Alex Sanders Hbr Case

Team Assignment: Alex Sanders Memo To: Mr. Sam Glass From: Team 8 Date: March 2nd, 2013 Subject: Alex Sanders In response to your inquiry regarding Alex Sanders and performance management, we urge you to consider the following recommendations. Your perception of Alex as a go-getter is absolutely accurate; he has the intellect, drive, and ambition to accomplish goals with great success. In fact, much of the group’s success is correlated with Alex’s involvement.We realize that his personal motivators are compensation, mastery of new tasks, and being spotlighted for his successes. In contrast, your firm is hoping to extract value through increased teamwork, mentorship, and facilitating a more comfortable workplace. Through this juxtaposition, we believe that Landon Care Products should tie a portion of Alex’s compensation and future project designations to his ability to improve in the following metrics: overall team incorporation on projects and formal mentoring pr ocess to direct reports.This alteration will incentivize Alex to delegate work effectively and trust his team members, while ensuring that they are continuously coached and can extract value from his expertise. We realize that Alex may not be entirely welcoming of this change initially, but if you raise his achievable compensation level and designate a future promotion – both of which are contingent upon his improvement – Alex will create positive new habits. In terms of performance management processes, we believe that the 360-degree method not a worthwhile means of performance feedback.The data is often flawed because it is not an objective measure: employees subconsciously evaluate their associates’ performance in relation to the benchmark set by their own performance. As such, the data can be inherently flawed. We recommend that Landon Care Products use a balanced scorecard system to capitalize on the multi-dimensional performance measurement. This will give Alex and his colleague evaluation from multiple perspectives while mitigating the inherent biases of evaluating one’s peers and superiors. Alex Sanders Hbr Case Team Assignment: Alex Sanders Memo To: Mr. Sam Glass From: Team 8 Date: March 2nd, 2013 Subject: Alex Sanders In response to your inquiry regarding Alex Sanders and performance management, we urge you to consider the following recommendations. Your perception of Alex as a go-getter is absolutely accurate; he has the intellect, drive, and ambition to accomplish goals with great success. In fact, much of the group’s success is correlated with Alex’s involvement.We realize that his personal motivators are compensation, mastery of new tasks, and being spotlighted for his successes. In contrast, your firm is hoping to extract value through increased teamwork, mentorship, and facilitating a more comfortable workplace. Through this juxtaposition, we believe that Landon Care Products should tie a portion of Alex’s compensation and future project designations to his ability to improve in the following metrics: overall team incorporation on projects and formal mentoring pr ocess to direct reports.This alteration will incentivize Alex to delegate work effectively and trust his team members, while ensuring that they are continuously coached and can extract value from his expertise. We realize that Alex may not be entirely welcoming of this change initially, but if you raise his achievable compensation level and designate a future promotion – both of which are contingent upon his improvement – Alex will create positive new habits. In terms of performance management processes, we believe that the 360-degree method not a worthwhile means of performance feedback.The data is often flawed because it is not an objective measure: employees subconsciously evaluate their associates’ performance in relation to the benchmark set by their own performance. As such, the data can be inherently flawed. We recommend that Landon Care Products use a balanced scorecard system to capitalize on the multi-dimensional performance measurement. This will give Alex and his colleague evaluation from multiple perspectives while mitigating the inherent biases of evaluating one’s peers and superiors.

