses feeling undervalued and not appreciated. The

The High Blood Pressure Essay Example for Free

The High Blood Pressure Essay The double whammy for people with hypertension is that the extra adrenalin required by being overweight or obese: constricts our arteries and blood vessels to raise our blood pressure and give us an energy boost ready to defend ourselves or to escape a dangerous situation; and it could also lead to type 2 diabetes! The good news is that losing weight need not be difficult or involve unappetizing diets. Losing weight is a natural way to reduce our high blood pressure. Here are my tips on how to lose weight healthily: # 1. Exercise: Take regular moderate cardiovascular exercise, such as brisk walking. Just 30 minutes brisk walking each day will improve our general health. Our heart and lungs will be strengthened; and, we will lose weight if we are burning more calories than we consume. We will also lower our high blood pressure. # 2. Diet: Adopt a healthy, calorie controlled diet that is rich in fresh fruit and vegetables, and is low in fat and salt. Avoid adding salt to your food at the table. Try to eat five different fruits and vegetables each day, of which at least one should be a green vegetable. Choose lean cuts of meat and try to have two portions of oily fish, such as salmon or mackerel, each a week. Some of the most successful weight loss diet plans advocate having six small healthy meals a day in stead of the usual two or three large meals. Try out the principles of food combining which lends itself to having several small meals a day. # 3. Drink plenty of water: Try to drink at least two litres of water a day; not all at once, of course, but aim to have eight glasses of water spread out through the day. Doing this will help you feel fuller for longer, reducing the temptation for us to cheat on our healthy calorie controlled diet. Our bodies will also be properly hydrated. Dehydration can cause high blood pressure.

Art And Mathematics:Escher And Tessellations Essay -- Math Artistic Pa

Art And Mathematics:Escher And Tessellations On first thought, mathematics and art seem to be totally opposite fields of study with absolutely no connections. However, after careful consideration, the great degree of relation between these two subjects is amazing. Mathematics is the central ingredient in many artworks. Through the exploration of many artists and their works, common mathematical themes can be discovered. For instance, the art of tessellations, or tilings, relies on geometry. M.C. Escher used his knowledge of geometry, and mathematics in general, to create his tessellations, some of his most well admired works. It is well known that in the past, Renaissance artists received their training in an atmosphere of artists and mathematicians studying and learning together (Emmer 2). People also suggest that the art of the future will depend on new technologies, computer graphics in particular (Emmer 1). There are many mathematical advantages to using computer graphics. They can help to visualize phenomena and to understand how to solve new problems (Emmer 2). â€Å"The use of ‘visual computers’ gives rise to new challenges for mathematicians. At the same time, computer graphics might in the future be the unifying language between art and science† (Emmer 3). However, one must remember that art is by no means the same as mathematics. â€Å"It employs virtually none of the resources implicit in the term pure mathematics.† Many people object that art has nothing to do with mathematics; that mathematics is unemotional and injurious to art, which is purely a matter of feeling. In The Introduction to the Visual Mind: Art and Mathematics, Max Bill refutes this argument by stati... ...d Mathematics. Ed. Michele Emmer. Cambridge: MIT Press. 5-9. Emmer, Michele. â€Å"Intoduction to the Visual Mind:Art and Mathematics.† The Visual Mind: Art and Mathematics. Ed. Michele Emmer. Cambridge: MIT Press. 1-3. Escher, M.C. Escher on Escher- Exploring the Infinite. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1986.whattess.html. â€Å"Math Forum: What is a Tessellation?† Available Online.http://forum.swarthmore.edu/sum95/suzanne/whattess.html.Accessed 10/5/99. â€Å"Maurits Cornelius Escher.† Available Online. http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Escher.html. Accessed 10/16/99. †M.C. Escher- Interlocking Shapes and Tessellations.† Available Online. http://www.znet.com/~wchow/escher.htm. Accessed 10/7/99. Schattschneider, Doris. â€Å"The Fascination of Tiling.† The Visual Mind: Art and Mathematics. Ed. Michele Emmer. Cambridge: MIT Press. 157-164.

