100 Fantastic Personal Essay Topics for Winning Essays

100 Fantastic Personal Essay Topics for Winning Essays 100 Great Personal Essay Topics: Write Killer Essays! High school and college students are frequently given personal essays to write. Regardless of whether these essays are for admission purposes or for a specific class, they are usually challenging since they need to be written in both a descriptive and narrative style and in the correct tense. These essays are not just a case of telling a particular story or describing a particular person or event. The writer needs to connect a situation or event to a bigger idea. Below is a list 100 wonderful personal essay topics to get your writing project off to a smooth start. All these topics are interesting and have the potential to create the most captivating essays. Let us get started!The thing that motivates you the most. What animal would you like to be if you had the choice? What you do to relax. A time you had to make a difficult choice and how you did it. How your parents chose your name. The television show you liked most when you were young. The period in history you most like. What cartoon do you most like? How you got through a very difficult period of your life. A very daring thing you did. The karaoke song you like best. What historical figure do you admire most? Describe a stressful event or situation you recently experienced. Explain what money means to you in terms of where you are presently at in your life. Which story from your familys history do you find most interesting? A massive change that happened in yours or your familys life. The most significant conflict that has ever occurred between you and one of your siblings or cousins. The most perilous situation you have ever found yourself in. Describe something of great value you accidently found. The work or item of art you like most. An occasion when an important decision you made turned out to be the wrong one. An item in your classroom you find distracting. The place in the world you find most pleasant and beautiful. Try comparing yourself to a close member of your family i.e. your mother or father. What you do to find inner tranquility. What public personality would you ask to give a talk at your school or college if you had the chance? The time you entered a competition. The thing that annoys you most. An item of technology you could not imagine being without. The home you dream of having. The time you chose to leave your comfort zone. The most recent good cause you supported. The local place you most like to hang out in. An occasion where you did not think before you acted or reacted. Your most interesting adventure ever. Which celebrity would you most like to hold an interview with? The thing you fear most. A time you needed a very big hug. What would be the job of your dreams? The thing you find most irresistible. How you have chosen to decorate your bedroom. A heroic thing you did. Your last social media post. Behavior you find annoying. How the life you now live might be different if you were born a century ago. The poem that stands out most in your memory. The individual who has given you the most help with your school assignments. What you would be most likely to buy if someone gave you a million dollars. The approach you take to writing an essay. A memorable exploration of the outdoors. The place in your home you like best. Your most disappointing school experience ever. The time you told a well-intentioned lie. A band or artist from whom you derive the most inspiration. The last time you did a kind act. Describe how you overcome an almost-impossible obstacle to achieve something you really wanted. A local place you do your best to stay away from. A particular song that evokes happy memories for you. The reactions of your parents when they see your report cards. A special event that served to bring you and your parents closer together. How a teacher or college professor gave you the motivation to do much better. An occasion where you reacted before thinking. A movie or book character that has many of the same characteristics as you. A tradition your family continues to uphold. What celebrity would you like to come to your graduation? An occasion when you felt really good about being alone. A building that you are really impressed by. The proudest moment of your life. The most expensive item you have ever bought. An occasion when a failure taught you a valuable lesson. Do you have a special technique that helps you learn new languages? What mobile application do you use most frequently? A character from a television show you would very much like to form a friendship with. An occasion when you felt betrayed by someone close to you. An item from your childhood that you have always kept. Someone you would like to send a message of thanks to. An occasion when you were extremely angry. If you could have a superpower, what would you choose? The best moment in the history of movies. What would you invent if you had the opportunity? The best trip you ever had from school. The best neighbor you have known. How you contribute to teamwork. Which book has had the most impact on you thus far in your life? An occasion when a friend really helped you. A fake news item you found online. Which item of modern technology most excites you? Someone you cannot envisage your life without. The member of your family who most influences you. The most recent online conversation you deleted. An occasion when you were left disappointed by a friend. A real fun occasion. An event from history you would like to have taken part in or witnessed. An occasion when you felt life running away but did not. The most recent important subject you and a friend discussed. If you could become President for just one day, what is it you would most like to do? The most recent online video you saw. A kid from a previous school or class whom you thought was really cool. What thing or event has made the greatest impression on you today? An occasion when the decision you made turned out to be the wrong one.

Microsoft and Outsourcing to Flextronics essays

Microsoft and Outsourcing to Flextronics essays (1) Microsoft's decision to outsource their Xbox production to Flextronics, a Singapore based company, was based on several variables. Microsoft is primarily a software company and had a small hand in producing hardware, such as joysticks, computer mice, keyboards, etc. When Microsoft came into the video game industry, they decided that they lacked the manufacturing and logistics capabilities to make the Xbox and manage a global supply chain [1]. Microsoft had chosen to outsource to Flextronics for several reasons. Flextronics could lower costs in production for Microsoft because they were able to tightly manage its supply chain, therefore reducing the chances of supply chain disruption, which can be costly [1]. Not only was Flextronics efficient in supply chain management they had an "industrial park" strategy that Microsoft and many other electronic manufacturers didn't have. Flextronics required that key suppliers locate their factories next to Flextronics assembly plants in lo w-cost areas. Flextronics had industrial parks in Brazil, China, Hungary, Mexico, and Poland. This global presence that Flextronics had is exactly what Microsoft was looking for. With these "industrial parks" located throughout various locations in the world, Flextronics would be able to shift production from one plant to another as demand conditions warranted [1]. Additionally, Flextronics and Microsoft used an advanced Web-based information system that it used to communicate with each other on a real time basis. This was pertinent to reducing errors and relaying information quickly to one another to ensure and facilitate expedient production of Xbox consoles where inventory is low, to avoid any shortages. Finally, Microsoft had a long standing relationship with Flextronics. Microsoft had used Flextronics for years to produce their small hardware (computer mice, joysticks, etc.) and trusted them. Microsoft trusted that Flextronics would be able to bu...

