DQs and Summary Essay Example for Free

DQs and Summary Essay DQ 1: Differentiate between the scientific method and applied research. Which one is most often used in business? Provide an example of either that might be appropriate from your current or previous place of employment DQ 2: You are the manager of a hotel. There have been several complaints from guests relating to employee attitude. Provide a description of three different types of research that might be appropriate for this situation DQ 3: Why do some senior executives feel more comfortable relying with quantitative data than qualitative data? How might a qualitative research company lessen the senior-level executive Business Risk Management and Insurance DQ-1) Unfortunately, a quick scan of the business news will normally result in reports of unethical business behavior. To prove this point, lets start with a review of the news for stories about fraud and other unethical behavior in business. You can use the University Library to start your search. Once you have located an article share it with the class by developing a summary of the important information. Make sure that you give credit to your source. DQ-2) Go to Course Home and review the Course Project tab. Then download the Course Project template from Doc Sharing. In this graded discussion, we will be examining the operation of the Accounting Information System (AIS) with the use of problems and exercises from your textbook. The goal is to cover all of the requirements to ensure an opportunity for your successful completion of Course Project 1. Lets start with a review of the three requirements of Part A of the Course Project. Explain why it is important to analyze each financial transaction of a business and to report it in the Accounting Information System. You can have a ton of fun in college, but it also involves a lot of work. Stay focused on the end result: a diploma. There will be many roadblocks along the way, and how you choose to approach them is important. Use the tips you have seen here to make college work on your behalf. Business Risk Management and Insurance

Characteristics Of Porters Five Forces Model

Characteristics Of Porters Five Forces Model This report aims to discuss the characteristic of Porters Five Forces model which had greatly contributes to strategic management. Porter (1980) sees competition in an industry being governed by five different sets of forces and an industrys attractiveness is contingent on the strength of these five forces. Nevertheless, this model is being debated since it is purely derived from industrial perspective. To be the market leader, resource- base theorists suggested organizations must aware of its intrinsic strength and weakness therefore enable them to formulate strategy efficiently. Apart from perspective imperfect, Porters five forces also limited by some factors when applying in certain industry. To present the contributions as well as limitations of Porters five forces framework, this report will examine the five forces of soft drink and airline industry. All the information is collected from text books, journals, articles, annual report and websites. 1.0 Introduction All purpose of strategy is to help an organization survives and be profitability in the industry. An industry is a group of firms that produce a similar product or service, for instance cosmetics or financial services. (L. Wheelen T., D. Hunger J., 2006). The understanding of the industry structure and its competition environment is a critical ingredient of a successful strategy. Firms need to examine the level of profitability of the industry they are entered, whether it is potentially high profitable in the future. Michael Porter (1980), a Harvard strategy professor contended that the industry profitability is determined by five forces of competition, they are the competition from new entrants, competition from substitutes, and competition from established rivals as well as the power of suppliers and power of buyers. (M. Grant R., 2008). By examine the strength of five forces reveal why an industry is attractive and only then can organization formulates strategy to gain competitive advantage in the market place. Unfortunately, Porters five forces framework has been involved into several criticisms. Some of theorists argued that Porters Five Forces framework is lack of rigorous since it is based on Industrial Organisation (IO) economic perspective and in reality, the strength of the forces may differ from business to business. (Campbell D., Stonehouse G., Houston B., 2002). The prediction of industry attractiveness based on the five forces is unclear and lack of trustworthy. To judge whether Porters five forces framework is useful to predict the industry potential profitability, this report will applying this model into soft drink and airline industry. 2.0 The Values of Porters Five Force Framework Porter Five Forces framework was derived from Structure-Conduct-Performance (SCP) paradigm of IO which concerned on the industry structure was influence by conduct and performance of organizations. (Jenkins M., Ambrosini V., Collier N., 2007). Insight into organization heterogeneity in terms of market attractiveness evaluations and understanding of market entry enable them to make better decisions and prevent from potential loss or go into liquidation. (Dixit A, K. Chintagunta P., 2007). Michael Porter indicated that the industry structure grows out of a set of economic and industrial characteristics that bring out the strength of each competitive force and the forces are threat of new entrants, threat of substitute, the rivalry among existing competitors, the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers. (M. Grant R., 2008). The strength of the five competitive forces can determines the long-run profit potential of an industry by how much of economic value retained by companies in the i ndustry versus bargained away by customers and suppliers, threaten by substitutes or forced by new entrants. (E. Porter M., 2008). The stronger of these forces, the more limited the organizations ability to set higher price and earn greater profits. The low forces, in contrast, become an opportunity for organizations to generate strategies. (L. Wheelen T., D. Hunger J., 2006). In order words, this framework suggested the source of organizational profits is market positions, and the positions protected by barriers to entry into the market. (Jenkins M., Ambrosini V., Collier N., 2007). Many strategic analysis tools formed based on the industrial perspective as Porters five forces did, for instance the PESTEL analysis is the useful environment scanning tool that examine the external factors influence an organization. Game theory, which founded by Von Neumann and Morgenstern (1944) contends that the rivalry among competitors is interdependent, but the issue is generally concerned with a firms external environment. (M. Grant R., 1998) 3.0 Five Forces of Soft drink industry 3.1 Rivalry amongst competitors Porter described the rivalry