07.03 Immigration

Graphic Organizer: Immigrant Journals| Lee Chew| Mary Antin| What is the main idea expressed in the author’s journal? | Â  Mistreatment of the Chinese| Â  The equality and freedom in America| Is the author happy or unhappy with his/her experience in America? | Â  Unhappy| Â  Happy| Explain one experience the author had that reflects his/her view of America. | Â  He talks about how he is unable to bring his wife to America over from China or marry an American woman, but how the Irish, Germans, Englishmen, and Italians are treated much nicer than the Chinese. She talks about how she was able to go to school without fees, examinations, machinations, rulings, and no questions asked. She was able to get education for free. | List at least three words from the journal entries that reflect the author’s point of view toward America. | Â  Mean, Misfortune, and Ignorant| Â  Hope, Delight, and Treasure | Two of the writers, Emma and Mary, thought of America as a place of fr eedom and hope, while the third writer, Lee saw that America as an injustice place to live.Mary’s journal excerpt was her experience of coming at living in America for the first time. Her story was a story of hope and happiness, of a little Russian girl able to receive free education with no tests, papers, or anything really in return. Emma’s poem was also very hopeful and happy. Instead of writing about her story of coming to America, she wrote about the symbolism that the Statue of Liberty held.She saw the Statue of Liberty as a place Americas welcoming to the homeless, jobless, and the poor. Were all those people could have a second chance of life and a first chance of freedom, but Lee’s point of view differs with these two writers. He believes that America is an unfair to his race and culture, while other immigrants get treated better. He feels discriminated and that nobody will do or does anything to help him and the rest of his Chinese culture.In my opinio n, I believe our attitudes, as Americans, toward immigrants are very different from the sentiments stated on the Statue of Liberty. Most Americans would not want to welcome the homeless and poor. Also many Americans feel that immigrants are taking jobs away from American citizens; especially now in that we are in a recession. So most Americans would probably have a ver changed opinion from the sentiments of the Statue of Liberty.