Three-river-sources ecological environment protection Essay

Three-river-sources ecological environment protection - Essay Example It sought to evaluate the region’s management strategies on how the conflict between protection of the region’s ecological environment and exploitation of the natural resources for commercial purposes can be best resolved. The major findings of the paper showed that the activities of men such as hunting and construction of infrastructure have immensely contributed to the degradation of the ecology. As such, this paper observed that in order to create a long-term plan for management of ecological environment in the Three-River-Source, nationwide and local government will need to be foresighted and consider the specifics of each environmental problem in order to balance the conflict between protection of the region’s ecological environment and the use of natural resources for commercial purposes. Three-River-Source which is also known as Sanjiangyuan is located in the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. This name refers to the headwater of three rivers in Chinese and these are Yangtze River, the Yellow River and the Lancang River. These rivers are the major sources of water in the region whereby Yellow River accounts for 42 per cent of the total volume of water supplied while Yangtze River accounts for 25 % and Lancang River accounts for 15% (Wang, 2008). The Three-River-Source region has significant ecological value in the Qinghai Tibet plateau which is regarded as the worlds highest and largest plateau with wetland ecosystem. The region accounts for 2.32% of the total area of national wetlands (Wang, 2008). As such, the region is known as the â€Å"water tower† in China.

Metropolis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Metropolis - Essay Example The movie, in its first scene, shows how great life is for the elite and how bad it is for the lower class. Freders, the son of the boss of metropolis falls for Maria, who is a leader for the unjust conditions for the workers; this information is kept a secret from her boss. When Rotwang and Freders dad discover Maria's secret, they kidnap her and transform Hel to be an exact copy of her to ruin her reputation. Hel behaves irresponsibly and immorally so the workers will discredit her and their spirit will be broken. Then, in the nick of time, Freders rescues Maria and together they stop the revolution and bring back the feeling of peace and security between the bosses and the workers. Hel is destroyed, Rotwang dies and Freders and Maria live happily ever after. "Metropolis is a story about the people whose backs wealth and success is built upon. It clearly illustrates the dichotomy between those that do, and those that benefit by the sweat of others. The thinkers of Metropolis enjoy a luxurious lifestyle, but their success comes at the price of treating the workers like slaves and deprives them of their individuality." (http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies/metropolis.html) The director's visio

Marlon Brando won the Academy Award for his performance in The Essay

Marlon Brando won the Academy Award for his performance in The Godfather movie but he refused the Oscar. Examine how this pseudo - Essay Example While trying to avoid the paparazzi seems to be the desire of those who have a pubic persona, in truth, without publicity, the success of a career would most likely not reach the level that has put them in the public eye. In 1973 Marlon Brando was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in The Godfather (1972). Brando attempted to use his status and celebrity, and the event of his receiving the award, in order to promote his personal agenda in defending the occupation of Wounded Knee and the plight of the Native Americans. The creation of pseudo-events have been a framing factor in the way in which the media has been used in order to create celebrity. The media uses celebrities to create sensationalized storied through which they sell their information product, while celebrities use the media in which to frame their image in the eye of the public in order to sell their product - themselves. Sometimes, however, as in the event of the 1973 Academy Awards, celebrities use the ir status in order to sell an idea to the public, to support an agenda that is outside of the framework of the reason that they had become celebrities. Celebrity As Daniel Boorstin suggested, celebrity is the state of being known for being known, a fabrication of human greatness based on expectations of greatness (Turner 5). The power of celebrity has reached proportions to where the public looks to the famous in order to find ‘truths’ rather than to the figures who are central to an issue. Cashmore states that society puts an â€Å"extravagant value† to the lives of celebrity through a preoccupation with people who will never actually have a connection to the average person (1). The context for the emergence of the concept of celebrity is defined by the conditions under which the right mix of circumstances allowed causes to trigger the overall effect. Cashman cites the seminal time period being the 1980’s in which the media began to expand and grow in inf luential power and at the same time, a general loss in confidence diminished the power and influence of political leadership (Cashman 2). However, the power of celebrity had been growing from the time of the emergence of the film industry. . Celebrity culture emerged from a consumerist society as people became commodities on a much larger scale than had ever before been established. As the perfection of scripted lives from the stories within the movies was transferred onto the embodiment of the characters through the actors who portrayed them, an expectation grew around the figure of the celebrity. That expectation was fed by the media who made reports that either confirmed or denied the perception that the public had about an individual. The job of the publicist was to try to control the information, attempting to provide a public framework for the sale of the celebrity image in order to create a forward continuation of his or her career. The media is a tool of sales, the release o f information the advertising on which a person is commoditized. Celebrity is primarily an invention of the 20th century, an invention of media production in which the individual is known for being known (Giles 4). The concept is not defined by profession or