amongst existing competitors is jockeying for position, where they compete in the form of products price, products innovation and differentiation, advertising and promotion as well as after-sales services slugfests for purpose of scramble for market share and earn superior profits. The degree of rivalry in an industry is determined by several variables; they are the degree of competitors concentration, the level of rivalry, products differentiation, the industry growth rate and exit barrier. (G. H. Richard., 1983) Soft drink industry considered a consolidated industry, where the industry is leading by few large companies, such as Coca-cola, Pepsi-cola and Cadbury Schweppes. These companies who seize large proportion of market share had earned superior profit. In order to gain competitive advantage from competitors, Coca-cola and Pepsi-cola have spent large investment in advertising and promotion to build strong brand identify among consumers and become a barrier for new entrants. Coca-cola build customer loyalty by it unique coke recipe while Pepsi-cola serving different soft drink to capture market share of Coca-cola. The unique recipe of soft drinks had gained many loyal customers which uneasily duplicate by competitors. In the position of market leader, they can determine the price of soft drink and thus avoid price war. (M. Grant R., 2008) According to Agarwal and Gort (1996), the late entrants have relatively lower survival rates because the exit barrier is formed in competitive intensify. (Dixit A, K. Chintagunta P., 2007) The exit barrier in soft drink industry is significant because firms require large capital investment to achieve economic of scale in order to compete with strong competitors. Yet, according to the average return on invested capital (ROIC) of US industries, the profitability of soft drink industry increase consistently indicates that the market value of soft drink tends to grow in future. (Kindly refer to Appendix V). 3.2 Threat of Entry A high barrier to entry benefits the existing players in an industry because the competition is stable and established companies can take advantage of this opportunity to raise prices and generates favorable returns. The established companies who run a larger production may benefit from economic of scales and create barrier to the new comer. Others, the government regulation can also be a barrier to entry. (Johnson G., Scholes K., Whittington R., 2008) The barrier to entry can be created by existing companies by build strong brand loyalty. Although there is no significant restriction from government towards soft drink business, the efforts of Coca-cola and Pepsi-Cola to built brand loyalty have significantly threatened new companies to enter the business. (Kolter p., Armstrong G., 2008). Further, when the new companies intend to enter the market, both companies have take retaliate action by cut down the prices and forcing the new entrant to curtail expansion plans. (M. Grant R., 2008). Since the barrier to entry is high based on strong market leaders, the industry is considered attractive. 3.3 Threat of Substitute When the use of product can be wholly substitute by products out of the industry, customers will switch to substitute if the price of the product goes up. To the extent that switching costs are low, substitutes may have significant impact on the profitability of an industry. (L. Wheelen T., D. Hunger J., 2006) Through industry innovation, incumbents are struggling to produce diversity beverages to satisfy different consumers taste. The soft drink seems gradually substituted by carbonated beverage. In responding to the competition of substitute, Coca-cola expanded its business through alliance and acquisitions like Coke-Nestea and Coke -Minute Maid. Meanwhile, Pepsi-cola diversify their products flavor such as Pepsi with orange juice. (Meghan E., Deichert M, Ellenbecker M, Klehr E., Pesarchick L., Ziegler K., 2006). Yet, Coca-cola had builds extremely strong customers loyalty in the flavor of Coke since the early 1960s, there are no visible beverages can substitute Coke and it has been the top-selling soft drink over centuries. (Coca-cola, 2010). Briefly, substitutes become less of a threat because of the concentrated manufacturers effort in diversification. 3.4 Bargaining Power of Buyers Buyer power is determined by switching costs, the relative volume of purchases, the standardization of the product, brand identity, and quality of service. (Thompson J., Martin F., 2005) Companies are not merely selling their products to consumers, but large proportions of products are distributed to retailers such as supermarkets. Coca-cola and Pepsi-cola mainly distributed their soft drink products to supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury. Although these retailers purchase soft drinks in large quantity, they do not have much bargaining power because they need different kind of soft drink products to generate consumer traffic, especially the popular brand name like Coke and Pepsi. Vending, basically deals with fixed price, was the most profitable channel for the soft drink industry. With no buyers to bargain, Coke and Pepsi bottlers could sell directly to consumers through machines owned by bottlers. (Meghan E., Deichert M, Ellenbecker M, Klehr E., Pesarchick L., Ziegler K., 2006). Therefore, the position of buyers in soft drink industry is weak because companies are not heavily relied on single distribution channel, but other route like vending machine or fast f ood chain. (Soft drink Industry, 2010) 3.5 Bargaining Power of Supplier The suppliers are powerful if they are in the position of well brand name, less competitors and high product differentiated. (Mike W. Peng, 2006). The main inputs of soft drink making are sugar and packaging. Sugar can be obtain from many sources and if the price of sugar increase, soft drink manufacturers can alternatively switch to corn syrup, as happened in the early 1980s. Thus, suppliers of nutritive sweeteners do not have much bargaining power to soft drink manufacturers. In contrary, they need to built long term relationship with soft drink manufacturers to make long-run profit in the business, for example, Monsanto signed long term Nutrasweet sweetener supply contracts with Coca-cola. (M. Grant R., 2008) Soft drink packaged by aluminum can and bottle. The manufacturers of aluminum can and bottle are almost similar and therefore they engaged in price competition to survive in the industry. With more competitors vying for supply contract with large soft drink manufacturers, soft drink manufacturers are able to negotiate extremely favorable price and thus suppliers bargaining power is relatively weak. (Meghan E., Deichert M, Ellenbecker M, Klehr E., Pesarchick L., Ziegler K., 2006) 3.6 Summary on Five Forces of Soft Drink Industry Overall, in soft drink industry, the rivalry is moderate since the concentrated producers had avoided significant price competition. The industry is considered attractive because high entry barrier prevent new entrant from fragment profits, there is no visible substitute and the bargaining power of suppliers and buyers are relatively weak. Cott Corporation is a good example who earned favorable profits in this industry. Cott recognized the unique Coke taste to the mind of consumers thus established its private-label cola called RC Cola and successfully taking 5.5 percent shares of U.S. soft drink market in year 2005. (M. Grant R., 2008). Cott Corporation has proved that Porters five force framework is useful to predict industry profitability, which in accordance with the SCP concept of Porter. 