Fetal Heart Rate and Defects Essay

Electronic fetal heart monitoring is commonly used for tracking how well the baby is doing within the contracting uterus and for detecting signs of fetal distress. External fetal heart monitoring is performed by attaching external transducers to the mother’s abdomen with elastic straps. The transducers use Doppler ultrasound to detect fetal heart motion, and the information is sent to the fetal heart monitor which calculates and records the fetal heart rate on a continuous strip of paper. More modern fetal heart monitors have incorporated microprocessors and mathematical procedures to improve the fetal heart rate signal and the accuracy of the recording. An echocardiography can be used before birth to accurately identify many heart defects. The mother can be treated with medications that may restore normal heart rhythm in the fetus if the test shows that a fetus’s heart is beating too fast or too slow (Emitting & Waves, R.C., n.d.). The fetal heart starts as a tube which folds and fuses in a complex structure that results in a muscular pump with four chambers and four valves. It is not surprising that small errors in development can lead to a wide variety of structural abnormalities in the 4 chambers, the 4 heart valves, the veins and great arteries. During fetal monitoring, a nurse will evaluate the strip for continuity and adequacy for interpretation, identify the baseline fetal heart rate and presence of variability, determine whether there are accelerations or decelerations from the baseline, identify patterns of uterine contraction, and correlate accelerations and decelerations with the uterine contractions. This will allow the nurse to determine whether the fetal heart rate recording is reassuring, non-reassuring, or ominous (Children’s Heart Federation, n.d). Fetal Heart Rate and Defects The normal fetal heart rate is between 110 to 180 beats per minutes (BPM), but can vary. Fluctuations of the fetal heart rate (usually associated with fetal movement) during different periods of the day are common and often rise above 160, going as high as 180 to 190 and are considered normal. Listening to a normally beating heart using a fetal ultrasound Doppler as early as 8 weeks can offer reassurance and cut down on a lot of stress and help assure that the developing fetus is healthy. While miscarriage occurs in only about 15 percent of apparently normal pregnancies, it only occurs in about 1 percent of pregnancies where a normal heartbeat has been seen or heard (Medscape, n.d). Recent studies conclude that changes in pregnant women’s heart rate and blood pressure due to chronic stress and anxiety can have an effect on the fetal heart rate. The study did not report any negative effects on fetal health but confirmed that emotional based changes in a woman’s cardiovas cular activity can have â€Å"real-time effects† on a fetus. A previous study has shown that stress during pregnancy can cause an increase in the risk of low-birth weight and premature birth. More importantly, increased evidence suggests that pregnancy stress can actually affect the baby’s behavior and functioning later in life (NT: Detection Rate CHD, n.d.). The ability for expectant mothers to listen to the fetal heart rate with a fetal Doppler offers a safe method of early fetal bonding which was previously only available at prenatal appointments with a medical professional. With its approval for in home by the FDA expecting parents have increasingly been opting to rent or purchase fetal Dopplers to help relieve some of the stress associated with the unknowns of early and late pregnancy. Fetal Doppler rentals are currently available through many online retailers at very affordable rates. Fetal heart rate monitoring is the process of checking the condition of a baby during labor and delivery by monitoring his or her heart rate with special equipment. Electronic fetal heart rate monitoring (EFM) was first introduced at Yale University in 1958. Since then, continuous EFM has been widely used in the detection of fetal compromise and the assessment of the influence of the intrauterine environment on fetal welfare (Evans and Niswander, 2000). There are two methods of fetal heart monitoring in labor. External fetal monitoring is done through the skin and is not meant to be invasive. Sensitive electrodes (connected to monitors) are placed on your abdomen over conducting jelly. The electrodes can sense the fetal heart rate (FHR) and the presence and duration of uterine contractions. Usually, the results of this test are continuous and are printed out, or they appear on a computer screen. Internal fetal monitoring involves placing a electrode directly on the fetal scalp through the cervix. The health care provider may use this method of monitoring your baby if external monitoring is not working well, or the information is inconclusive. Both types of tests are performed to evaluate fetal heart rate and variability between beats, especially in relation to uterine contractions. The tests also indicate the frequency and strength of uterine contractions (Belmont, 1998). Fortunately, fetal heart monitoring tests can detect numerous abnormal situations or conditions during pregnancy, such as reduced blood flow to the developing baby (cord compression), block of electrical signals within the heart muscle, causing an altered heart beat (fetal heart block), incorrect positioning of the baby (fetal malposition), too little oxygen supply to the developing baby, suggest the presence of infection, too little oxygen exchange between the uterus and the placenta, fetal distress, placenta abruption, and severe anemia in the developing baby. Most common heart defects, such as holes between the chambers (atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect) and even more complex conditions such as transposition of the great arteries and tetralogy of Fallot, can be successfully managed after birth (Belmont, 1998). Many of the aforementioned situations detected during a fetal heart monitoring could mean that the baby has a congenital heart defect. There are many types of congenital heart defects which is why it is so important that the fetal heart monitoring be done before and during labor. A fetal heart defect means that the baby will be born with a problem in the heart’s structure. Learning of the child’s congenital heart defect can help to understand his or her condition and what you can expect in the coming months and years. Some congenital heart defects are simple and don’t need treatment. Other congenital heart defects in children are more complex and may require several surgeries performed over a period of several years. Heart-related complications can be temporary or may affect the child long-term (Emitting & Waves, R.C, n.d.). One examples of a congenital heart defect is pulmonary atresia, which is when no pulmonary valve exists, so blood can’t flow from the right ventricle into the pulmonary artery and on to the lungs. The right ventricle acts as a blind pouch that may stay small and not well developed. The tricuspid valve is often poorly developed, too. An opening in the atrial septum lets blood exit the right atrium, so venous (bluish) blood mixes with the oxygen-rich (red) blood in the left atrium. The left ventricle pumps this mixture of blood into the aorta and out to the body. Pulmonary atresia occurs in about one out of every 10,000 live births (Pulmonary Atresia, n.d.). Another type of congenital heart defect is congenital heart block, when detected at or before birth in a structurally normal heart, is strongly associated with autoantibodies reactive with certain proteins. In this defect, the heart’s electrical signal doesn’t pass from the heart’s own natural pacemaker in the atrium to the lower chambers. When this occurs, an independent pacemaker in the lower chambers takes over. The ventricles can contract and pump blood, but at a slower rate than the atrial pacemaker. Complete heart block is most often caused in adults by heart disease or as a side effect of drug toxicity. Heart blocks can be present at birth (Belmont, 1998). Continuous lumbar epidural anesthesia is commonly used for analgesic treatment during labor and delivery; It is still a matter of controversy whether epidural anesthesia has direct or indirect side effects on the fetus. It has been reported that local anesthetics can cause changes in the fetal heart rate patterns in the sense of direct myocardial side effects (Evans and Niswander, 2000). It is apparent that there are marked cardiovascular changes that occur in the fetus with a congenital heart defect compared with the normal healthy fetus. Without the use of fetal heart monitoring tests, we would be unable to determine if the fetus has a congenital heart defect which could drastically delay treatment of the condition. Treatment varies widely with the type of disease, the effect that pregnancy has on the disease, and the effect that the disease has on pregnancy. If it is the fetus that has a problem, serial ultrasounds may be performed. Fetal heart rate monitoring may be necessary, or amniocentesis may be required. In addition, it may be essential to give the mother medications to act on the baby (Belmont, 1998). Summary A fetal heart defect is an abnormality in any part of the heart that is present in an unborn child. Approximately 35,000 infants are born with heart defects each year in the United States. An echocardiography can be used before birth to accurately identify many heart defects. The mother can be treated with medications that may restore normal heart rhythm in the fetus if the test shows that a fetus’s heart is beating too fast or too slow. In most cases, scientists do not know what makes a baby’s heart develop abnormally, but genetic and environmental factors appear to play roles.

