Comparative Narratives of Childhood Research Paper

Comparative Narratives of Childhood - Research Paper Example In India, a ban was placed on children below the age of 14 from working; however, this ban has not been strictly imposed. Sonali, a 12-year-old girl from the eastern state of West Bengali is one of these children (Pandey). She worked for two years as a domestic servant in Calcutta and her job was mostly to cook for a five-member household and to clean a three-story house. She also had to endure severe punishments from her employer; one time when she was delayed in serving dinner, burning hot food was poured on her hands. With the help of a neighbor, she managed to escape and was later restored to her family (Pandey). More than a million minor children work at homes or food stalls and the Save the Children organization which works at West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharastra have been monitoring the employment of children and the abuses visited upon them. One of the dangers for these children working is the sexual and physical abuse which is often inflicted upon them. Howeve r, even as the government and other private organizations are seeking to impose the provisions of the ban on minority children working, thousands of children are still working in hazardous industries, including firecracker and matchstick factories, carpet weaving, embroidery, or stitching footballs (Pandey). Most of these children are forced to live these lives of labor because of severe poverty conditions. The Republic of India is an independent country in South Asia which is considered to be a second most populous country in the world and also the world’s largest democracy. Since the 1990s, it has consistently risen as one of the fastest growing economies in the world with a large and skilled workforce; however, it is also plagued with widespread poverty. The country is currently in dispute with Pakistan over the Kashmir region; it has nuclear weapons capability; and enjoys a prolific movie industry with its Bollywood movies (BBC News). It is a federal republic and the head of state is President Pratibha Patil and the head of government is Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Political parties of this country include the Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India-Marxist, and other smaller national parties (Department of State). Its capital is New Delhi and its largest and most populous city is Mumbai; and based on 2010 surveys, it has a population of 1.2 billion people covering 3.1 million sq.km of land which varies from the Himalayas to flat river valleys and deserts in its west (Department of State). Its languages include Hindi, English, and about 16 official languages. Major religions in the country include Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism (BBC News). Its monetary unit is the Indian Rupee and in 2009, its GDP estimates totaled $1.095 trillion with a per capita GDP of $3,100. Its natural resources include coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, chromite, thorium, limestone, barite , diamonds, and crude oil (Department of State). Its agricultural products make up about 17% of its GDP with its products mainly being wheat, rice, coarse grains, oilseeds, sugar, cotton, and tea. Its industry is about 28.2% of its GDP with products like textiles, jute, processed food, steel, cement, aluminum, petroleum, chemicals, and computer software (Department of State). Its services and transportation make up about 54% of its GDP.

Firm Resources and Sustainable Competitive Advantage Research Paper

Firm Resources and Sustainable Competitive Advantage - Research Paper Example Since strategic management influences each and every department of the company it, therefore, takes each and every department into consideration while developing the hardcore organizational goals and policies. Thus from this we can gather that strategic management is basically used to give a sense of direction to the organization, it provides each and every department the goals that it needs to achieve and a policy to work towards these goals, such as the importance of strategic management for an organization and hence this is handled directly by the board of directors or the CEO and rightly so. Many a companies have failed to make it right to the top because they have placed lesser emphasis on strategic management and they have also overlooked the fact, most conveniently, that for different situations there needs to be different strategy altogether and since each and every firm is different, much like individuals, the difference in cost structures and other factors should be taken i n to consideration while developing a strategy. For this to be done the company must keep a keen eye on the competitor i.e. a competitor analysis should be done whenever the need arises this is extremely important because in certain market structures there exists a high level of interdependency and hence the decisions one's competitor makes is of great importance to the company itself. The company needs to indulge in self-evaluation as well because to ascertain where the company is heading and what the current situation within the company is, a self-evaluation is of great importance. Self-evaluation also pinpoints the choke points or the points where the company needs to focus and remove the hindrances in order to move forward. The third player in any market is the government or the economy of that particular area and hence to have a successful strategy it is extremely important that company evaluates the economy on the macro as well as the microeconomic scale. As far as the iron ore and steel industry are concerned it is extreme ly important that the carry out the macro and micro-economic studies because this industry is the provider of raw material to a number of other industries and hence if the macroeconomic situation is good enough then the company would do better and it should also be able to predict what is going to happen in the next 6-12 months and hence plan accordingly because a steep fall in demand can cause huge losses to an industry that is as large as this.  