Business Report of Lenovo Essay

Introduction Lenovo was found in 1984 in Beijing and it is the world’s second-largest PC vendor. According to the last official statistic, Lenovo consolidated turnover of 146.6 billion Yuan and Lenovo employs nearly 40,000 people. Lenovo is a well-known national brand in China and Lenovo is serving customers in more than 160 countries. In order to expand overseas business and access to world-class brand, Lenovo carried out an acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division in 2005. IBM was founded in 1911 in the United States and it is the largest information technology and business solutions company in the world, currently has more than 30 million employees in the world, with operations in over 160 countries and regions. The problems experienced by Lenovo concerns the construction of cross-cultural teams. Most of the merger and acquisition fail in the post-merger cultural integration. Lenovo set up work teams for designing the future of IBM and developing the new view after acquisition. The results had been shown it uneasy and can lead to the failure of the Lenovo’s acquisition strategy. At the beginning of the acquisition, cultural differences had not been enough anticipated in the acquisition process. And Lenovo wants to remedy the problem as soon as possible to make IBM acquisition profitable in the next strategy. The report part of the business plan Summary This report is intended to identify, describe and propose some solutions to Lenovo to solve the problems about teams and groups in the acquisition of the IBM. This report will describe problems associated with team building, provides some possible solutions and evaluates each of these. And, this report will describe the impact of cultural differences on the establishment of work groups. Actually, Lenovo had taken some measures, but it with little success. According to the current state of Lenovo, this report will give some suggestions and solutions to overcome or avoid the conflict caused by cultural differences and set up effective cross-cultural teams. Especially, these solutions are based on literature on the issue. It concludes that it is necessary for the company to establish effective and appropriate measures to eliminate the barriers in cross-cultural teams, as absence of this may threaten the company’s long-term development. To overcome the problem, Lenovo should take the follow action for IBM survival: * Obtain the core values between Chinese employees and American employees through an internal survey. * Design an international training program for all the employees and especially for managers. * Incorporate both corporate cultures of Lenovo and IBM to create a new corporate culture. * Every cross-culture team should organise monthly meeting or weekly meeting to evaluate the progress of communications and work. * Organise some internally non-working activities to create more opportunities for the communication among employees with different cultural context. * Set up the special teams to deal with the problem caused by cultural difference in every cross-cultural team. Introduction This section of business plan will introduce the problems caused by cultural differences in cross-cultural teams and give some suggestions to overcome the problems. In the acquisition of IBM, Lenovo accepted more than 10,000 employees and it also means that Lenovo accepted a very different culture. Lenovo is not only facing the differences between western and eastern culture, but also Lenovo facing the problems of how to integrate the teams with different organisationally cultural context. In this report, the recommendations to overcome the problems in cross-cultural teams and groups are based on the literature on team building and cross-cultural team management. Body At the beginning of the acquisition of IBM, Lenovo had taken some measures. For example, in order to both sides can communicate better, the new Lenovo use the international common language – English as the official language of the company. But cultural integration is a long-term process, which requires companies to devote their time and patience and the communication, compromise between both of high level, and staff in the acquisition. It must not be too hasty. Base on the fact of Lenovo, there are three aspects should be noticed and improved. Firstly, IBM has a long history and IBM has very high brand awareness. In addition to the brand, employees can get the respect for personal values ​​and a comfortable working environment can be provided for employees by the human resources services and the improvement of the system. In contrast, Lenovo has a big gap no matter the position in IT industry and the strength of themselves. If some team members uphold the cultural superiority or group superiority that their own cultural value system better than those members from other cultures or groups, their behavior maybe resulting in the failure of team building because they will be possible to take hate and boycott from other members, even lead to conflict. Because the conflicts caused by cultural differences between team members and individual differences under thus influence, analysis and identification of cultural differences is necessary. Secondly, communication is the process of exchange and transmission of information among people or groups. Because of the multi-cultural background, language and non-language barrier, people lack of understanding of each other’s political, economic, legal, social and cultural environment, and the understanding of the customs, values, etc. are different. They are often based on their own perspective to make an analysis and judgment on each other’s information, and thus the misunderstanding and conflict are often obtained. Because of these, design a multi-cultural training and hold a monthly meeting or weekly meeting is necessary. Thirdly, a company has an acquisition