Can Legalistic mechanisms be effectively used to promote organizational safety

Can Legalistic mechanisms be effectively used to promote organizational safety Can legalistic mechanisms such as corporate liability be effectively used to promote organizational safety? Use two specific cases to illustrate your argument. In the era of globalisation and battle of business for expansion to foreign markets, large organisations in a form of legal entities (i.e. corporations) is seem to be taking the dominant role over the worlds economy. The growing size of corporations, their complexity and control of immense resources provides ground for misconduct that often results in adverse effects to both individuals and the community. Great numbers of incidents that resulted in a large scale harms caused to society in the past decades has brought the responsibility of corporate misbehaviour and the way they treat risks to many debates both in professional and lay public. The idea of attempting to manage organisational risks is recognized as a relatively new concept (Institute of Lifelong Learning, 2006: 5-6) and the complexity of social interactions of individuals that constitute organisations adjacent to fast development of advanced technologies in contemporary society may prove for identification of hazardous circumstances that affect safety within organisations, extremely challenging. As observed by the Institute of Lifelong Learning (2006: 5-6) there are some acknowledged professional and academic courses in Britain, but since the management of organisational risks is not a mature activity, it does not possess the same level of legitimacy that some other institutionalised concepts do. It appears that legal reforms in Europe and some other countries intend to make it easier to impose legal sanctions on corporations for serious wrongdoings. One might suggest that such reforms are logical consequence of some mayor harms produced by corporations that were later unsuccessfully prosecuted under existing laws and deemed insufficient to protect the public interests. In the United Kingdom (UK) some large scale accidents such as the train crash at Paddington, the fire at Kings Cross underground station, the capsizing of the ferry Herald of Free Enterprise are few that were catalysts for reforms making it easier to impose strict liability on corporations for physical injuries or deaths. The adoption of Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 might be perceived as an important indicator of these reforms. This paper will examine a much controversial aspects of the extent to which risk management regimes should be more or less blame orientated (Hood et al., 1996: 46) and, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ whether, in the event of an avoidable accident, the company as well as (or perhaps rather than) identified individuals might or should be held morally or legally responsible for an act or omission (Institute of Lifelong Learning 2006, 4-22). The essay question opens a much discussed notion of corporate liability which this paper will discuss in the context of organisational aspects of health and safety as an integral part of managing risks in organisations. The essay will also discuss legislative aspects that are regulating corporate responsibility. However, the intention of the author is not to summarize the arguments on legislation basis in detail. It needs to be recognized that legislation that regulates corporate responsibility varies worldwide. Therefore, the paper will discuss some of the broader aspects that might affect health and safety compliance in organisations. Finally this essay will throughout the discourse provide an argument that strict financial and legal liability posed on corporate bodies can significantly contribute to a better organisational safety. This will be achieved by using two specific cases for discussion in order to support the argument. The case studies used in the discussion are the fire at Kings Cross underground station in London, UK in 1987 and the fire of the cable car in Kaprun, Austria in 2000. Definitions of terms For further discussion the key terms from the essay question needs to be defined. Bergman, (2000: 20) in his critical perspectives on corporate responsibility in UK uses the term company and corporate in the context of à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦companies set up with a view to profit that have been registered under the Companies Act 1985. In the same explanation, he further also considers a set of those companies that befalls under variety of other legal provisions, including a number of organisations in public sector. Despite some important distinctions can be made, this essay considers the term of corporation, company and organisation in the same context, with potential to produce a certain kind of harm. According to online dictionary a corporation is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a large company or group of companies authorized to act as a single entity and recognized as such in law; and liability is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the state of being legally responsible for something (Ask Oxford, 2010). In order to merge the terms, this paper will use the definition on corporate liability of another internet source, namely Wise Geek (2010), which defines corporate liability à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦as an assessment of the activities that a corporation may be held legally liable for in a court of law. The general point to be made here is that in principle a corporation can be held legally liable as a single entity for corporate activities (acts or omissions) that is breaching the law through the group or an individual it employs. Such breaches of law might have severe adverse effects on society, resulting in harm to health and safety of either the people or environment, where health is regarded more in the context of wellbeing of people. For further discussion the definition of the term safety is taken from a dictionary. Shorter Oxford (1973; quoted in Institute of Lifelong Learning, 2006: 4-11) regards safety as: The state of being safe; exemption from hurt or injury; freedom from danger the quality of being unlikely to cause hurt or injury; freedom from dangerousness; safeness. In order to merge the terms health and safety in the context of organisational structures and their legal responsibilities, the example is taken from an explanation provided by the Institute of Lifelong Learning (2006: 4-7), which argues that the term is not only about enforcement of legislation related to protection of employees. The argument goes à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦It is much more of a generic concept, which has developed the status of an ethos, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦which is demonstrated by the use of the term `Safety Culture for the attitude of an organisation towards risk-taking. One might already observe that targeting the essay question in the context of effectiveness of corporate liability towards organisational safety in an affirmative manner might be considerably narrow. It becomes visible that managing safety in organisational framework requires further examination in a broader context of Risk, Crisis and Disaster management, if complementary progress on safety through imposed strict liability measures on corporations desires to be achieved. However, before the discussion on specific case studies, the term safety culture requires additional attention, since it was illustrated that it might play an important role in attitudes towards risk taking in an organisational context. Explanations of the term safety culture flourish. A very concise one was given by the CBI (1990) as the way we do things around here. Pidgeon et al. (1991: 249) define safety culture as those sets of norms, rules, roles, beliefs, attitudes and social and technical practices within an organisation which are concerned with minimising the exposure of individuals to conditions considered to be dangerous. As such defines individuals attitude and beliefs about organisations, their perceptions of risks and the importance, practicality and effectiveness of controls regarding organisational safety. The case studies The case studies used in this paper are both disastrous events caused by the sudden occurrence of fire which resulted in fatal outcome to many involved. The first, fire at Kings Cross underground station in London in 1987 claimed the lives of 31 people and injured many more. The fire followed a number of less serious hazardous fire incidents on the London Underground. The official report concluded the immediate cause of the fire as a failure to