Social networking phenomenon in e-business

Social networking phenomenon in e-business Abstract Nowadays the social networking with its gradual growth has affected the image that we have about the web dramatically. In the following paper some issues about social networking are discussed. In particular, a critical exploration of the social networking phenomenon is presented and an evaluation of the impact on e-commerce and e-business is discussed. Furthermore some possible applications that concern opportunities, benefits and risks are given. A synthesis of the above provides a summary of conclusions that can be drawn and recommendations that can be made as well. Introduction Everyday practice shows that Social Networks popularity is increased day by day. If facebook were country it would be the worlds 4th largest after China, India and USA having over 250.000 users. Many companies have realized this phenomenon and have already started to reform their marketing policy in order to benefit from the Social Networking growth. Many professionals from music artists to business enterprises advertise themselves in social networking web sites via uploading some of their new songs, images or videos. It is obvious that Social networking has a direct impact in e-business. In order to provide an evaluation of the social networking impact on e-business, we are starting our attempt from word-of-mouth marketplaces or overstock auctions or reputation systems. Reputation Systems like Amazon or e-bay is an online marketplace that augments traditional auctions with a social networking component (Christo Wilson 2008). Furthermore some social networks applications have several critical factors that we should consider (benefits, risks, opportunities). Our research demonstrates that the gradual growth of social networking has several benefits and several risks. In particular recent surveys have shown high levels of fraud in online markets (Bhattacharjee, Goe 2005). Some of the most important malicious aspect of social networking is ballot stuffing, bad mouthing and data theft which will be described in detail in the third sector of this paper. On the other side as it was previously mentioned social networking has several benefits. Customers have lost trust in traditional sales, marketing and service or Customer Relationship Management and this plays a pivotal role in increasing of positive impact of social networking in e-business. Many people have changed their buying culture and have orientated in online reputation systems such as e-bay and Amazon that have direct relation with social networking aspects. In a few words this paper provides an overview of the social networking phenomenon evaluates its direct impact in e-business and e-commerce and presents some opportunities benefits and risks that are included. Social networking as phenomenon Social Networking is a phenomenon that has affected the whole Web and many aspects of our lives dramatically. Social networking web sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Hi5, Friendster etc. provide the ability to their member/users to create their personal profiles where they can share some information, brief CVs or personal photos. Thus they have the ability to search for their old acquaintances or familiars. Furthermore they can upload or trade with other users photos, comments or videos. In fig.1 a profile sample is provided. Human beings used to create groups that consisted of people with whom they shared common interests. It was therefore expected that these networks will quickly transported to the online world. Social networks are created for many reasons and for different publics. Despite their differences the social networks are concerned with the following concepts: Profiles Each member creates and maintains an online profile that contains information regarding individual interests, skills or any part of his personal status. For example some people provide their CV in order to find a (new/better) job Connections -Social networks enable their members to keep connections with each other chat trade images, comments and in general keep in touch via the Web (Boyd, Ellison 2007). Even though the gradual growth of social networking is something recent it is not something new as a concept. Forums, chat rooms, blogs and creations of personal web sites (even though are not something new) are also functions regarding by social networking aspects. Several sites that contained the social networking element appeared in the start of new millennium. The gradual social networking expansion is a part of a wider online phenomenon named Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is a dynamic wide web platform in which several users are enabled to interact with each other without having specialized knowledge in computer systems or network issues. Evaluation of Social Networking impact on e-commerce and e-business The social networking phenomenon has undoubtedly a direct impact on e-business. Several benefits and risks could affect (negatively or positively) e-business. Some benefits could derive from contacts between professionals, ranging from finding the right expertise to identifying cross-organization sales opportunities. Whats more many professionals are eager to create an internal reputation, and to explore career prospects. Personal contacts between the workers could help job satisfaction and the maintenance and development of the local community could help in rapidly professionals resolution. Sharing of information and communication, a priority and challenge for many companies, could improve (Blackwell 2009). One more Social Networking aspect that should be considered in order to provide a deeper evaluation of the Social Networking impact in e-business is the one introduced Overstock in Auctions. Overstock Auctions is an e-commerce website