of another company means an integration of two different corporate cultures. When the employees of a cross-cultural group are conscious of the different of personal cultural awareness with others, it will be cause the group lost their purpose. Based on the possibility, establish a common business concept and corporate culture is a good solution to this problem. Establish a new joint management concept and a strong culture based on the environmental requirements and the principle of the company’s strategic development, so that reducing cultural conflict and that each employee’s thinking and behavior can combine with the company’s operations and purpose. Adopting these recommendations and the actions in summary can make internal and external combination of the teams more closely, establish a good reputation in the international market and enhance multinational cultural adaptability. This is the ultimate goal of why Lenovo needs solve the cross-cultural issues of teams and group in the acquisition of IBM. (1077 words) Section 2 1. What the literature says â€Å"teams and groups† The importance of teams and groups for an organisation In modern society, one person’s power, information and resources are limited. Most time people need cooperate with others no matter working or others as Handy (1993) said â€Å"On average, managers spend 50% of their working day in one sort of group or other. Senior managers can spend 80%†. Although there is no clear and single definition of a â€Å"teams and groups†, there is a basic limited definition by Bennett (1991) â€Å"a collection of two or more people who possess a common purpose†. The formation of an organisation groups in order to achieve the purpose of work more efficiently. An organisation can produce some different kinds of groups, for example: formal and informal, LOCO, HICO, teams, etc. An organisation needs to be aware of their differences and use them as efficiently as possible. There are a lot satisfying reasons why an organisation should create work groups. For example, organising effective groups can have some uses for the distribution of work, the management and control of work, problem-solving and decision-making, information processing, information and idea collection, testing and ratifying decisions, co-ordination and liaison, increased commitment and involvement, negotiation and conflict resolution, inquest or inquiry into the past. (Handy, 1993) No matter what kind of a group there is a bottom line is â€Å"A strong group is †¦ usually more powerful than a strong individual and can have a considerable effect on organizational policy and practice.†(Thomson, 2002) This literature review will pay attention on teams mainly. In a team, everyone plays different role and they have specific function and they working with an important principle â€Å"voluntarily co-ordinate their work in order to achieve group objectives†(Bennett, 1991). Building a team People hope they can define their identity through their membership of certain groups like people belong to local political and pressure groups, for example, because they experience a shared set of values with the other people in the group which reinforces their own values. But, according to Thomson (1997), one reason why people belong to group is â€Å"social needs†. As Thomson & Mabey said â€Å"some †¦ groups will be family or friendship groups, which are formed to meet a diverse range of needs such as affection, security, support, belonging or identity. Some may be committees, where members usually represent different interest groups who come together to discuss their differing perspectives on matters of interest†, people should build a team for the work that is highly complex problems, need for consensus decisions and there is uncertainty when a broad range of competences are required. A company is a big group of a lot of people working together, so the managers are responsible to build effective teams or workgroups. After collecting more individual talents, building a team has the ability to use the talents on a united effort and success is very important (Woodcock, 1979). Consequently, the managers should know how to effectively build a team. In general, the managers must have the knowledge about the five development stages (forming, storming, norming, performing and mourning) in a team or workgroup and they should have an appropriate leading method for themselves (Thomson & Mabey, 1994). Of course, this is not enough for managing a team. The managers need realise everyone’s advantages and dis advantages in the team and especially the differences of their culture context. Teams and cross-cultural context In modern society, business environment developed quickly international. Different cultural members mixed in a team so that the team has powerful ability to solve complex problem. But, individuals from different cultural context must show a different behavior and values in the team. This is because the people’s cognition, thinking, needs, values, code of conduct, customs, etc. are formed in the years of life, work and education. The individual differences caused by cultural differences led to the conflict of the team in the cross-cultural context (Sun, 2012). So, how to make a cross-cultural team working effective is the main responsibility of managers. In a cross-cultural team, there is an important factor is a clear understanding of every one culture and values, and a process of acculturation. The acculturation process is a mutual exchange of cultural pattern (Olie, 1995). Related to the case of Lenovo, the best recommendation for acculturation is integration. It different with one culture dominate the others, integration is a process of acculturation (Nahavandi & Malekzadeh, 1995). Interest for Lenovo In the case of Lenovo, Chinese and American must accept each other for working effectively. But the main problem in the cross-cultural groups is communication. The managers of Lenovo must make everyone in the group understands and adapt to the different culture with some training or actions. And more important is design a politic cooperatively cultural pattern. 