clean and lubricate the running tracks of the escalator where the fire took place after the match fell (Department of Transport, 1988; quoted in Bergman, 2000: 24). Kletz (2001: 116) argued that approximately 20 fires per year between 1958 and 1967 were à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦called smoulderings to make them seem less serious. Similarly, the November 1988 Public Inquiry report observes the London Underground managements reaction to earlier escalator fires from 1956 to 1988 as imperfect, describing the managements approach as reactive rather than proactive (Department of Transport, 1988; quoted in Bergman, 2000: 24). In particular, the report summed up in the evidence of the then Director General of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, that many recommendations after previous fires: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦had not been adequately considered by senior managers and there was no way to ensure that they were circulated, considered and acted upon. Londons Underground failure to carry through the proposals resulting from earlier fires such as the provision of automatic sprinklers, the need to ensure all fire equipment was correctly positioned and serviceable, identification of alternative means of escape and the need to train staff to react properly and positively in emergencies was a failure which I believe contributed to the disaster at Kings Cross. (Department of Transport, 1988; in Bergman, 2000: 25) Despite the fact that the report recognized collective failure for disaster from the level of most senior managers downwards over many years to minimise the risk of fire outbreaks, the sound blame was placed mainly to senior management of the company. The official report into the disaster claims the responsibility of management systems as playing a significant role in development of precipitating causes that triggered the disaster (Fennell, 1989; in Institute of Lifelong Learning, 2006: 3-5). However, was the applicability of existing legal instruments effective enough to reach the corporate decision makers and to what extent? Apparently, at the time of the accident there were sufficient instruments in place to find the London Underground legally liable for a criminal act of manslaughter or for a lesser offence under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (Bergman, 2000: 29). Regardless sustainable grounds provided for legal punishment, the London Underground and its senior managers gained immunity from any form of criminal accountability (Bergman 2000: 29). It is beyond the scope of this paper to examine further in details all the failures that led to disaster and the debates that followed in the aftermath. Though, the failures summed above can already pinpoint that organisational safety culture was poorly maintained. The November 1988 Public Inquiry report specifically stated that the London Undergrounds understanding of statutory responsibilities for health and safety at work was mistaken and that many of the shortcomings which led to the disaster had been identified in earlier investigations and in reports by the fire brigade, the police and the Railway Fire Prevention and Fire Standards Committee (Department of Transport, 1988; in Bergman, 2000: 24-25). This exemplifies that the London Underground management was made aware of non-compliance with safety standards. Even though a history of small fire outbreaks was excessive, the London Underground failed to consider reported hazards seriously and to introduce safe guards to minimise t he risk of a fire with a potential for large scale loss of life. Such a conclusion stands much in favour of those who argue that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦effective risk management depends on the design of incentive structures that place strict financial and legal liability onto those who are in the best position to take action to minimize the risk (Hood Jones, 1996: 46). The claim is that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if liability is not precisely targeted on specific and appropriate decision-makers, a poorly designed institutional incentive structure will allow avoidable accidents to occur. Without close targeting of liability, there will be too little incentive for care to be taken by those decision-makers in organizations who are capable of creating hazards, and (the argument goes) risk externalization will be encouraged. Policies should, therefore, aim to support expanded corporate legal liability, more precisely targeted insurance premium practices, and regulatory policies that have the effect of criminalizing particular management practices and of laying sanctions directly on key decision- makers within corporations, rather than trusting corporations as undifferentiated legal persons. (cf. Fisse Braithwaite, 1988; in Hood Jones, 1996: 46) Was the looseness of regulatory and legal instruments in hands of the safety investigators that did not make it possible to enforce the London Underground to remove the identified hazards and that led to the disaster, this paper was not able to fully determine. However, it is of believe that strict liability imposed on those who represent a guiding mind and will of the company for non-compliance with safety regulations, would be effective to prevent an avoidable accident to occur. An absence of criminal charges against the senior company managers might to some extent support a positive answer on the essay question with Bergmans argument in criticising the authorities of their failure to prosecute directors. He suggested that it is often argued that only when proper action is taken against directors-with a real threat of imprisonment-will other companies take notice (Bergman, 2000: 90). Though, some wider perspectives of corporate liability in relation to organisational safety need to be further discussed before any conclusions drawn. This brings the discussion to the next case study, where all the regulations were complied and yet the disaster occurred. The second example that this essay considers is the fire of a funicular train in a tunnel that happened near Kaprun, Austria in November 2000. The fire on a Gletscherbahnen Kapruns funicular railway, carrying 167 people up to the Kitzsteinhorn glacier claimed lives of 152 passengers on board, the driver of the second train in the tunnel and two people near the top portal of the tunnel. In total 155 people lost their lives, injured not tallied (the total number of people involved in the incident varies throughout different articles. Figures presented in this paper are matching the majority of them). The 12 survivors who managed to escape out of the train through smashed windows were those who fled downhill away from the smoke. Others who fled uphill were overcome by smoke and fume. Those survived witnessed that smoke was emanating from the rears driver cabin before the train entered the 3.5 kilometres long and 3.6 meters wide tunnel with an average incline of 45 degrees. The immediate cause of the fire was a leaky tube of hydraulic oil that came into contact with a glowing heater at the rear cabin, nearby wooden panels and isolation materials. After the heater caught fire, the hydraulic line exploded and the oil was sprayed into the flames. This was stated as the reason why flames spread so quickly. The official results of the investigations confirmed belief of the experts that fire was caused by an electric heating ventilator, which was illegally installed into the drivers cabin (Transit Cooperative Research Program, 2006: 26-28; Beard Carvel, 2005: 6; Faure Hartlief, 2006: 31). Although the train driver reported the blaze to his base station, the train continued and stopped 600 meters into the tunnel. Following, as the Transit Cooperative Research Program (2006) suggests that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the fire continued and the steep tunnel acted like a giant chimney, sucking air in from the bottom and sending toxic smoke billowing upwards. Despite an alarm signal and contact with the base station instructing the driver to open the doors, the train stayed at the location with its door sealed. Later investigation revealed that this was the immediate cause of death of most of the passengers. (Transit Cooperative Research Program, 2006: 27) Some observed that the accident has parallels with the Kings Cross fire. As Transit Cooperative Research Program (2006: 28) suggests that the Kings Cross escalator shaft at the centre of the fire had a 30 degree incline that, like the Kaprun fire created a chimney effect. The Kaprun blaze moved faster because of the steeper incline. Though, unlike the Kings Cross disaster, where several small fires were excessively