that combines traditional auctions with a social networking component. However, samplings of user feedback shows that transactions between partners connected on the social network result in significantly higher user satisfaction. Official research also shows that Overstocks business ratings have big degree of accuracy, in that they have a strong correlation with user satisfaction after their transaction. According with official research it has investigated that a big percentage users of Overstock Auctions have friends common to both their business as well as personal networks. That means that we have the trust element that plays a pivotal role in marketing. Unfortunately, traditional marketing users are often unable to locate their desired merchandise in their social network. Edelman Trust Barometer mentioned that the most reliable information source about an enterprise is a person like me'. The survey relates that in the U.S., trust in a p erson like me increased from 20% in 2003 to 68% today. Thats why they prefer to buy any suggested product from a friend over a perfect stranger. Academic researchers have observed that 6% of users have 100% of their personal contacts involved in the business networks, which demonstrate that users have either only dealing with their social acquaintances, business partners or guests to participate in the personal network their friends (Wilson, Boe 2008). The next topic that we will discuss concern Word-of-mouth marketing. The companies that have only traditional marketing methods and not Social Network element are in crisis with low productivity and benefits as a result of TV and Radio advertisement saturation. On the other side companies like Amazon, Google and Hotmail succeed with virtually no marketing based solely on word of mouth. Word-of- mouth is the best predictor of business growth because it contains the trust element that plays pivotal role in e-business (Pedro Domingos 2005). Possible applications, opportunities, benefits and risks The following section provides some possible applications focusing on opportunities benefits and risks. Opportunities There are several opportunities of using social network applications such as sharing information and media with peers, finding an audience for creative works, helping young people keep in contact with peers or allowing young people to develop new contacts and friendships with each other. In businesses the importance of internal social software use is increased daily. Given that the next generation of employees will use the social software as the main medium of communication, the companies must bridge generation gaps and boundaries via the supporting of this communication method with its use in workplaces. Despite the difficulties the benefits are still huge. At first a high user percentage is directors or company representatives indicating that Social Networking Software has a wide range of potential customers or active users. Secondly by bringing this social software tool in the company, the relevant elements regarding the contacts, interests and activities of the workers are available and archive-able from the company by providing new resources and new abilities for human resources comprehension. In case these tools are not provided by the company the employees have the right to seek social software tools such as facebook etc. Benefits There are undoubtedly several possible business benefits of the gradual growth of social networking applications. At first within social network sites the employees are able to keep in touch with their colleagues. Unfortunately the percentage of distant colleagues and in general distant working relationships is increasing day by day. So it is obvious that we draw attention to the necessity of awareness increasing and contact between distant partners via the social network tools. Within several companies keeping touch and maintaining relationship in an organization is a critical factor for an successful career. Thus the social network tools help the companies to maintain or improve their productivity independently from their employees distance. Another beneficial social network application is the user support regarding the exploring and learning about the new employees and the team members. This endeavor makes the searching of colleagues with special skills or discovering of past experiences in activities that could be useful for new projects easier. Organization-based social networks could also help the professionals to approach work (or non work) issues of common interest something that improves the communication between people who interact for the first time (Joan Morris DiMicco 2007). Risks Social networking has several risks except from benefits such as bullying, abuse and exploitation of young people, too much time (distraction) spend on the computer / internet addiction, ballot stuffing or bad mouthing Ballot Stuffing A seller manages to make fake transactions via the positive ratings after collusion with other buyers. So Ballot Stuffing has as a result the inflating a sellers reputation.