4.0 Debates and critiques on Porters Five Forces Framework As outlined that Porters Five Forces Model was derived from industry perspective and it is therefore expected that the model is limited when applied at the firm level. In the early eighties, strategic management was much dominated by IO perspective, where the organizations performance is contingent on its external environment and thus loses the sight of organizational perspective. (Jenkins M., Ambrosini V., Collier N., 2007) The resource-based view, in contrast, examines the link between the internal characteristics of an organization and organizations performance. (Campbell D., Stonehouse G., Houston B., 2002) It highlights the core competency of an organization are the main sources of sustainable competitive advantage. (Kotenlnikov V.). Hamel and Prahalad (1994) explained that core competence does not appear on balance sheet, distribution channel or even brand and patent, but an aptitude to manage them may be one. Correspondingly, Penrose (1959) argued that a firm is a collection of resources and that a firms performance depends on its ability to use them. (Jenkins M., Ambrosini V., Collier N., 2007). In addition to the industry competition structure, resource-based approach examine deeply into the skills and competences of each competitor, the design of value-adding activities, the technologies employed and strategic groupings. The strategic analysis model like value-chain and SWOT analysis are contri butions of resource-based view which provide a greater understanding of organizations core competences and enable organization well manage their resources and capacities to formulate appropriate strategies. (E. Spanos Y., Lioukas S., 2001). Baden-Fuller C. and Stopford J. (1992) said that it is not industry matter, but the firm itself, as happened in airline industry. (De Wit B., Meyer R., 2005) 5.0 The Five Forces of Airline Industry 5.1 Rivalry amongst competitors The intense rivalry in airline industry caused by undifferentiating products and services, for instance, most of them were using similar aircraft like Airbus A320 family. (Shawn S., 2004)To be the ideal choice of customers, airlines had competing in fare price and their on-board products and service. They struggle to enhance their frequencies and timing of flight to avoid their competitors a frequency advantage. The barrier to exit is one of the significant factors that result fierce rivalry. The capital investments are a large sum and it is difficult to dispose the assets suppose the carriers are suffering in loss. Trans World Airline is the example of company who can remain competitors for three more years before gone into liquidation. (Ridderbusch K., 2006) The reason of high fixed costs significant influence the profitability of industry, like revealed in Appendix V, the ROIC of airline industry is slightly five percent and therefore the industrys growth rate is slow. 5.2 Threat of Entry The main entry barriers of airline industry are capital requirement and retaliation from established airlines. To establish an air transport business is a huge investment, including the expensive assets of airplane and safety facilities. This barrier had been reduce by bank institutions who encourage airline carriers by extend credit. (Vecchio J.D., 2000) There is not significant entry control in international airline industry such as US and Europe, but airport slot can be a barrier to entry. The condition of congested slot in hub airport has makes it difficult for new entrant to gain access to attractively-time slot. However, the congested slot issue has benefits the existing airlines. (Shawn S., 2004). Incumbents enlarge their business by hub system and thus they could serve more cities from their hubs and offer greater frequency flight to satisfy different customers need. (Vecchio J.D., 2000) 5.3 Threat of Substitute Apart from oversea reason, people tend to choose rail transport although they can reach destination in shortest time by air transport. Railway became a good substitute of airway as it provide city centre to city centre travel which makes convenience to consumers and its fare price is always cheaper that airlines. The market of airlines became worse when the development of rail transit. Through constantly innovation and development in railway industry, people today can choose long haul rail transit to reach destination in short time, as air transport did. (Shawn S., 2004) 5.4 Bargaining Power of Buyer Airline offers transportation service to two groups which are travel agents and consumers. Traditionally, travel agency system is overwhelming because it is the main distribution channel for airline. The airlines who much depends on travel agents forced to reduce fare price to keep long-term relationship that able to sustain competitive advantage in the market. The available of internet benefits consumers as they can access to the fare price and compare with each other. Many customers choosing airline travel because they can reach destination in short time, thus they always find for price discrepancy of the same exact flight. Considered airline travel is relatively luxurious trip, the fall in fare price would significantly increase the demand, especially those plans for a family vacation. Since the trend of demand is elastic, customers switching from each other is visible suppose the market fall into price war. (Vecchio J.D., 2000) 5.5 Bargaining Power of Suppliers The suppliers in airline industry are concentrated producers such as Boeing and Airbus. These suppliers became a threat to airlines because they provide high quality airplanes and pilot training services. (Johnson G., Scholes K., Whittington R., 2008) The power of supplier can determine by labor union. Industries which depend massive on employees are low profitability because the more skill people the more they need to pay. Aviation industry required high talent people such as pilots and have a high percentage of employees unionized and it is therefore less profitability. (M. Grant R., 2008) 5.6 Summary on Five Forces Analysis of Airline industry Through exploring five forces, airline industry is easy to entry but hard to exit, threaten by powerful supplier and buyer as well as substitute, and the rivalry is intensified. Therefore airline industry is extremely unattractiveness and all organizations stuck in the industry and are likely to suffer. In reality, however, Ryanair has survived and successfully seize significant market share in Europe. (Mike W. Peng, 2006) The key success of Ryanair is its concept of no-frills, low fares and hassle-free which effectively take cost advantage and perform better punctuality than competitors. However these strategies are zero without the effective management team and good employees performance. Ryanair implemented a third year of pay freeze to achieve cost saving however satisfy its cabin crew by maximize their time off. Despite lowest fares price, Ryanair continues maintain a safe and reliable air travel to meet customers need. (Ryanair, 2010) The successful of Ryanair in such an unattr activeness industry are its peoples competencies that make sustainable competitive advantage, as suggested by Hamel and Prahalad. 