observed before the accident, in the Kaprun case a regular inspection of an independent civil technicians performed two months before the first day of skiing season and also the day of the accident, has found no safety breaches or non-compliances with safety regulations. However, does that make the existing safe guards to prevent the accident sufficient and, nonetheless, the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun any less culpable for the disaster? As Tyler (2000) put forward à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there was no sprinkler system to put out the flames in the tunnel, fireproof emergency refuges or an evacuation tunnel through which the passengers might have escaped. The BBC News (2004) stated that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the blaze was worsened by the fact that the tunnel was not lit, had only one narrow service stairway and the doors of the train could not be opened by the trapped passengers from the inside. Another author (Beier, Unknown: 3) in his paper claims that there were no emergency exits, lights or a method to pull the burning train out of the tunnel. Similarly the Transit Cooperative Research Program (2006: 28) stated that the train did not have enough fire extinguishers and that an evacuation drill never took place. The listed above illustrates that significant safety measures were ignored downwards many years of operating the Gletscherbahnen Kapruns funicular train. In recognition of that, sixteen people including company officials, technicians and government inspectors were arrested and charged with criminal negligence. The centre of the prosecution was to claim liability for those responsible for installing and servicing a non-regulation heater in the drivers cabin, which sparked the blaze by leaking oil. However, on February 19, 2004, Austrian court acquitted all sixteen with explanation of the judge in Salzburg that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there was insufficient evidence to find the 16 train operators, suppliers and inspectors responsible for the blaze (BBC News, 2004). The appellate court in Linz in 2005 confirmed the verdict of the Salzburg court with the decision that no criminal acts were demonstrated despite the obvious failure to take care. The defendants had complied with the regulations ( Beier, Unknown, 3). Many affected announced that they would continue with civil proceedings. Though, these cases are still pending. The main problem was that designers of the electric heater complied with the existing regulations. However, the regulations failed to distinguish required standards for different types of trains. The design of the heater installed was inappropriate for a train in a tunnel and obviously different hazards were not foreseen. As Beier (Unknown, 4) argues: A horrible risk caused entirely by the design and construction of the technical system had slipped through the entire legal and regulatory system because everyone focused on the compliance with the regulation not whether the system was safe. As he suggested in the paper, no one thought about a fire nor did regulators ask anyone to think about it (Beier, Unknown: 3). One of the conclusions drawn by Beier (Unknown: 4) on Kapruns accident is that even major companies will do only the exact minimum to comply with regulations and that compliance with regulations does not guarantee a safe outcome. It is important that, he as many argues that simple product can create extremely complex risk systems and assuming that risks in technologically advanced -complex systems can be effectively managed by regulations they might prove as inefficient as in the case of Kaprun disaster. However, short before the accident in Kaprun took place, there were several occurrences of disastrous events that befell the road and rail tunnel users in the Alps and elsewhere (BBC News, 2000). Therefore, it should not be neglected that the Gletscherbahnen Kaprun managers together with the authorities inherently failed in the management of organizational risks by, as Toft and Reynolds (1994; quoted in Institute of Lifelong Learning 2006: 5-10) suggest, not taking advantage of the l essons learned by others. Conclusion The case studies revealed serious recklessness of the companies in their regard to safety, which unfortunately in both cases resulted in disastrous events with great losses of lives, many injured and large numbers of grievous families that lost their loved. Despite the fact that great harm was caused to society, neither companies nor their managers were prosecuted or found guilty in front of court for any kind of criminal behaviour. Though, it needs to be recognised that the concept of criminal corporate liability is only one perspective in a broader context of responsibility claimed in case of corporate wrongdoing. In the case of Kings Cross fire it is suggested that strict liability imposed on senior managers could stipulate the companys proactive respond in dealing with identified hazards that later led to disaster. In the case of Kaprun fire the possibilities for cross-organisational isomorphism to cover the gap of being unaware of the consequences that could happen and actually did happen, were obviously missed. In both cases this paper suggest that the companies regarded safety with gross negligence, with the main aim to do only exact minimum to comply with safety standards and regulations. Bergman argues that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦unlike the minds of individuals, which cannot be re-modelled, the components of a company can be analysed and reformed. New policies can be adopted, new job positions created and new management systems set up. The organisational defects of a company itspsyche can be taken into pieces and put together. Unsafe companies can be turned into safe ones. (Bergman, 2000: 99) Both companies operated in an inherently unsafe manner before the accidents occurred and responded with significant safety improvements only after the disasters. One might argue that such safety improvements were not out of sight in terms of available resources on both sides already before the accidents. With strict financial and legal liability incentives, avoidable accidents might be prevented. Bergman (2000: 90) argues that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦there is a great need to increase the accountability of directors and senior company officers; the backbone of any system of deterrence in preventing corporate harm, must be action against those in control of the company. There are many that are sceptical of such an argument and consider it as possibly ineffective or even counterproductive. Such opponents can point to some other policy areas where criminalization leads to the adoption of artificial legal devices to limit liability, rather than to real changes in behaviour (The Royal Society, 1992: 157-158). Fitzgerald (1986; quoted in Hood Jones, 1996: 62) claims that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦person should not be punished for occurrences over which they could not exercise no controlà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if such targeting is to be implemented, then it must be accurate. Indeed, safety concerns should not be placed in the hands of management only. It should be overall responsibility of all aspects within organisational structures. However, it should be vested at the highest level of each organization (Bergmann 2000: 126). Wells (quoted in Hood Jones, 1996: 60) suggest, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦if safety managers want to make themselves weatherproof, their barometers need to be tuned as much to the pressure of social constructions of accidents as to the legal categories into which they potentially be placed. The managers should exercise whatever is reasonably possible to prevent avoidable accidents to occur. Therefore, incentive structures that place legal liability on those corporate bodies that are in the best position to take action to minimize risks can be an effective mechanism to promote organisational safety. Regular safety audits or inspections could present an important instrument not only to penalize non-compliances of safety regulations, but to expo se hazardous circumstances that could develop into any mayor accidents. Gray and Scholz suggest that: Inspections imposing penalties result in improved safety because they focus managerial attention on risks that may otherwise have been overlooked. It is not the miniscule penalty that makes OSHA inspections effective in reducing injuries, but rather the concern of managers to prevent the costs associated with accidents once they are aware of the risks. (Scholz, 1997: 256)