2. What does the literature say about different cultural contexts and its influence on teams and groups What are culture and its importance According to Hofstede(2003), culture is â€Å"the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another†. It related to a group. With a large-scale research study of IBM branches around the world by Geert Hofstede, the culture is considered a compositive project. Geert Hofstede creates a new way to describe culture through five variables: power distance, individualism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation. All theories have limitations. Although this method created by Geert Hofstede is not absolutely right, it does not affect the theory of Hofstede can analyse one country’s culture as a valuable tool. Contract with the case of Lenovo, the most important effect by culture is â€Å"Currently only 25% of international mergers and acquisitions in Europe are successful. The price of failure is high. Cultural misunderstanding lead to loss of face, loss of money and, in extreme case, even loss of life† (Gibson cited in Naysmith, 2006). If managers do not pay enough attention on the culture, it possibly can cause the failure of the acquisition of IBM. Organisational culture Culture is not only exists in the countries, but also culture exists in any organisation constituted by people. Based on Handy (1993) said, â€Å"The role organisation will succeed as long as it can operate in a stable environment†. A steady cultural environment is necessary for an organization get success. At the same time, organisational culture is manageable and it can affects the approach of management, the accepted goals and customer of the society determine and influence that what managers strive for and the rule observed by managers (Stewart cited in Naysmith, 2006). So, the organisation also based on the cultural context of the country. The organisational culture can also measured by the five variables created by Hofstede.(Geert Hofstede, 2001) Influence of culture on â€Å"teams and groups† If a company formed by people comes from different cultural country, this company will own a special energy. It is a competitive advantage from a cross-cultural context. But, exerting the competitive advantage effectively is the most important challenge for the cross-cultural group. Because in a cross-cultural group the members have different working purpose and processes will be revealed. (Maznevski & Peterson, 1997) The effectiveness of work group will be decreased by the ethnocentrism, stereotypes, different expectations and difference in values. And these negative emotions will produce the anxiety and misunderstanding in-group, even diminishing the workers dedication to the company and destroying the group ardor. Interenst for Lenovo Cross-border mergers and acquisitions not only include the corporate cultural differences of both sides, but also include the cultural differences between the countries of the two sides. Organise some activities or cultural training to make more opportunities for every understanding different culture can eliminate the negative affects effectively. 3. Conclusion This literature review introduces some keys briefly for understanding teams and groups in a cross-cultural context. Firstly, teams and groups are particular important for an organisation. But there are some problems should be solved in a cross-cultural group. The managers is not only should know everyone’s skill and talent, but also they should know their difference caused by different cultural context. And some actions can make a good communication between each other for understanding the differences are necessary. Secondly, based on enough knowledge to understand the importance of culture, the managers should eliminate the negative affects of cross-cultural context through some activities or training. And the most important is creating an appropriate organisational culture. It can give the cross-cultural group an approach, so the cross-cultural group can exerts the competitive advantages completely. Bibliography Bennett, R., (1991), Organisational Behavior, London: M&E/Pitman, pp.145, 154. Geert Hofstede, (2001), Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations, Second Edition, Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications Geert Hofstede, (2003), Cultures and Organisations, Intercultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival, Soft ware of the Mind, London: Profile Books Ltd. Handy, C, (1993), Understanding Organisations (4th ed.), London: Penguin, pp.150-2. Maznevski, M. & Peterson, M.F., (1997), Societal Values, Social Interpretation, and Multinational Teams. In C. Skromme Granrose & S. Oskamp (Eds.), Cross-Cultural Work Groups, pp. 61-89, London: Sage Publications Ltd. Nahavandi, A. & Malekzadeh, A.R., (1995), Acculturation in mergers and acquisitions, In Jackson (Ed.), Cross-Cultural Management, pp. 328-341, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Olie, R., (1995), Culture and integration problem in international mergers and acquisitions, In T. Jackson (Ed.), Cross-Cultural Management, pp. 308-325, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd. Sun Ziwen, (2012, April 13), Case analysis of the cultural integration in cross-border mergers and acquisitions of Chinese enterprises, People’s Forum, 356(2), 7. Thomson, R., (2002), Managing people (3rd ed.), Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, pp.92, 95. Thomson, R. & Mabey, C., (1994), Developing Human Resources, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann in association with the Institute of Management, pp.177. Woodcock, M., (1979), Team Development Manual, Aldershot: Gower Press Teakfield Limited, pp.177.