7.0 Other Limitations 7.1 Hyper competition Another critique is that competition is a dynamic process of rivalry that constantly reformulates industry structure. Joseph Schumpeter viewed competition is the dynamic forces of innovations which continuously restructure industry and tends to unstable. (M. Grant R., 1998, 2008). Since it is based on the industrial perspective in the eighties, the five forces model is ineffective to predict competition and profitability if the industry structural transformation is rapid like High-tech industries. (Recklies D., 2001). Todays IT and software industry are continuous being revolutionized by innovation. Organizations struggle to gain competitive advantage comes from an up -to-date knowledge of environmental trends and competitive activity tied with a willingness to risk a current advantage for a possible new advantage. This fast growing market structure indicates that is difficult to master the market trends and it is therefore limited for Porters five forces to predict the attractivenes s of the industry. (L. Wheelen T., D. Hunger J., 2006) 7.2 The Complement as an important force Traditionally, Porter contends that the industrys attractiveness is driving by the potential suppliers of substitute good and service. This force is doubtful that as the presence of substitute reduce the value of the products, complements value will increase. Andrew Grove, the former CEO of Intel suggests complements should be added into Porters forces framework because it contributes visible impact, like the available of software add value to hardware. Yet, apart from IT industry, complements influence the competitiveness in other industries, for example the value of water heater increase if consumers access to gas supplier and service. Given the characteristic of complements is crucial to most products, the analysis of competition environment should take them into account. Organizations should reduce the bargaining power of complement suppliers in order to stimulate the demand of the products, like the strategy took by Nintendo. Nintendo controls the operation of games software pro ducers by provides developer licenses and through development of games software successful augments the demand for Nintendo video game console. (M. Grant R., 2008) 8.0 Conclusion and Recommendation Generally, Porters five forces are lack of rigorous and limited by its industrial perspective. In the case of Cotts triumphant in soft drink industry is not merely the commercial market, but much depend on its intrinsic management who wisely distribute its product in grocery channel which saving cost in term of no advertising and promotion. Cott popular with affordable soft drinks and their revenues increase dramatically through the growing of grocery retailers like Wal-Mart. (Cott, 2010). Therefore, Porters five forces seem lack of reliability relative to resource based analysis model. However, as Barney and Zajac (1994) said, the examination of strategy implementation skills (i.e., resources and capabilities) cannot be understood independently of strategy content and the competitive environment within which the firm operates. (E. Spanos Y., Lioukas S., 2001). In conclusion, managers should conduct the strategic analysis not simply based on Porters five forces, but examining in combination with other intrinsic perspective strategic analysis tool like SWOT analysis. SWOT model emphasized the elements of Strength-Weakness of an organization in addition to the Opportunities-Threats from external source. Furthermore, managers may apply PESTEL framework to supply the lack of Porters five forces model. (Trundy G., 2006). PESTEL framework emphasize the important elements of Politic, Economic, Social, Technology, Environmental and Legal to carry out a deeper external environment scanning that may influence organizations performance in the market.

Myra Hindley :: essays research papers

A sadistic temptress, the aid and probable prompt of an evil and cold blooded killer. Or a 'political prisoner being used as a scapegoat by politicians and the media'? This is a very sensitive subject and people often respond with fear and anxiety when we decide to examine things like the Moors murders. We are told that our curiosity is 'unhealthy', and that wanting to know,or openly debate about a matter which is 'naturally' closed, can only be the desire of a sick mind. We are encouraged to turn a blind eye and leave well alone. It is obvious to me that to wish to examine something is not to condone it. Yet when somebody tries to ask questions about taboo subjects today, they are assumed to be sympathetic to the subject, maybe even a little deranged, and certainly suspect. They become an outcast, and this coming adrift from the herd is also something which many fear. Many say better to be seen to be part of the lynch-mob than to become its quarry but these are the people who don't have the strength of character to even attempt to be the quarry. During their trial, neither Hindley nor Brady showed remorse. Both were sentenced to life. They are still in prison at this time. The judge has stated that she will indeed spend the rest of her days in prison with no chance of ever being paroled, so why does she still argue against the judges decision ? A lot of pressure is put on Governments to keep Hidley inside and whether or not she is to be released is now often stated in party political statements prior to elections, as it is feared that the overriding pubic opinion could win or lose elections. On November the twenty - first supporters of Hindley called for a review of sentencing procedures after Jack Straw reaffirmed the decision of his predecessor, Michael Howard, of never releasing Hindley from prison. The ruling came under immediate attack from penal reformers and civil liberties campaigners. Myra Hindley is still petitioning for her release On October the seventh, 1998 Hindley concluded a hearing at the Court of Appeal trying to overrule her "whole-life tariff." In her new attempt at overturning her life sentence and win the right to a parole hearing, Hindley claimed that she can prove that she took part in the Moors murders only because Brady abused her, and threatened to kill her mother, grandmother and younger sister if she did not comply with his wishes.