Essay --

Ryan Brown Film and Novel 12/10/13 Essay 2 In the novels A Clockwise Orange by Anthony Burgess and Misery by Stephen King, they both express what is portrayed to be socially right and what is socially wrong. In A Clockwise Orange, the novel is taking place in a futuristic London. Alex Delarge is the leader of a gang that they call the â€Å"Droogs†. After a night of drugs and intoxication they engage in violence by fighting a rival gang and stealing a car to travel to the home of a writer F. Alexander where they nearly killed him. After beating Mr. Alexander’s nearly to death he rapes his wife while singing. In Misery, there is a famous novelist named Paul Sheldon who is the author of a successful series of novels that features a character named Misery Chastain. Paul has decided to focus his mind on more serious novels and writes a new manuscript for an unrelated novel. Paul is later caught in a blizzard while driving home to New York City and his car goes off the road. His number one fan Annie Wilkes rescues hi m and she brings him to her house in a remote location where she attempts to take care of him. Both of these well-known novels and their respected films portray what is deemed to be socially right vs. socially wrong. In the film A Clockwise Orange, Alex is an avid drug user and also an avid drinker that causes his to lash out at the littlest things that set him off. He does things that the normal human being would consider to be crazy or socially wrong. After a night of nearly killing Mr. Alexander and raping his wife the following day he is out as if nothing had ever happened and he is warned by his probation officer to keep a low profile. That night he visits a store where he picks up two girls and brings them home with ... ...m. This was the first time it was evident that she was acting socially wrong and was trying to keep him from leaving. For the rest of the book she shows small signs of going back to being socially right but is mostly acting socially wrong because of the way she is treating Paul and keeping him held captive. In the novel A Clockwise Orange and Misery, they both have characters that are seen as what we consider socially right and socially wrong. These two characters show how they are both socially right and socially wrong. The two characters from their respected books start opposite of eachother. In A Clockwise Orange, Ales goes from socially wrong to socially right. While in Misery, Annie starts off as socially right and turns to socially wrong. Both of these novels compare and give examples of what is socially right and socially wrong to our everyday standards.