( Bhattacharjee, Goel, 2005) Bad Mouthing On the other hand a group of buyers may be conspiring (it could be after a collusion with a rival vendor) to deliberately give negative feedback to a particular vendor and hence less reputation. This is known as bad mouthing. ( Bhattacharjee, Goel, 2005) Malicious goals Some people tend to create fake profiles to bully, lie cheat and steal. Even though there are several benefits in communication via social network applications such as keeping touch and relationship management there is also always the potential to receive negative, insulting or unsuitable comments. In several interviews several social networking users mentioned that the rude culture of some users was a common disadvantage. There was only a small percentage that disagreed with the term disadvantage. Unlike in the real world according to the new users opinion the social network sites have not social limitations or boundaries. This means that users could behave in whatever way they want without limitations via posting rude or abusive messages. However in worst cases the rude culture of some users transact into malicious culture indicating that many users use fake profiles in order to insidiously steal data or money. I.e. A user might give his credit card password in order to buy something from an advantageous market. Thus a malicious user having the credit card password is enabled to steal money. (Davies, Cranston 2008). Distraction In an organization a social networking software installation should undoubtedly offer several benefits and tremendous power to factors regarding the productivity and profits. However Surveys have found that social networking may be a distraction to workers. In particular it was found that 8% of the work time (30 minutes in 8-hour work-time) concern with social non-working activities. I.e. even though sending of personal photos among employees could provide some indirect benefit to a company, it could also be a distracter for the employees with bad impacts to productivity and profits. Synthesis As it was mentioned Social Networking as concept is not something new. It is exist from the internet creation since 20 years. In fact Social networking is part of a wider Internet phenomenon named Web 2.0 indicating the recent Social Network event is its gradual growth due to Web 2.0 creation. Although companies are aware of the marketing and PR opportunities, using social networking software in a given company or organization is still in relatively early stage .Our main concern in this research paper is the emphasis on the need for transaction costs for a word-of-mouth system to work well and in order to avoid phenomenon such as ballot stuffing or bad mouthing . Not only is the transaction costs important for an word of mouth system to function well, the reputation of earned premiums to the seller should be associated with the transaction costs It should also be reported that not only enterprises but all of us have to protect ourselves from malicious users via permanent information. Conclusion Our study provided an overview regarding the Social Networking Phenomenon. It has also provided an evaluation of the impact of social Networking on e-business. In the stage of our evaluation we discuss about overstock Auctions. Overstock Auctions is a kind of an e-commerce website that makes a strong combination between traditional auctions and the social networking component. We have also discussed about reputation systems. The research has shown that Social Networking has both benefits and risks. Some of the risks that could be lurking are the excessive use of social network applications in workplaces, i.e the use of facebook in workplace from an employee for non business reasons. Other risks that are involved are ballot staffing and bad mouthing in reputation systems. Ballot stuffing is the creation of fake fame after collusion between the reputation System company and fake buyers. Unlike bad mouthing is the defamation of the reputation system company via fake unhappy customers .S ome benefits that could be shown are the improvement of customer support in a company. A complicated problem for a company could be solved by finding an expert or locate implicit knowledge via a social network application. In particular a questioner could contact via a Social Network Site with an expert who has solved a similar problem in the past and find a solution to their problem. This paper also provides the trust component that plays pivotal role in e-commerce. Customers have lost their trust to the traditional marketing methods. The social networks enables the customer to interact with a person like him in order to get the appropriate information for any product. Thus even though the majority of users perform few transactions with their virtual friends on social network, many sampling feedbacks showed that transactions between companies representatives and customers have increased the user satisfaction degree. Also a conclusion has been drawn that Overstocks business ratings are accurate, in that they have a strong correlation with user satisfaction after their transaction. Thus a valid conclusion would be that there exists a necessity of transaction costs for a well functioning reputation system References Bhattacharjee, R. Goel, A., 2005. Avoiding ballot stuffing in ebay-like reputation systems. In Proceedings of the 2005 ACM SIGCOMM workshop on Economics of peer-to-peer systems. p. 137. Blackwell, J. et al., 2009. Design and adoption of social collaboration software within businesses. In Proceedings of the 27th international conference extended abstracts on Human factors in computing systems. pp. 2759-2762. Boyd, d. m., Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, DiMicco, J. et al., 2008. Motivations for social networking at work. In Proceedings of the ACM 2008 conference on Computer supported cooperative work. pp. 711-720. DiMicco, J.M. Millen, D.R., 2007. Identity management: Multiple presentations of self in Facebook. In Proceedings of the 2007 international ACM conference on Supporting group work. pp. 383-386. Domingos, P., 2005. Mining social networks for viral marketing. IEEE Intelligent Systems, 20(1), 80-82. Goad, R and Mooney, T, The impact of Social Networking in the UK (Hitwise Experian, 2007), Swamynathan, G. et al., 2008. Do social networks improve e-commerce?: a study on social marketplaces. In Proceedings of the first workshop on Online social networks. pp. 1-6. Withers, K, Young People and Social Networking Sites: Briefing to guide policy responses Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR, 2007).