john curtin :: essays research papers

Regarded by many as one of Australia’s greatest Prime Ministers, John Curtin assumed office just six weeks before the bombing of Pearl Harbor and led Australia through the darkest hours of World War II. No prime minister has had a more profound effect on Australia and no man has given more in the service of his office. Curtin was born in the Victorian mining town of Creswick on January 8, 1885. His parents were Irish immigrants. His father worked first as a policeman, then as a publican, and the family moved frequently from town to town. His much interrupted education ended when he left school at 14 and began to supplement the family income–as a printer's apprentice, a labourer, a clerk, and a newspaper copyboy which as you can see lead him to champion rights of lower society. Curtin’s interest in social issues and the plight of the working class led him to become actively involved in the labour movement and he joined the Victorian Socialist Party in 1906. He soon became known as an eloquent and inspiring speaker and this ability enabled him to unite the people of Australia in a way unprecedented then and unsurpassed since. John Curtin was just beginning his working life as Australia became a Federated nation. Despite moving away from his Irish Catholic background, he was evidently influenced by it and by the poverty of his upbringing to realise that Australia was not an equal society, and that the major task of a national government was to govern for the good of all the people. In 1917 he moved to Perth as editor of the â€Å"Westralian Worker†. While living in Western Australia, he developed a realisation that Federation disadvantaged some states. He believed that some of these weaknesses occurred because the Constitution had not been followed closely enough. He never lost his faith in the spirit and intention of Federation .He first entered politics in 1928 as the Member for Fremantle in the House of Representatives, but his term was cut short when Labor was defeated in 1931 and he lost his seat. However, one year after re-entering parliament in 1934, he was elected parliamentary leader and when the Fadden government collapsed, Curtin became Prime Minister in October, 1941 He had a remarkable grasp of economics, and in four years his government overhauled the national economy, creating full employment in the process. He and his cabinet made a number of other revolutionary changes in the fabric of Australian life, particularly in the liberalisation of social welfare and immigration policies .

Abortion - Views from Both Sides Essay -- Social Issues

Abortion - Views from Both Sides Abortion is the ending of pregnancy before birth and is morally wrong. An abortion results in the death of an embryo or a fetus. Abortion destroys the lives of helpless, innocent children and is illegal in many countries. By aborting these unborn infants, humans are hurting themselves; they are not allowing themselves to meet these new identities and unique personalities. Abortion is very simply wrong. Everyone is raised knowing the difference between right and wrong. Murder is wrong so why isn’t abortion? People argue that it is not murder since the fetus being destroyed is not living, breathing and moving. Why is it that if an infant is destroyed a month before the birth, there is no problem, but if killed a month after birth, this is inhumane murder? The main purpose abortions are immoral is how they are so viciously done. Everyday, innocent, harmless fetuses that could soon be laughing children are being brutally destroyed. One form of abortion is to cut the fetus into pieces with serrated forceps before being removed, piece by piece from the uterus by suction with a vacuum aspirator. Another form consists of bringing the fetus feet first into the birth canal, puncturing its skull with a sharp instrument and sucking out the brain tissue. The body parts, such as the head, are given letters, rather than refer to the parts as what they are. In my opinion this is for the doctors who cannot face the reality of what they are doing. The re...

Family Reunion Essay

Have you ever been to or prepared a family reunion? It’s a great time for fun, food fellowship, reminiscing and also a big supplier for T-shirts. Many family celebrations are celebrated different from the way they’re celebrated on television. I attended my first family reunion when I was twelve years old, it was no ordinary family reunion; it involved my immediately family and also extended family, and lasted overnight. It was an overall fun experience and it brought me closer to my family and other unknown relatives. A family reunion on television is prepared and organized, unlike a family reunion in reality where it is sometimes unorganized. For example, a family reunion on television shows organization because they make sure everything is planned and there is no confusion such as what is going on each day of the weekend and no mix-ups or changes made and every family member has an invitation. â€Å"A family that prays together stays together†, is something my grandmother Medea would always say. I will be describing about the family reunion which brought my family and I closer together. Sadly, not all people, especially teenagers appreciate their family, getting acquainted night was our first gathering I did not realize how many family members I had, and I was very overwhelmed at first. I was reluctant to be involved and stayed close to my immediate family I honestly did not want to be where I was and also felt awkward after some time. I started liking it when we got a bit more involved in the activities, we played icebreaker games and there were a few speeches giving. The night turned out pretty fun and the family picnic was probably the most fun part of the reunion. After experiencing a gist of the reunion the night before I was ready to be more involved and reached out I got to know family members who I did not know. After a day it was as if I knew them my whole life this part of the reunion was probably the most active games were held again, and it was all laughs and good times. The family banquet was a formal event my Aunt Ariel was hosting and it closed the family reunion. The whole family gathered at the formal banquet where closing remarks were made and we spoke about the good time we had during the activities. The family reunion was concluded that we should do something like this more often, after this whole time, grandmother Medea, who was one of the older members in the family reiterated the importance of the family. Due to all the games and activities I did not realize that this reunion actually served a deeper purpose for me and it was just a very fun event. However, after much thought, I knew these words my grandmother spoke ‘’a family that prays together stays together’’ really had a lot of meaning behind them. By gathering all the members of our family, and joining together in prayer, meals and in good laughs a house that is divided cannot stand†, and family is a very important part of anyone’s life. Family is worth fighting for, also worth doing whatever it takes to see them more often or on regular basis.