Honors Essay

For how I firmly am resolved you know; That is, not bestow my youngest daughter Before I have a husband for the elder: If either of you both love Katharina, Because I know you well and love you well, Leave shall you have to court her at your pleasure. † In these lines, we are introduced to Baptista, a father who wants to find a husband for his oldest daughter, Katharina. The conflict of the play is also introduced as Baptista has decided that his youngest daughter cannot marry until Katharina does. These lines provide readers with some background information on Baptista and his daughters, as well as their familial relationship. They also reveal that while Baptista loves both of his daughter’s, he is at a loss for how to manage his oldest daughter, Katharina. Exposition Act 1, Scene 1 Lucentio: â€Å"Tranio, since for the great desire I had To see fair Padua, nursery of arts, I am arrived for fruitful Lombardy, The pleasant garden of great Italy;† In these lines, we get the first glimpse of where the setting is. The readers get a chance to see the descriptive environment of Italy with the â€Å"pleasant garden†. We are also introduced to Lucentio and Tranio in this part of the play where they are visiting this part of Italy because they had that desire to go there. Rising Action Act 2, Scene 1 KATHARINA: â€Å"Of all thy suitors, here I charge thee, tell Whom thou lovest best: see thou dissemble not. † BIANCA: â€Å"Believe me, sister, of all the men alive I never yet beheld that special face Which I could fancy more than any other. † KATHARINA: â€Å"Minion, thou liest. Is’t not Hortensio? † BIANCA: â€Å"If you affect him, sister, here I swear I’ll plead for you myself, but you shall have Him. † KATHARINA: â€Å"O then, belike, you fancy riches more:You will have Gremio to keep you fair. † BIANCA: â€Å"Is it for him you do envy me so? Nay then you jest, and now I well perceive You have but jested with me all this while: I prithee, sister Kate, untie my hands. † KATHARINA: â€Å"If that be jest, then all the rest was so. † In these lines, Katharina begins attacking Bianca for no reason at all. Katharina begins questions Bianca out of the blue about which of the suitors does she want the most while Bianca has no clue where this question is coming from, but Bianca assumes that Katharina wants one of the suitors for her and has been acting around her to get what she wanted. Climax Act 3, Scene 2 KATHARINA: â€Å"No shame but mine. I must, forsooth, be forced To give my hand, opposed against my heart, Unto a mad-brain rudesby, full of spleen, Who wooed in haste and means to wed at leisure. I told you, I, he was a frantic fool, Hiding his bitter jests in blunt behavior, And, to be noted for a merry man, He’ll woo a thousand, ‘point the day of marriage, Make friends, invite, and proclaim the banns, Yet never means to wed where he hath wooed. Now must the world point at poor Katherine And say, â€Å"Lo, there is mad Petruchio’s wife, If it would please him come and marry her! † In these lines, Katharina is upset that the groom has not arrived to their wedding yet. And she begins blaming Lucentio for her being forced to marry this guy when she knew what the groom’s plans were. Katharina says that all the groom did it for was the friends and fame of proposing to women then not showing up to the date of the wedding and this made her even more mad, like she wanted to kill somebody. Falling Action Act 4, Scene 1 KATHARINA: â€Å"I pray you, husband, be not so disquiet:The meat was well, if you were so contented. † PETRUCHIO: â€Å"I tell thee, Kate, ’twas burnt and dried away; And I expressly am forbid to touch it, For it engenders choler, planteth anger;And better ’twere that both of us did fast,Since, of ourselves, ourselves are choleric, Than feed it with such over-roasted flesh. Be patient; to-morrow ‘t shall be mended,And, for this night, we’ll fast for company: Come, I will bring thee to thy bridal chamber. † In these lines, Katharina and Petruchio have already married and now they are at Petruchio’s house where he will boss around all of his servants. And Katharina is trying to calm Petruchio down because one of the servants brought out burnt meat and he wanted everything to be perfect for his wife. Resolution Act 4, Scene 5 PETRUCHIO: Why, how now, Kate! I hope thou art not mad: This is a man, old, wrinkled, faded, wither’d, And not a maiden, as thou say’st he is. KATHARINA: Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes, That have been so bedazzled with the sun That everything I look on seemeth green: Now I perceive thou art a reverend father; Pardon, I pray thee, for my mad mistaking. In these lines, Petruchio seeks an elderly man in the direction they are heading. But Katharina eyes are blinded by looking at the sun for too long and she mistakes the old man for a little girl. But altogether this is after all the arguing that were going on and now they are spending time together on their way to Katharina’s father’s house.

The Play Must Go West essays

The Play Must Go West essays Soon after the American Revolution, Americans began their expansion to the west. It was our Manifest Destiny to tame the wilds of the west and expand our nation from coast to coast. Families from all over would load up their belongings and travel to the newly purchased lands. People from New York, Philadelphia, Boston and all parts of the new nation brought with them their language, culture and belief systems. Along with this they also brought the theater. It was not long after people would begin to live in an area that the theater would take root. The progress of the theater in the United States can be traced along the same routes as the settlement of the west. Beginning on the east coast with early colonies the theater was carried with our ancestors to their new homes in the west. From St. Louise to Kansas City, from Kansas City to California and all parts in between. Horace Greeley said "Go west young man" and the theater followed. In 1492 Christopher Columbus left Azones on a trip to discover a western sea route to the Orient. Seventy days later Columbus made land fall on what he thought was an outlying portion of Asia. Columbus would go to his death believing he had landed in Asia, he was wrong. Although he did open up a new world for Europeans to expand their culture into.(Billington 15) Thought many early attempts where made to settle this new land. Most ended in disaster. In 1620 however, 128 years after Columbus made his brave but mistaken discovery of the new world, the pilgrims set out to make a permanent settlement in America. They put a shore in what is now called Massachusetts and formed a thriving, self governed colony.(Billington 57) 10 years later, John Wintrope brings 1000 colonist and founds the city of Boston. Wintropes British settlement had not been in the new world long, in fact less than a year, when they discovered that the Dutch had formed their own nearby settlement. The Dutch called...