Major Functions Of The Skin

Major Functions Of The Skin The skin is the largest organ of the body. Measuring between 1.5 and 2.0 square metres in an adult, it forms an extensive contact area with the environment. This contact presents a variety of important challenges, which the skin must meet in order to protect the body. It also provides important opportunities, which the skin uses to maintain homeostasis. Consider the challenges and opportunities posed by contact with the environment and relate them to the major functions of the skin. The integumentary system, consisting of skin, hair and nails, act as a barrier to protect the body from the environment.   Some challenges and opportunities posed to the skin by the environments are; exposure to sunlight/UV Rays, bacteria, mechanical damage, chemical damage and thermal damage. The integumentary system acts as a barrier in three ways: a chemical barrier, a physical barrier and a biological barrier. The integumentary system works with the immune system to create a biological barrier. Specialized cells in the skin find and destroy foreign bacteria. A physical barrier consists of hard, keratinized cells in the nails, skin and hair. These cells especially in skin and nails help protect the internal organs and blood system from external environmental factors. Hair helps to minimalise insects from crawling on the skin, protect the scalp from physical trauma and regulate heat. A chemical barrier is also due to skin. The skin has sweat glands which secrete substances onto the skin that stop the reproduction of bacteria. The skin also produces melanin which acts to protect ultraviolet rays from the sun however despite melanins protective factors excessive sun exposure will eventually damage the skin. 2 Explain how the structures of the skin contribute to its functions. 35% 437.5 Answer The skin is the largest organ in the integumentary system and has 2 major components: the cutaneous membrane or skin and the accessory structures. The cutaneous membrane has 2 components: the epidermis and the dermis. The epidermis is the outer layer of the  skin and the dermis is a layer of  skin  between the  epidermis  and  subcutaneous tissues. The accessory structures consists of hair, nails and multicellular exocrine glands. The epidermis consists of 5 layers; the stratum basale, spinosum, granulosum, lucidum and corneum. The Stratum basale is the outer layer of skin, the  stratum spinosum  is a layer of the  epidermis  found between the  stratum granulosum  and  stratum basale.[1]   This layer helps to prevent dehydration, the  stratum granulosum  is the layer between the  stratum lucidum  and  stratum spinosum, the  stratum lucidum  is a thin, clear layer of dead skin cells. It is found only in areas of thick skin, most noticeably on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet and finally the  stratum corneum  is the outermost layer and is filled with keratin, which is made up of dead cells. The dermis is responsible for the strength of skin. Its main functions are to regulate temperature and to supply the epidermis with nutrient-saturated blood. Much of the bodys water supply is stored within the dermis.  The dermis contains most of the skins specialized cells and structures, including: Blood vessels, lymph vessels, hair  follicles, sweat glands, sebaceous, or oil, glands, nerve endings, collagen  and  elastin. The dermis layer is made up of two sublayers, the papillary layer, which contains a thin arrangement of collagen fibers. The papillary layer supplies nutrients to select layers of the epidermis and regulates temperature. The second is the reticular layer which is thicker and made of thick collagen fibers that are arranged in parallel to the surface of the skin. The reticular layer strengthens the skin, providing structure and elasticity. A layer of tissue that lies immediately below the dermis is the hypodermis or subcutaneous tissue. The hypodermis consists primarily of loose  connective tissue  and lobules of fat and acts as an energy reserve. It contains larger  blood vessels  and nerves  than those found in the dermis.  The hypodermis contains: elastic fibers, fibrous bands, fat, blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, hair follicle roots, nerves and muscle. The skin includes the following functions; protection, sensation, heat regulation, control of evaporation, storage and synthesis, absorption, water resistance. The structures of the skin all work together to maintain the important functions. 3 You are exercising on a hot day. Explain two ways in which the integumentary system acts to preserve homeostasis 20% 250 Answer Two ways in which the integumentary system acts to preserve homeostasis are sweating and vasodilation. Homeostasis is a term for your bodys ability to regulate your internal state, and sweating is an example of this. If your body  temperature gets too high, one of the homeostatic mechanisms used to bring your temp back to normal is sweating. Eccrine sweat glands are the major sweat glands of the human body, found in virtually all skin. Sweat is clear secretion that is primarily water and salt (sodium chloride). Sweat reaches the skin via a duct that opens externally as a funnel shaped pore. Eccrine sweat glands are a highly efficient part of the heat regulating system, they are supplied with nerve endings that cause them to secrete sweat when the bodys temperature gets too high. When sweat evaporates off the skins surface it takes body heat with it. On a hot day you could lose up to 7 litres of body water. Another way the integumentary system acts to preserve homeostasis is vasodilation. Blood vessels supplying blood to the skin can swell or dilate called vasodilation. This causes more heat to be carried by the blood to the skin, where it can be lost to the air however if the external environment is as hot as or hotter than the body the only way to release heat is through evaporation of perspiration. This is an efficient source of heat loss as long as the air is dry, if it is humid evaporation occurs at a much slower rate leaving the person hot and irritated. When the body cools down the hypothalamus through the autonomic nervous system tells the heat loss centre to switch off. 4 Indicate how ageing affects the skin and explain how these changes affect its normal function. 