Researches shows that the average Americans watches as much as 6 hours Essay

Researches shows that the average Americans watches as much as 6 hours of television each day, do you think this is too much Wr - Essay Example Since many people especially the youth prefer watching episodes that have violence, this source of entertainment has a negative effect on how they view violence in society. According to Sheppard, an American child sees up to eight thousand murders before completing elementary school, which translates to about 200,000 violent acts by the time that child, is eighteen. There is also a scientific connection between watching violent movies and violence in real life where scientists have confirmed that there is a relation between watching aggressive acts and performing such acts in real life. Therefore, although television is an entertainment source, watching it for a long time has becomes bad when one begins imitating what they have seen on television. Those who argue that television is a good source of relieving stress claim that it enables them to forget the problems they have in life and be able to enjoy themselves. Those with this view clam that television does not only entertain, but it also offers them a chance to find something to laugh about after they have encountered a stressful day in their regular activities. However, this cannot be true since instead of relieving the stress one has, television creates a distraction where you are transferred from the realities of life to a world of fantasy and imaginations. What is presented to the viewer is mere acting that makes you forget the problems for a while but they are still there. According to Blesi, Wise, and Kelley-Arney (74) watching television is part of withdrawal behavior where an individual avoids dealing with an issue that is related to a painful or difficult situation. This implies that those who watch television for a long period are escapists who do not want to deal with the realities that come with their real life and instead choose to watch programs on television some of which presents ideal situations where everything is okay and people are happy. Such individuals will not give themselves a chanc e to go past the issue that is stressing them since they sped the time for self-reflections on television instead of spending such time analyzing the situation as it is and proactively coming up with possible solutions. Although those who watch television for long hours claim that it’s a leisure activity or among their hobbies, watching television wastes time as a person stays for a long time glued to the television set. Long hours of television viewing prevent an individual from engaging in other processes that will add more benefits. According to Sheppard (106), an average of six hours and forty-seven minutes are spent watching television daily in USA which translate to those of age sixty five having spent up to nine years watching television. Nine years can be spent doing many important things in life. One can earn a lot of money if engaged in economic activities. The time could also be spent undertaking an educational or vocational training that will be more beneficial to the individual as opposed to spending that time watching television. Although it true that watching television is a leisure activity, spending many hours on the sofa set can cause weight gain. Edelstein and Sharlin (91) notes television contributes to weight gain since it reduces physical activities, increases calories as one consumes more and the level of resting metabolism is low for such individuals. According to Nonas and Foster

Problem Solving Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Problem Solving - Essay Example Employees demanded for pay rise and the newly appointed managing director (MD), promised to solve the issue by the end of the year after consulting the board of directors (BOD). However, the BOD did not meet and the MD instructed the public relations (PR) office to relay the information to the employees. The PR officer then walked from office to office at lunch break to inform the employees whom most of them had gone for lunch in various places. The PR then promised to return to the various offices after lunchtime but unfortunately tripped on the stairs and had to be hospitalized. The MD had also gone for a meeting with the state’s health department. The employees who were eagerly waiting for the MD’s message got impatient and called for a strike. Although the strike was called off the next day, a few people were injured and most of them threatened to pursue charges on the management. Several factors affect communication in our organization. Authority structure in the o rganization is so bureaucratic such that there are a number of procedures to be followed before delivering information. An employee follows very long procedures before booking an appointment with the MD. Most of the computers used are old-fashioned and not support some applications hence making it had to interact. Some of the softwares used in the hospital do not support the hospital’s operations. Professionalism also plays a major role in influencing the hospital’s communication system. Doctors and other paramedics take themselves to be superior to other non-paramedics claiming that the institution being a health facility, is only important for them. Listening is one of the most important skills that comprise a larger percentage of an effective communication in an organization (Ellis, 2009, p.15-18). Good listening includes showing interest to the information being communicated by avoiding interruptions. Listening reduces mistakes while undertaking tasks given in an o rganization. Additionally, while speaking either in the office or in seminar, one should first allow others to speak, gather information by taking notes, and carefully think about others opinion. Before answering any question, acknowledge what other employees had talked about. Respond to the issues raised tactfully and plainly while giving practical examples and state your opinions on why you are disagreeing with others opinion. Moreover, a manager or an employee of an organization should always prepare before going for a forum, departmental meetings, taking phone calls, going for a media interview, writing a formal letter to other employees or internal memos. An employee should put down in writing any question to be asked or an explanation that is required from him. Additionally, an employee should dress well to give him confidence of addressing others and prepare himself physiologically for forums. Early preparation boosts interaction with other employees. Communication overload i s one of the barriers of effective communication in an organization. Communication overload may render information meaningless and it includes long and repetitive talking hours in meetings and forums. It may also mean sending meaningless or less important mails to employees .The distance between the sender such as the MD with the employees especially branch managers. Language barriers and cultural differences may hinder relay of information. An employee may communicate in a language