The Art of Writing the Perfect Formal Letter

The Art of Writing the Perfect Formal Letter Sometimes it seems like letter writing is a lost art form. Formal letters are becoming a rarity and have been replaced by all sorts of modern communication- from informal emails to texts to Snapchat. Even though we have come a long way technologically in communicating with each other, its still important to know the basics of writing a formal letter just in case there is an occasion for one. Learning the basics of writing a formal letter can also help us improve communication in the other, more modern ways of writing to each other. Here are some things to remember when you start to write your own formal letter.Why you would need to write a formal letterIn this day and age, you may be wondering why you would even need to write a formal letter. Though it may be a rare occasion in this digital era with its emphasis on abbreviations and getting everything into 140 characters or less, there are still a few times when letter-writing skills can come in handy. For example, in addition to cov er letters there are also grants and applications to universities or even certain jobs that may require a formal written letter, so you want to be prepared when those pop up.You could also write a letter if you have been using a product or service for many years and all of a sudden the product has changed and you become dissatisfied. Though social media is a quick way to get a companys attention, it may not have lasting imprint on them to affect change in the way you want.Another good reason to write a formal letter is if you read an article online or in a newspaper that you disagree with and want to let the editor know your thoughts. This formal letter is called a letter to the editor and often they get published in the publication, so you definitely want to ensure that it is well written and your thoughts are easily understandable.Lastly, you could also make your grandmas whole year by writing her a traditional letter and sending it in the mail, which is another very good reason t o know how to write one.Be professional in toneThe very first thing you need to keep in mind when writing a formal letter is to always be professional. Though you can be a little lax about spelling and grammar in emails or social media posts to friends, when you write a formal letter you want to make sure that everything is precise and accurate. Avoid using Internet jargon like LOL or idk. Always be respectful in your language, even if youre trying to convey disagreement or complain about a service or product. Using antagonistic language will never get your point across effectively and may tarnish any chance you have to work together with the person or company to fix the problem.Though its important to be professional, its also important to use language thats relatable. Just because a letter is formal doesnt mean that you need to use overly complicated words that are uncommon. You dont want your letter receiver to have to use a dictionary while reading it because your point may get lost in the midst. Be formal, but not too formal.The basics of the heading and salutationWhen you are writing a formal letter, the first thing you need to do is figure out who you are addressing. If you are writing a letter to the editor, for example, you need to address your letter to the editor-in-chief of the paper. If you are writing a cover letter, then you will need to address the hiring manager that was listed in the advertisement for the job.It is always best to do address a letter with the recipients name. In some cases you may find that you dont have a name to address to- especially in the case of applying blindly to a job advertisement where theres not much info about the hiring manager online. However, you should exhaust all efforts to find the recipients name so that your letter can appear more personal.Once you establish who you are writing the letter to, then you will need to set up a correct heading. Though getting the right heading may not seem all that important, i t establishes a rapport with your letter recipient. They know that youve taken the extra steps to get their information correct and will be more likely to read on in the body of the letter.Start out your heading with the senders address, but dont include your name. Below the two lines of your address, put todays date. After you have written out the senders address, put a space of one line and then enter the inside address, or the address of the person or company you are writing to. The inside address will include the recipients name, his or her title, company, and then address. If you are unsure if your recipient is a Miss or a Mrs., then it is always best to use Ms to avoid any embarrassing incidents. If you know that your recipient is a medical doctor or holds a PhD, then be sure to use Dr. before their name.After you have written the inside address, then you will need to write a formal salutation to start off the letter. It is standard to use Dear followed by the recipients name. Typically, if you are writing to someone you havent met then its appropriate to write their personal title (Miss, Ms., or Mr.) followed by their last name and then a colon. If you are unsure of a persons gender, then use their first and last name in both the inside address and the salutation.Heres an example of a heading with a proper salutation.Be concise in the body of the letterWhen you write a formal letter, write with purpose. It is likely that your recipient is a very busy person who doesnt have time to read a meandering letter. Know what purpose your letter serves and write about that and that only.After your salutation, skip a line and then start the body. In the first paragraph, give a brief introduction to who you are and why you are writing. After you have established those first important details, the rest of the letter body should be spent explaining what your business is and why they should know or care about it. Using facts and convincing language will undoubtedly be appreciated by your recipient. Be concise, use good language, and be sure to proofread and fact check everything you send in.Closing your letterOnce you have written the body of the letter and you feel you have gotten your business established and your point across with the recipient, then you will need to close it out. After the last body paragraph, skip one line to write the closing. There are many ways to do this, but the generally accepted lines are:Sincerely Yours,Best,Yours Sincerely,Looking forward to hearing from you,Respectfully,After the closing line, skip four lines and then write your full name to sign the letter.Small details to rememberIn addition to making sure your heading, salutation, body, closing, and signature are correct in your formal letter, you should also get the overall look of your letter to be professional as well. Use a standard font, such as Times New Roman, and a standard size, such as 12 point, for formal letters. Anything bigger will make it look li ke you are trying to take up space and anything smaller will make it difficult on your recipient to read.You should also make sure that your margins are a standard size (around 1 inch) and that you arent using double spaces between lines. Most business letters are left justified and use single spacing throughout, so be mindful of these aesthetic choices in your letter writing.Letter exampleThe following is an example of a formal letter, complete with heading and salutations.6872 Elm Ave.Toledo, OH 43601December 4, 2016Ms. Persephone JohnsonEditor-in-ChiefToledo Daily News456 Editor AvenueToledo, OH 43601Dear Ms. Johnson:I am writing to you today in response to the op-ed piece, Why You Should Absolutely Declaw Your Cat in Thursdays issue of the Daily News. As a longtime cat owner, I was very disturbed by the writers opinion of this delicate subject.Though declawing your cat may seem like the easiest way to prevent your home from being torn to shreds by your kittys claws, the truth is that this is an inhumane practice that many vets are starting to shy away from. To declaw a cat is to remove your kittys naturally given tools. This would be the equivalent of cutting off a humans fingers just so they wouldnt get into too much trouble.Cats without claws are unable to defend themselves against other animals and the surgery provides absolutely no medical benefit to them. The Humane Society is staunchly against declawing cats, except in the cases of medical emergencies such as tumors.Instead of declawing, cat owners should be patient with their feline companions when it comes to unwanted scratching. The truth is that scratching is a very natural behavior of cats, and should not be eradicated from their activities. The owner needs to instead redirect scratching from things like furniture or wood floors to toys and scratching posts. Cats typically scratch when they are bored, so as cat owners we need to make sure they are getting everything they need to live happy, fulf illed lives.This reader thinks that the writer of this piece should have more thoroughly checked her sources on declawing and the harm that it creates for cats.Respectfully,Gina DavisThe importance of letter writingWhether you are writing a letter to your prospective new boss, you are trying to get a donation for your business or nonprofit, or you are writing a letter to the editor at your local paper, its important to be accurate and confident in your writing. Paying attention to small details like getting the heading correct or using the right salutation will make your letter more credible in the eyes of the recipient. They will automatically assume that you are competent and professional, which will hopefully make them more receptive to what you have to say in the body of your letter.Before you send your letter off to your recipient, have someone look it over. Whether its a friend, colleague, a copy editor, or a teacher, its worth getting someone to proofread, provide suggestions on how to improve, and to get feedback on what you have written. Though the formal letter may not be as fun to write as a novel or an op-ed, its am important genre of writing that can accomplish a lot in just a few paragraphs.