Domestic Violence Against Women Essay

Various types of relationships exist between men and women. The status of women has endured a constant change; thus changing the way they are perceived by others in relationships. Despite numerous healthy relationships experienced, there are those which have negative consequences to those involved; one such relationship is that regarding domestic violence. The term domestic violence according to Walker and Gavin refers to â€Å"an intimate relationship between two adults in which one partner uses a pattern of assault and intimidating acts to assert power and control over the other partner† (Walker & Gavin, 2011). Within the context of this paper, domestic violence will refer to violent relationships between men and women where it is the women who are victimized. The purpose of this paper is tri-fold: (1) to address the development of domestic violence; and (2) to examine various attitudes regarding domestic violence; and (3) to discuss ways in which society is dealing with the issue of domestic violence. Emergence and Development According to feminists, strong patriarchal values held within a society are linked with increased risk of harm towards women (Watto, 2009, p. 561). Patriarchy exists in most societies worldwide (Watto, 2009, p. 563). The term patriarchy refers to the father having full authority of his family (Romito, 2008, p. 30). Within society’s retaining this belief system, the wife and children are the father’s property (Romito, 2008, p. 146). Many findings have developed according to Totten. He found: 1) labor divided by sexual division to be normal; 2) men are to conquer women as sexual objects; 3) abusive behavior is a justified means for resolving conflict and 4) women should respect, obey and depend on men (Totten, 2003, p. ). Thus, one can conclude that family violence is linked to the ideology of patriarchy (Duffy & Momirov, 1997, p. 123). As well, it is important to note that we live in a society which religion is prevalent, the church agrees with patriarchy (L. Walker, personal communication, October 3rd, 2011). Duffy & Momiov (1997) state: Their histories are united in the longstanding moral obligation of men, as com manded by the Church, to ensure that their wives and children behave themselves properly. Male violence may be legitimately employed to ensure such behavior. It is the patriarch’s Christian duty to â€Å"save their souls† (p. 123). Furthermore, considering society and the church agreed with the ideology of patriarchy, one can conclude that domestic violence was a private issue and was unheard or spoken of. The division of labor which has strong historical roots in society contributes to women being victimized. During the Industrial Revolution, men were seen as responsible for making the wage to support the family and the women was responsible for her role in the home as housekeeper and mother (Hutchings, 1992). Unfortunately, according to Hutchings (1992), a man may seek to have more power by abusing his wife if he feels as though he is lacking employment in his occupation. It is the male’s financial contributions into his home that gives him the opportunity to abuse his wife (Hutchings, 1992). Contributing Factors Leading to Domestic Violence as an Issue Domestic violence against women would never have become an issue if it wasn’t for the development of feminism (Duffy & Momirov, 1997, p. 23). Feminism is divided into different waves. The two waves which had a connection to the development of an issue of violence against women were one and two. It was prior to the development of the second wave of feminism, that domestic violence against women was thought to be a private issue that did not warrant a concern from the public (Blanchfield, Margesson, & Seelke, 2009, pg 1). The first wave occurred in Britain during the years of 1870-1930, it was concerned with women’s citizen rights and the right to vote; this wave lead to women gaining these rights (Charles, 2000, p. 22). Within this wave, women were concerned with being granted the vote (Crow & Gotell, 2009, p. 9). The second wave of feminism emerged in North American and Western Europe during the 1960’s and focused on women’s liberation (Charles, 2000, p. 1). During this wave, the feminists came to believe that the state had the ability to demolish policies which affected women thus granting them certain rights (Charles, 2000, p. 5). Goals of the second wave were highlighted by Charles and deal with women raising domestic violence as an issue. He states: During the 1970s, the movement formulated seven demands. These were for equal pay; equal education and job opportunities; free contraception and abortion on demand; free 24-hour urseries; financial and legal independence; an end to all discrimination against lesbians and a woman’s right to define her own sexuality; freedom from intimidation by threat or use of violence or sexual coercion, regardless of marital status, and an end to all laws, assumptions and institutions which perpetuate male dominance and men’s aggression towards women (Charles, 2000, p. 1). Successes were gained from the development of feminism. Male privilege was partially removed with the success of the feminist movements (Crow & Gotell, 2009, p. 59). Women’s opportunities increased in relation to jobs, benefits, education, independence and affluence (Crow & Gotell, 2009, p. 173). Due to women’s gain of independence, they raised their expectations of men and were more unwilling to excuse unacceptable male behavior (Crow & Gotell, 2009, p. 173). With the changing of expectations held by women, domestic assault and rape laws were changes and policies which banned harassment in the workplace were created and made common (Crow & Gotell, 2009, p. 59). Addressing the Issue The 1960’s give rise to the battered women’s movement (Schneider, 1991). Prior to the development of women’s movement, battering of women was not recognized (Schneider, 1991). This movement viewed battering as a result of gender relations which reflected female subordination and male power (Schneider, 1991). This movement strived to decrease the silence surrounding the issue of abused women and decrease society’s tolerance of the acts (Crow & Gotell, 2009, p. 170). Furthermore, this movement has provided public education to increase awareness, services to those involved and constructed legal remedies to address and stop the abuse (Schneider, 1991). Due to the increased awareness of abuse against women, the Government of Canada has made an effort to decrease