15% Answer As people age their epidermal cell replacement slows therefore the skin begins to thin resulting in an increase of bruising and other types of injury. The lubricating substances provided by the skin glands that provides young looking and soft skin start to become less efficient, resulting in dry itchy skin. Elastic fibers and collagen fibers become fewer and stiffer so the skin has much less elasticity resulting in wrinkles. The decrease in numbers of melanocytes and langerhans cells produced can enhance the risk of skin cancer in older age, especially if alot of ultraviolet rays are absorbed. UV rays are a major contribution to the rapidity of skins aging. Over time, the suns rays damage certain fibers in the skin called elastin. The breakdown of elastin fibers causes the skin to sag and take longer to heal. Ageing also affects things below the skin; loss of fat below the skin may result in loosening skin, bone loss after the age of 60 can cause puckering of the skin around the mouth, cartilage loss in the nose causes drooping of the nasal tip. Smokers also tend to have more wrinkles than non-smokers of the same age. Skin changes associated with ageing pose particular problems for nurses caring for elderly people. 5 Outline the nursing principles involved in skin care in the elderly. 15% Answer Elderly patients are prone to skin tears, ulcers, abrasions, irritation and infection especially if they are diabetic. If proper skin care is not adhered to, it can result in sores, dry/painful skin and even gangrene. When an elderly patient is bathing the temperature of the water should be warm rather than hot as elderly peoples skin does not contain as much oil as it once did, if all the oil is washed away, their skin is more susceptible to breaking, which can lead to infection. A mild soap should always be used as it is not harsh on their skin and helps prevent it from becoming dry. Due to the loss of natural oils in the skin, it is necessary to apply a moisturizing lotion after a bath and multiple times through the day. Using a moisturizer helps reduce the itchiness, and the likelihood of infection. It is not uncommon for some elderly patients to be confined to their bed 24 hours a day. This is when skin care is vital, especially if they are incontinent of bowel and bladder, washing and drying the area regularly can reduce the risk of a fungal infection forming. Elderly skin must be observed regularly to check for changes such as moles. MARK SHEET. Workbook 3 Integumentary system Question Marks out of 100 Marks Awarded 1st marker 2nd marker Agreed 1 15 2 35 3 20 4 15 5 15 Total 100 Final Agreed Mark Workbook 1 Workbook 2 Workbook 3 Final Percentage

Descartes to Kant: The Existence of God †A Very Brief History :: Philosophy, God

The subsequent essay will cover a short history of the existence of God from Renà © Descartes through Immanuel Kant. First, section (1), covers Descartes’ view on the existence of God. Following this, in (2), I consider G.W. Leibniz’s view and George Berkeley’s view is explored in (3). These first three philosophers undeniably believe God exists. The remainder of the essay covers three additional philosophers whose views on the existence of God are less certain. These philosophers include John Locke covered in section (4), David Hume in (5) and, lastly, Immanuel Kant in (6). (1) Holding strong Catholic beliefs, Descartes, without a doubt believed in the existence of God. Descartes makes this clear in the beginning of Meditations on First Philosophy. He writes that we must â€Å"believe in God’s existence because it is taught in the Holy Scriptures, and, conversely, that we must believe in the Holy Scriptures because they have come from God† (Descartes 1). Later, however, within the Third Meditation, Descartes considers the existence of God. In his search for absolute certainty, he initially writes, â€Å"I do not yet sufficiently know if there is even a God† (Descartes, 25). In other words, Descartes does not initially know if God exists with certainty. He then deliberates â€Å"whether there is a God† (25). Even though he questions God’s existence, Descartes still has an innate idea of God; a substance that is an â€Å"infinite, independent, supremely intelligent and supremely powerful† perfect being who cr eated everything (30). As a result, he concludes that because of his innate idea of God, (which was not conjured by Descartes of drawn from the senses), it must therefore be God who â€Å"is the cause of this idea† (25). Moreover, because Descartes exists with an idea of God, he concludes that God must also exist. He explicitly states this in the following: â€Å"I have no choice but to conclude that the mere fact of my existing is and of there being in me an idea of a most perfect being, that is God, demonstrates most evidently that God too exists† (34). Descartes then continues, suggesting that it is â€Å"highly plausible† that he is somehow made in the image and likeness of his creator (35). After this, Descartes continues the meditations basing many other things on the existence of God. But, in the Fifth Meditation, Descartes claims to provide a proof demonstrating the existence of God.