Writing the Parts of a Stage Play Script

Writing the Parts of a Stage Play Script If you have a great imagination and you think you would enjoy telling stories through dialogue, physical interaction, and symbolism, you should really try your hand at writing scripts. It could be the beginning of a new hobby or career path! There are several types of scripts, including scripts for dramatic plays, television shows, short films, and full-length movies. This article provides a summary of the basic steps you can take to write your own dramatic play. At the basic level, the rules for writing and formatting are flexible; writing is, after all, an art! Parts of a Play There are certain elements you’ll want to include if you want to make your play interesting and professional. One important concept to understand is the difference between the story and the plot. This difference is not always so easy to understand, however. Story pertains to the things that really happen; it is the chain of events that take place according to a time sequence. Some of the story is fluff- it’s the filler that makes the drama interesting and keeps it flowing. Plot refers to the skeleton of the story: the chain of events that shows causality. What does that mean? A famous writer named E. M. Forester once clarified a plot and its relationship to causality by explaining: â€Å"The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died and then the queen died of grief is a plot. The time-sequence is preserved, but their sense of causality overshadows it. Plot The action and emotional ups and downs of a plot determine the plot type. Plots have been classified in many ways, starting with the basic concept of comedies and tragedies used in ancient Greece. You can make up any type of plot, but a few examples might help you get started. Episodic: Episodic plots involve episodes: several events are linked together with each event or â€Å"episode† containing a possible climax.Rising Action: This plot contains a conflict, tension, and climax to resolve the conflict.Quest: This type involves an adventurer who sets off on a journey and reaches a goal.Transformation: In this variety of plot, a person changes character because of an experience.Revenge or Justice: In a revenge story, a bad thing happens, but eventually everything works out evenly. Exposition The exposition is the part of the play (normally in the beginning) in which the writer â€Å"exposes† the background information that the audience needs to understand the story. It is an introduction to the setting and characters. Dialogue The dialogue of a play is the part that allows you to show your creativity. A play is carried along through conversations, called dialogue. Writing dialogue is a challenging task, but it is your chance to flaunt your artistic side. Things to consider when writing dialogue are: Habits or accents that provide insight into the characterActions or behavior the character displays while talking Conflict Many plots involve a struggle to make things interesting. This struggle or conflict can be anything from a concept in one person’s head to a battle between characters. The struggle can exist between good and evil, between one character and another, or between a dog and a cat. Complications If your story is going to have a conflict, it should also have complications that make the conflict even more interesting. For instance, a struggle between a dog and a cat can be complicated by the fact that the dog falls in love with the cat. Or the fact that the cat lives in the house and the dog lives outside. Climax The climax happens when the conflict is resolved in some way. It is the most exciting part of a play, but the journey toward a climax can be choppy. A play can have a mini-climax, a setback, and then a bigger, final climax. If you decide you enjoy the experience of writing scripts, you can go on to explore the art in college through elective or even major courses. There you will learn advanced practices and proper formatting for submitting a play for production someday!