the occurrence. During May of 1981, the London Police were the first Canadian police department to implement laying charges regarding spousal assault (Department of Justice, 2009). According to the Department of Justice (2009), In May 1982, the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Health, Welfare and Social Affairs tabled its report, Report on Violence in the Family—Wife Battering. In it, the committee noted that police training (at that time) generally instructed against the arrest of a batterer unless he was actually found hitting the victim or unless the victim had suffered injuries that were â€Å"severe enough to require a certain number of stitches. During July of 1982, the House of Commons suggested that Parliament push all police to lay charges for acts of wife beating considering they lay charges for other forms of assault (Department of Justice, 2009). It was also suggested in 1983 by the Federal Provincial Task Force on Justice for Victims of Crime that there be written guidelines developed to direct officers to treat wife assault as a crime and that the act of prosecution be made without the woman’s consent (Department of Justice, 2009). Guidelines were issued to Crown prosecutors and police as to how to deal with spousal abuse by 1986 from the Attorneys General and Solicitors General (Department of Justice, 2009). These guidelines required police to file charges if they had reasonable grounds to believe the women had been assaulted (Department of Justice, 2009). The Government of Canada has been making adjustments to current bills. Bill C-15 was reintroduced in March of 2001 with the proposal of increasing the sentence of criminal harassment to ten years from the previous five year sentence (Department of Justice, 2009). Bill C-79 had been amended in December of 1999, to facilitate victim’s participation as well as that of the witnesses during the process of criminal justice (Department of Justice, 2009). For example, before the accused can be released on bail, the safety of the victim must be taken into account (Department of Justice, 2009). Bill C-27 was reformed and enforced in May of 1997; it redefined the definition of criminal harassment (Department of Justice, 2009). During a sentencing of the accused, Bill C-27 also requires that the courts take breaching of court orders into consideration (Department of Justice, 2009). Bill C-41 which discusses sentencing was amended in 1996; thus allowing women to seek compensation for expenses accumulated from the needing to leave their house due to the abuse. (Department of Justice, 2009). Bill C-42 was reinforced during February of 1995; thus making it easier for victims to receive peace bonds. Individuals and the police are now able to request a peace bond on a victim’s behalf who is at risk of harm (Department of Justice, 2009). The penalty for violating a peace bond has been raised from half a year to two years (Department of Justice, 2009). The final bill reformed was Bill C-126 which created a new charge of criminal harassment known as anti-stalking (Department of Justice, 2009). Shelter programs have been a way of society trying to help women of domestic violence (Koss, White & Kazdin, 2011, p. 185). These programs have advanced a lot since they were introduced. Early shelters were only able to offer temporary support in the form of beds (Koss, White & Kazdin, 2011, p. 185). Fortunately, shelter programs have advanced to offer more immediate services to the victims. Today, many of the programs offer emergency shelter, support groups, crisis lines which are open 24/7, counseling services, programs for children and advocacy for the victims (Koss, White & Kazdin, 2011, p. 185). Fortunately, shelters have educated victims on their rights and options, taught them about community resources, shown them additional safety strategies and given them hope for the future (Sullivan, O’Halloran & Lyon, 2008). First response teams are in place to provide safety to victimized women. The team usually consists of social workers and/or trained advocates who assist police officers during or shortly after domestic violence arrests occur (Koss, White & Kazdin, 2011, p. 185). These teams promote the message to abusers that legal consequences result from their harmful behavior and they also educate victims about resources and community services available (Koss, White & Kazdin, 2011, p. 185). Discussion There are many ways in which society suffers from domestic violence against women. Family relationships suffer severely when women endure these unhealthy relationships (Duffy & Momirov, 1997, p. 6). Family members are harmed as well (Duffy & Momirov, 19997, p. 6); for example: observing violence can affect the observer in a physical, mental, and/or emotional manner. Victims of the violence may feel humiliated (Duffy & Momirov, 1997, p. 6). One reason a victim may feel humiliated is that the abuser is a loved one for whom they trust (Duffy & Momirov, 1997, p. 6). The humiliation is usually experienced not only by the victim but also the accused but this may occur at differing times (Duffy & Momirov, 1997, p. ). The victim is likely to experience shame due to the belief that they are being attacked (Duffy & Momirov, 1997, p. 6). Considering society doesn’t want to experience negative emotions, the victims and/or accusers may try to avoid the feeling of shame thus leading to the possibility of them becoming violent (Duffy & Momirov, 1997, p. 6). The act of violence also affects those who witness it (Duffy & Momirov, 1997, p. 6). Those who have witnessed violence and then engage in relationships with others are likely to realize that their relationships are tainted (Duffy & Momirov, 1997, p. ). Due to these tainted relationships, institutions such as the police, the penal system, social services and the courts get involved with the issue to try and break the cycle (Duffy & Momirov, 19997, p. 6). Individuals fail to intervene in conflicts of domestic violence due to existent stereotypes. Many people still feel as though the issue is still a private matter, should only be dealt and discussed within the family and this it is a minor offence (Berry, 2000, p. 23). Unfortunately, people also believe they are helpless and cannot stop it issue from occurring (Berry, 2000, p. 3). Many people still believe that the issue is rare, thus they may train them self to believe it isn’t really occurring (Berry, 2000, p. 22). It is believed by some that women are naturally passive and men are to be inherently aggressive, therefore