Voices of Protest :: essays research papers

Voices of Protest: The Politician and the Radio Priest   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alan Brinkley, the author of Voices of Protest, wrote about Huey Long and Father Coughlin who launched attacks on Roosevelt’s administration during the years of 1933 – 1935. This period of time was during the great depression. The book described in great length and detail about Huey Long and Father Coughlin, who were extremely influential politicians, and their opposition to the new society of big business and high technology. They felt that the owners of large companies such as Rockefeller, Carnegie and Pullman were to blame for the financial woes of the United States. Long and Coughlin were successful in taking their arguments and beliefs to the American people in the 1930’s.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Huey Long was an energetic, passionate young man at a very young age. In fact, at the age of twenty he stated he planned to run for election. He said, â€Å"first to secondary stated office Louisiana, then for governor, then for United States Senator, and finally for president.† He wrote in the New Orleans Item, â€Å"that about 65 or 70 percent of the entire wealth of the U.S. is owned by two percent of the people†¦wealth is fast concentrating in the hands of the few.† He had the combination of ambition, along with the love and compassion of the less fortunate Americans. He was known throughout Louisiana as â€Å"the kingfish† because of the power and influence he possessed, almost to the point of dictatorship. For several years he was in the limelight and news constantly, in part before of his very colorful and extravagant lifestyle. Even after his death, the people of Louisiana still supported him even though his life was the center of greed and controversy. During his term as Governor, he built hundreds of miles of paved highways, provided free textbooks, constructed bridges, built hospitals, schools and a major university, Louisiana State University or better known as â€Å"LSU.† He obtained his law degree from Tulane and age the age of twenty-one, he moved back to Louisiana to practice law. At the age of thirty-five, Huey Long was elected Governor of Louisiana. He did a couple of things that no governor had ever done before such as consolidating his personal power over all levels of state government and forcing through a program of progressive legislation, thus enabling him to fulfill his promise to the common people of the state.

An Indepth Look at HG Wells :: essays papers

An Indepth Look at HG Wells Herbert George Wells was born on September 21, 1866 in Bromley, England, the last of four children. His mother was a house cleaner and his father was a shopkeeper. When he was eight years old, he broke his leg, spent a lot of time reading, and discovered an intense interest in books. At the age of thirteen, his father was injured in an accident so Wells had to leave school and work for a draper. He hated this work and managed to change his employment by working for his uncle and becoming a part-time tutor. This gave him the opportunity to continue his studies in his free time. He finally won a scholarship to The Normal School of Science in London. He worked as a journalist while continuing his education. In 1891, he married his cousin Isabel. In 1894, he and Isabel were divorced and he then married one of his pupils. In 1895, Wells’ first major work was published- Select Conversations with an Uncle. His next book, The Time Machine, also published in 1895, started Wells on his road to success. This book was followed by The Island of Doctor Moreau, in 1896, The Invisible Man, in 1897, and War of the Worlds, in 1898.[1] H.G. Wells was one of the fathers of modern science fiction. He made his reputation as a writer through what he called â€Å"scientific romances†[2], a comment he made about his own science fiction in the 1930’s. However, he himself said that there were radical differences between his science fiction and that of Jules Verne. Wells said that his own work was â€Å"an exercise of the imagination†,[2] as in The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds. In these books he was not suggesting a serious possibility, just trying to imagine what might happen in a given situation.[2] Jules Verne, on the other hand, based his stories on scientific knowledge. He criticized Wells as basing his books on fantastic, not scientific, assumptions. Wells in some of his books, however, like The Island of Dr. Moreau, did deal with what he called â€Å"Fantasies of possibilities†.[2] Wells also considered himself a philosophical writer and urged that some of his books be taken seriously.

Kant and the Horseman in the Sky Essay

I believe that Immanuel Kant would see Carter Druse’s action of shooting his father as moral. Kant was an ethicist that believed that morality was based on duty, that ethics is absolute, not conditional, and is based on reason, not feelings. (Pojman, Vaughn 309) That is exactly the dilemma that Ambrose Bierce writes Carter Druse into in the short story A Horseman in the Sky. I feel there are several parts of the story that flip back and forth between being moral and not being moral or maybe the better words would be that it is ironic on many levels. The story begins with Carter Druse being referred to as a criminal for being asleep on his post: ‘The clump of laurel in which the criminal lay’ (Pojman, Vaughn 356) yet some may argue that a son shooting his father is immoral and criminal no matter in wartime or not. In keeping with Kantian thinking and philosphy, I think it is the perfect example of putting aside emotions and basing a decision soley on reason and duty. It’s ironic that the thing that ‘rouses him from his state of crime’ (Pojman, Vaughn 358) is the horse that his father is on. He hesitates to shoot the enemy soldier because of the beauty of the scene; the horse, the valley, and the sky. Carter Druse ponders if it is so terrible to kill the enemy during war. (Pojman, Vaughn 358) Kant felt that it was duty to the It is ironic that Carter Druse’s decision to not join the Legions with his father could be seen as a betrayal of duty to his father and to his Deontological ethicist which is based on duty.