Effect of Conquest of America on Europe's relationship with Africa and Essay

Effect of Conquest of America on Europe's relationship with Africa and Asia - Essay Example Each ship that ventured out to the unknown world has gold, territory and glory as objectives for the country it served. When America was discovered, it was found that its natural resources were in abundance and in the flurry of new explorations fueled by the American colonial success, they found Asia and Africa and the new resources that they had to offer, resources that can be easily exploited and easily compliment their interests in the New World. It is in this respect that the African slavery became significant. The mines of Peru and Mexico, the plantations in Brazil and the Caribbean - they required new laborers after the number of indigenous peoples were effectively decimated upon the arrival of the colonizers. According to Crosby (2003), the Andean Inca civilization alone lost more than 8 million of its 9 million indigenous natives (22). During most of the period of colonization of Africa, its main utility for its colonizers were its slaves. Millions of Africans were shipped to the plantations in America and this trade in itself has been a major source of revenue for Portugal. Besides the slaves, however, Africa also supplied ivory, gold, diamonds, cocoa, nut oils and timber. The case of Asian relationship with Europe, the situation is a little more different than the African experience. Unlike the latter, Asia fell to European colonization rather later. It was only after the 1850s wherein the West made some significant headway in colonizing the Far East. This variable contributed to the manner by which the Asian colonies were exploited and administered. For instance, Spain ruled the Philippines through Mexico. Then, Asian slaves were not common while their raw materials produce and other products were either sent to Europe or to Latin America for processing. Britain was also able to milk India dry with its precious stones, spices, tea, and other resources. Asia, somehow, was treated like Latin America, a source of wealth for its masters that wield their power from Europe but not in the degree or manner the Europeans exploited Africa. What the colonization of the Americas, Asia and Africa demonstrated was the fact that these continents became embroiled with some form of globalization especially producing a type of division of labor that we could actually identify as roughly similar to what we have today. One analogy that could probably describe the situation was how other races were exploited in order to enrich and provide for the requirements of the European imperialists. A less emotional description would argue that during the age of colonization, nations became engaged with specialization in goods production and in occupation by their respective peoples, according to the resources of their home countries and their status in the empire that they belong. An important variable that must be underscored in this investigation is the fact that the European hegemony during the Age of Discovery is not mainly driven by the absolute superio rity of the European technologies and weaponry. Spain, for example has risen to its imperial status and consolidated its global

Cybersecurity threat posed by a terrorist group Essay

Cybersecurity threat posed by a terrorist group - Essay Example Though sparse cyber attacks only cause annoyance, the present situation is that Australia is facing considerable degree of such attacks that create fear in the minds of people, and evidently, the government is startled by the pace at which these miscreants get access to nation’s secrets breaking the barriers erected by the government and various companies. Considering the fact that nations like China and US have already taken stringent steps to prevent any cyber attacks on them, and also to utilize cyber attack as a positive warfare, it is highly necessary to adopt policies at the earliest to prevent such further attacks on Australia, especially when there is a rise in the attacks. The solution to the problem can be identified in the steps taken by America and Japan on the face of cyber terrorism. One step is to have a separate department of defense that is solely responsible for protecting categorized government departments, defense installations, and nuclear technology from cyber attacks. The second step is to have an agency that monitors the cyber activities of nationally important sectors and companies using sensors in the networks. This will help identify cyber attacks and take effective steps before the systems are attacked and information is stolen. Thirdly and most importantly, there should be a national program that works in collaboration with all the ISPs. It should be made mandatory for the ISPs to identify the already compromised computers and direct such customers to the agency for removal of the malware. This is very necessary as most of the time, the compromised computers are used by attackers to commit crimes. Identifying such remotely controlled computers is the first step in preventing cyber attacks. Background Nations throughout the world including US are struggling to save their cyber sphere from the cyber attacks. The factor that makes things worse in the cyber world is that the terrorists get a chance to operate from other nations o r geographic areas, thus making the arrest and punishment of terrorists a difficult task. According to Taipei Times (31 May 2011) records, Australia is one of the most targeted nations in the world. The companies, government departments, and persons that came under cyber attack in the recent past range from the Australian parliament, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith, Japanese conglomerate Sony, Woodside petroleum of Australia, to mention but a few. Ironically, Chinese intelligence agencies are suspected by many nations and companies for such attacks. Anyway, according to McClelland, the Australian Attorney general, â€Å"it is better to deal with the threat, to address the vulnerability.† (Taipei Times, 31 May 2011). According to reports, there were 400 cyber attacks on the Australian government networks in the past year; a number too high to ignore. In addition, the Director General of the Australian Security Intelligence Org anization David Irvine (cited Staff Writers, Energy Daily, 30 May 2011), points out that Australia experiences constant cyber efforts to steal the nation’s secrets. In the opinion of Irvine, the cyber terrorists not only try to steal the nation’s secrets, but they also aim critical national industries and infrastructures. This claim is substantiated by the fact that Australian miners are vehemently targeted by terrorists. Thus, it becomes evident that it is high time to address the issue. In fact, Australian government has already taken a few steps in this regard, though not so effective. One such step is the