abuse is inevitable and part of human nature (Berry, 2000, p. 23). Some believe that the women provoke the violence through getting angry at the man, nagging, or speaking their minds; thus leading to the women deserving to be beaten (Berry, 2000, p. 22). Furthermore others believe it is a problem due to increased poverty or stress, thus making it limited to those of a lower class (Berry, 2000, 23). Despite the negative consequences women face in these abusive relationships with men, some choose to not seek help. Many women may feel as though they are forced to stay in these relationships to avoid becoming a lone mother living a life of poverty (Crow & Gotell, 2009, p. 85). One can understand why women may fear becoming victims of poverty because despite their wages increasing, they still earn far less than men (Crow & Gotell, 20009, p. 5). Walikhanna (2009) has many thoughts of why women stay: 1) women may keep the issue silent for the sake of their children 2) education or training may be lacking thus they are dependent on the man 3) they may believe the abuse is part of their fate or a way of living (p. 72). The women may fear the man will seek revenge (Department of Justice, 2009). Victims may live in isolated communities or face communication, cultural or language barriers (Department of Justice, 2009). Furthermore, these are but few of the reasons the issue is still prevalent thus the authorities are unable to intervene. Sometimes strategies engaged prove to be ineffective. During the beginning of an abusive relationship, the women usually employ various strategies to diminish the violence (Denmark, Rabinowitz & Sechzer, 2005, p. 398). They may call the police, seek the help of family members or the church, turn to their doctors or try to change their characteristics which the man criticizes (Denmark, Rabinowitz & Sechzer, 2005, p. 396). Unfortunately, they men will find other ways to criticize the women, the police may only diffuse the present situation, family members and/or the church may advise the women to do everything in the relationship to salvage their families and doctors may respond to the women with sleeping pills, antidepressants and tranquilizers (Denmark, Rabinowitz & Sechzer, 2005, p. 396). Future Outcome Despite all the changes society has implemented, more needs to be done to make this issue non-existent. Lots of cases in which the women are abused go unreported to police but fortunately the reported cases have increased (Department of Justice, 2009). Presently, the stigma once attached to women who admit to being victimized and seek help has declined (Berry, p. 22). Fortunately, as more stories make public awareness, their attitudes regarding the issue their attitudes are changing; they are becoming more aware of its detrimental effects as well as the negative consequences of not getting involved (Berry 1995). Community implemented programs attacking domestic violence has also seen amazing results (Berry, 1995, p. 27). The effectiveness of all future outreach programs depend on the communities attitudes (Sen, 1999, p. 37). It has been suggested that all money used to stop domestic violence has promoted the victim instead providing social solutions (Sen, 1999, p. 37). For Example: the accused are threatened with a jail sense instead of trying to change the man’s ideology which causes to seek power though the use of violence and intimidation (Sen, 1999, p. 37). Futhermore it has been thought that men who abuse women do not believe they are criminals; one study found that 80 percent of those accused has no previous contact with the law (Sen, 1999, p. 36). Unfortunately, recognizing an abuser is not easy (Walikhanna, 2009, p. 3), therefore one way of intervening in cases of domestic violence is being able to recognize the signs. Signs of a women being abused include: being anxious or afraid to please their man, doing everything he says, going along with what he does, women checking in with their partner often to report their actions, constant harassing telephone calls or the women discussing her partner as possessive, jealous or having a temper (Smith & Segal, 2011). Signs of physical use include: having frequent accidental injuries, constant absences without explanations, and wearing clothing which hides marks (Smith & Segal, 2011). Signs of isolation include: restrictions to see friends and family, limited access to credit cards, money or a vehicle and rarely being allowed in public without their partner. Furthermore, another type of abuse to observe for is psychological. Signs include: low self-esteem, depression, anxiousness, being suicidal and expression of drastic personality changes (Smith & Segal, 2011). Despite various signs to observe to identify abuse, it is important to note that these are only signs, just because an individual is experiencing a sign does not mean she is a victim of abuse. These signs are only listed to better help society identify victims. Conclusion This paper discussed the changing of domestic violence from that of a private issue to becoming a public issue. Various attitudes, beliefs and interventions were also discussed. Feminists believe society’s emphasis on patriarchal values is linked to women being victimized by men (Watto, 2009, p. 561). Victimization of women is shown through the division of labour. The emergence of feminism lead to domestic violence of women becoming recognized as an issue (Duffy & Momirov, 1997, p. 3). Feminism gained successes in relation to various issues. One of their great victory’s which had violence against women recognized as an issue arose from the battered women’s movement in the 1960’s (Schneider, 1991). Following increased awareness of the problem, the Government of Canada has implemented various interventions to try and rid the country of the problem. Not only are women victims in t his practice but so is society as a whole. Stereotypes are still present causing witnesses not to intervene. Some victims choose not to seek help despite the impact is has on them negatively. Unfortunately, there are victims who try to get help but are unsuccessful. Furthermore, despite all the progress made which deems this behavior unacceptable, it will continue to exist until more progress can be reached. In an effort to rid the future of the problem, emphasis needs to focus on society’s attitudes and beliefs as well as being able to recognize possible signs of abuse. Nevertheless, this will hopefully rid society of the issue and if not then hopefully make it one that is near non-existent.