Management problems

Management problem is one of the major issues that affected many industries in earlier days and even today. Problem usually comes up with time which at time can be severe. It appears in varying degrees of severity. Problem should be identified so that they can consequently be solved and this can make a difference in the world. Management problems can bring about down fall of an industry since management is the basis of good industrial growth.Thus why there are quite a number of management problems which were diverse in time prior to industrial revolution as compared to modern time. In today’s industrial management, management problems are not quite many due to upcoming technology which helps the managers to deal with these problems accordingly in regard to management.Industrial revolution changed people’s earlier ways of making various products such as weaving, making of hand tools and other industrial products to use of machines with the help of manpower to make same p roducts by use of different method of manufacturing. The changes which brought about industrial revolution are things like invention of machines which replaced the work of hand tool, steam was invented which was used in various industries to replace the use of muscles in human beings and animals and also adopting the factory’s system of operation.Therefore, due to these drastic changes, management was quite an important aspect in running these industries. In the time of cottage industries, they did not have any manager since the industries were small scale based industry which did not require any management strategies. Incase of those industries which were operated in small shop, they had managers but they were faced by a number of managerial problems.The early industries faced a lot of problems especially in management which was coupled with improper planning since the industries were quite small and those who operated them did not have diverse knowledge on various managemen t strategies used in today’s industries. There was no complexity of operation and thus why managers who in most cases were the owners of those businesses felt that they had little to do in regards to management issue in those industries.In older days before industrial revolution most of production of industrial products took place at homes which made those who operated those productions to have no management strategies since their aim was just to produce the products that they needed and sell them locally which actually did not require any management strategies (Kelvin, N., Encyclopedia of Management 2006). Producers in time before industrial revolution used small hand tools in making simple products and therefore most of their operations were quite simple and did not require anyone to be the controller of those activities since only simple products were manufactured using these tools.Therefore, when the industries started revolutionizing various problems were faced since man agers did not have enough potential to manage since they did not have these strategies. The industries started growing slowly which replaced the simple tools with complex machineries and this resulted to production of more products and since they could be sold in various markets which brought about a need to have managers so that all the operation of the industries could be managed from production to marketing of product. There were quite a lot of problems faced since there were no ready trained or experienced managers to handle the position.In early industries, the managers were faced with statistical problems since they did not have any records kept for their small industries and they did not have advanced managerial procedures which could result to keeping accurate statistics in regard to the products that they were producing. Lack of proper statistics in regard to their small industry progress did not help in establishing the progress of these industries and thus why most of the m could cease to function at any time.They also did not keep the receipt of the things they sold since they sold most of their things locally and they did not value the aspect of keeping records. Due to lack of proper or no management in these small industries they did not keep records of their supplies and therefore they could not realize whether their industries were running at a profit or loss. (De, P.K, Project Termination Process in Indian Industries 2001; 19(2); p 125).Since most of the industries were home oriented there was no complexity of operation and therefore most of the owners could run the daily tasks of those industries independently or with the help of family members. These members did not have any managerial skills in them and therefore they just worked without any guideline of operation. When the industries started to grow, there was great need of proper management since the complexity of the industry increased and therefore operations needed to be managed.Employe es in those small industries like in shop where some of the management strategies were initiated motivation since most of the work was done using simple tools and therefore less work could be realized which resulted to poor pay (Canback & Staffan, Management Consulting Logics, 1998; 9(1); p.32).Therefore employee lacked motivation since the total output of their work was low. Due to this, managers could not be able to organize the workers since they were not motivated to work and this eventually lead to low production of the products in those industries.Early managers essentially lacked management theories which cold govern them on how to handle these small industries in order to uplift their standards of operation. The managers also had low experience which made them not to be aware of some of the managerial skills which can be established in these industries. Due to lack of these aspects managers valued workers as just an object of making profit for their industries. But due to th e fact that these workers can not be programmed, they eventually developed various needs and desires which were to be met by the organization and this brought about a need to have qualified managers.Increased competition in those industries posed great problems to the managers since they did not have potential to handle big enterprises and now with the emergence of these big industries, managers had to look for various ways to develop theories which could help in carrying on with the management issues of the industries.Competition challenge