Personality Assessment essay Essays - Personality Traits

Personality Assessment essay Essays - Personality Traits Personality Assessment essay Name Professor Course Date Personality Assessment essay Downside is an organization that deals with sales and marketing of households products in local and international market. The organization hires sales and marketers who distribute their products in all its market. However, the organization has experienced a period of hardship due to lack of competent sales and marketers. In order to solve this problem, the organization came up with various resolutions and one of them was to be conducting a personality assessment activity to all workers who wish to join the organization in order to evaluate their profile. I was one of the individuals who wanted the job of sales and marketing in the organization and below is a management-oriented dialogue of the assessment of my profile before hire by the human resource manager HR and the executive manager. HR: Are you aware of all out terms and conditions? Me: yes HR: We expect you to have all qualities and skills necessary in this job since you will be dealing with customers directly Executive manager: Many people like you have disappointed us there before and that is why you have to take you through this text. Me: I am ready sir HR: To start with, which is you score on extraversion? Me: My score on extraversion is low sir Executive manager: You mean that your score on friendliness is low? In that you do not make friends, you are quit and you do not reach out for other people. HR: And since we deal with reaching for customers and making friendship with them, how will you manage this job with a low score on friendliness Me: I will improve on that score sir by learning different ways of making friends and socializing. HR: what about your Gregariousness score? Me: It still low sir Executive manager: You mean that you are not sociable and you do not enjoy while in crowed. How then will you be able to bring customers in the organization and yet you are not sociable? Me: I will work on it sir. I will improve on my level of association and I will learn more on how to make friends and to associate with others. Executive manager: Let us move to the next area of concern. What is your score on conscientiousness? Me: My score in this area is average HR: it is good to hear that it is average but we want to hear directly from you on your performance as far as self-efficacy is concerned. Me: As far as self-efficacy is concerned. I believe I have the intelligence or common sense required for achieving success. I have also the drive and the self-control necessary for achieving deferent goals or success.

Research paper on object oriented programming Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

On object oriented programming - Research Paper Example Procedural paradigm comprises of creating a set of functions or modules and is sometimes referred to as a modular approach. As compared to this, in an object oriented approach, related data and functions are grouped together in order to create objects. Data items are termed as attributes and functions are termed as behaviors in an object oriented paradigm. Their encapsulation through a mechanism furnishes a blue print for an object which is referred to as a ‘class’. It is like a script of a movie or a recipe of a dish. An object Oriented approach towards the creation of a program is based upon the identification of objects at first. The three main principles that lie at the core of Object Oriented Programming are encapsulation, inheritance and polymorphism. An object is a separate instance of a class. It is a combination of data and methods. A class may contain multiple objects. Objects may be composed of smaller objects and the features of basic objects can be inherited into the specialized objects of the same tree. These objects can be used or invoked only through their allowed interfaces that are methods. They may interact with each other by means of these interfaces. Inheritance is the phenomenon whereby which an object inherits the basic properties of the class to which it belongs. The object oriented programs are more secure than the programs written with the procedural approach. The reason is the restricted access of data through encapsulation. The object oriented programs may take more time due to object creation delay as compared to the normal programs. Practical present day examples of Object oriented languages are narrated by Emden and Somoson (2006) as: â€Å"Pizza and GJava are examples of Multi-Paradigm Object Oriented Programming Languages.† Besides these, C++ is also a strong object oriented programming

Banking Regulation and Risks Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Banking Regulation and Risks - Coursework Example One of the reasons for increased leverage generating value for banks is that increased leverage increases the savings from cost of capital obtained from debt funds due to the tax code and subsidized government guarantees. ROE= Net Income/Shareholders Equity ROE can be decomposed to classify the financial drivers of value creation in a company. This is known as DuPont analysis. ROE= Return on assets*leverage Or, ROE= (Net Income/assets)*(assets/shareholders equity) Or, ROE= (Net Income/Revenue)*(Revenue/assets)*(Assets/Shareholders’ Equity) Or, ROE= Net Profit Margin*Asset Turnover*Leverage Thus the three components of ROE is net profit margin, asset turnover ratio and gearing ratio or leverage. The profit margin states the amount of profit made by a bank from its operations. The asset turnover ratio states that how efficient a bank is in using the assets it owns and determines the revenue generated by the bank from its assets. Asset turnover ratio has an inverse relationship w ith net profit margin. The gearing ratio measures the financial leverage and states that how the bank finances the assets it holds, i.e. the amount of assets per pound of shareholders’ equity investment in the bank. Assets are financed by shareholders’ equity and by creditors, and a higher ratio indicates that the bank is getting more finance from the creditors. Thus greater gearing ratio leads to rise in ROE. Illustration: Consider the following data- Revenue= ?29,261millions Net Income= ?4,212millions Assets= ?27,987millions Shareholders’ Equity= ?13,572millions Net profit margin= Net Income/Revenue= ?4,212millions/?29,261millions= 0.1439=14.39% Asset Turnover= Revenue/Assets= ?29,261millions/?27,987millions=1.0455 Leverage=Assets/Shareholders’ equity= ?27,987millions/?13,572millions= 2.0621 ROE= 0.1439*1.0455*2.0621= 0.3102 = 31.02% ROE of 31.02% to a bank is a good indicator of growth. Still, if a bank decides to not to take leverage so as to become d ebt-free, then the ROE drop to 15.04%. Even if a bank decides to assume less leverage than the current, ROE will decrease. Thus, from the above illustration it can be said that ROE can be improved through leverage, i.e. leverage is important for the rise and improvement of ROE. Answer 2. Northern Rock, the UK Bank was the most high-profile casualty of the credit crisis of 2007, as in September 2007 the bank suffered run from its depositors. Northern Rock Building Society, a British Bank was formed in 1997 when the society floated on the London Stock Exchange. The bank specialized in mortgage business, and 90% of the assets of the bank were residential mortgages. Rise in growth, profitability and market value was noticed in the bank’s performance since 2001. The shareholders of the bank were benefitted and the management informed that the business model of the bank was effective in bringing about cost control, high quality asset growth, and competitive products with innovative products and transparency. The following graph summarizes the key growth rates for the years 2001-2006. Source: suerf.org, 2009. The huge gap between risk-weighted assets and total assets made by the extensive regulatory arbitrage raised questions in respect to the quality of assets held by the bank. Due to the aggressive policy of Northern Rock, the bank ended up with a leverage to be the highest in the European sector but the capital that was to serve as a cushion against