by manager was brought about by the in ability of the managers to reward the employee accordingly for the work that they have done which is basically by paying high wages to workers. If managers had strategies of rewarding employees and appreciating their work, the general output of their products could be increased. Therefore, workers should be given the wages that they deserve for the work that they do since the output.Managers also lacked expo sure since the cottage industries were quite small and therefore even those who managed those industries did not acquire much on management strategies. Exposure to these aspects gained by the quite essential since experience is essential aspect of management strategies.There are a number of similarities of those problems which were faced during the time of cottage industries and after industrial development by the managers (McGee, Encyclopedia of Management Strategic: Management 2006). These problems consequently affected the industries since they have emerged to be big and therefore, lack of proper management can lead to a down fall of an industry. Management aspects after industrial revolution should be enhanced and managers should ensure that they are well acquitted with all the management skills needed for the industry.In today’s industries, management issues have faced a number of problems due to industrial revolution since the industries are growing drastically which re quires a lot of management strategies. The problem of managing new and large industries is still experienced today since new technologies are coming up day by day that make changes in machineries that are used (Nisar, Problem and Management of Small Scale and Cottage Industry 1987).These changes should ensure that the manager have vast knowledge of the changing technologies so that they can be able to manage the operations of those machineries properly. Enterprises also aim at diversifying and enlarging and this can result to a big problem especially to those individuals who are used to managing small enterprise. These enlargements are as a result of competition and therefore mangers should learn various aspects of maintaining their workers since in a case of steep competition the workers can shift to other industries which have proper management and the strategies are favoring the employees.In the case of problem solving, this is a management problem being faced in industries even today due to lack of proper managerial skills. Problems within an industry can result to poor production and they usually arise as a result of misunderstanding between the managers and employees mainly on division of duties and workload of the employees in relation to the relative pay that an employee receives.Managers encounter these problems since they usually want to realize a lot of output than the input. Due to lack of important aspects of management such as paying their employee in regard to the work that they carry out that is to exercise the act of fairness in an industry which is an essential aspect of the management skill required by in an institution or industry.During the times of cottage industries, competition created serious problems to the industry sector managers since they had a big problem of rewarding employees according to the work they does. After industrial revolution many industries came up and therefore the managers have extra task to deal with the steep com petition in various industrial sectors (Ford, Managing and Marketing Technology 2001). Some managers due to monopoly of industries do not have aspects of dealing with competitive marketing ability of the industries. Therefore due to lack of these aspects, the relative output of industry is not experienced.Some managers even in today’s industrial set up have low experience and management theories since most of the industry owners want to employ those individuals with low experience in fear that if they employ those experienced individuals the salary would be high and therefore they end up employing people with low experience or managing their industries themselves without being aware of the relevant theories which are needed in management of industries. Owners of industries should ensure that they employ individual who are experienced in industrial set up and also have management theories so that they can run the industry as per expectations of the owner.Ignorance in managemen t is one of the aspect managers of various faces during their mission of carrying out management strategies in various industries. Assuming some small aspects of management can result to total loss in an industry and this is usually as a result of ignorance by managers. For example, managers should not feel that they are quite superior to the employee and fail to accomplish some of the issue that they put forward. This should be encouraged since employees are the only people who are aware of various problems that industries face since they are the main operator.Therefore, to alleviate these management problems of day to day running of industry the new technology which has been introduced in various industrialized countries should ensure that they use this technology to manage their industries accordingly (Gordon, Industrial Development 1998; 28(3), p.157).Technologies used to manage industries include things like internet, computer and other electronic devices which can be used to m anage industries by keeping appropriate data of the country.Through learning of relevant managerial skills, modern managers ensure that employees are the core of decision making since they understand how the industry is running better. This is enabled by motivating them by giving them their dues appropriately what they deserve. Therefore, through technology it’s believed that these problems will finally end.Reference:De P. K., (2001), Project Termination Process in Indian Industries, International Journal ofProject Management, 19(2), pg 119-126.Kelvin N., (2006), Encyclopedia of Management, Michigan: Thomson gale.Canback, Starfan, (1998), Management Consulting Logics, Journal of Consulting Management,9(1), pg 19-38.McGee J., (2006), Encyclopedia of Management Strategic: Management, United State:Blackwell.Nisar A., (1987), Problem and Management of Small Scale and Cottage Industry, Hawthorne:Deep and Deep Publishers.Ford D., (2001), Managing and Marketing Technology, New York: Thomason Learning EMEA.Gordon A., (1998), Industrial Development, Journal of Contemporary Asia, 28(3), pg 134-176.