Powerless in Love Great Gatsby

Love is a very powerful emotion. It is able to consume a person’s mind and control their every thought, every action and every dream. Scott Fitzgerald demonstrates how love can hold a man’s heart and mind hostage through the portrayal of Jay Gatsby’s pursuit of the love of his life. In Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, Gatsby’s heart and mind remain fixed on his past love of Daisy Buchanan as he creates a dream of once again returning to that moment in the past.Blinded by the illusion of Daisy as a tangible commodity, Gatsby is inspired by passion and love to redefine himself as he risks everything and consequently meets his own demise in his effort to reunite with Daisy and achieve his dreams. After falling in love with Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby fantasizes about their future life together and creates an illusion of her that is far beyond reality. Gatsby is enthralled by his past love, and as a result of his longing desire to restore this moment in time he has created the illusion of a woman synonymous to a goddess.Nick mentions on the afternoon that Gatsby and Daisy are reunited, â€Å"There must have been moments that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of [Gatsby’s] dreams — not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything,† (95). When Gatsby meets Daisy once again after five years, he is disappointed, not by any action of Daisy, but because Gatsby has blown her up to be in equal comparison of a Greek goddess. Daisy is unable to live up to this supernatural illusion.Fitzgerald hints at Gatsby’s impression of Daisy’s superiority through their first kiss. He says, â€Å"At [Gatsby’s] lips’ touch she [blossoms] for him like a flower and the incarnation [is] complete,† (111). At this moment, Gatsby is finally able to touch this goddess that he pictures Daisy as being. His pursuit of this seemingly una ttainable dream is achieved when Daisy kisses him. She is incarnated so to speak from her elevation as a goddess to a tangible idea in Gatsby’s mind. Her illusion of perfectionism changes to an image of a mere woman; an extravagant woman, but not forbidden from Gatsby’s grasp any longer.He makes it his life – long dream to return to this moment in time. When he kisses her he â€Å"forever [weds] his unutterable visions to her perishable breath,† (110). His mind has been locked in his visions of Daisy and he becomes confident with the idea of being able to be with her. This confidence inspires him to redefine himself in order to achieve a position in society suitable to Daisy’s demands. As a result of Gatsby’s dream, he is motivated to become a man suitable to comfort Daisy, and in doing so he must redefine himself and his image in society.Daisy is a woman of inherited wealth; a member of the rich elite class in society. Nick mentions that Ga tsby â€Å"[takes] her under false pretenses. [Nick] [doesn’t] mean that [Gatsby] [has] traded on his phantom millions, but he [has] deliberately given Daisy a sense of security; he [lets] her believe that he [is] a person from much the same stratum as herself— that he was fully able to take care of her,† (149). Gatsby understands that he is not qualified by the unwritten laws of society to be with Daisy. He knows that such a relationship will be shunned by the laws of social life during this time.However, the forbidden fruit is the sweetest. Even though a relationship with Daisy is essentially prohibited, Gatsby strives to be of her class and for the time being lies to her about his social status. He makes her believe that he can support her comfortably in order to give himself a chance at winning over her heart. He learns that Daisy is swayed by money just as much as she is swayed by the looks or charm of a man. Therefore he devotes his life, from the moment o f his first kiss with Daisy to the present time, to accruing a vast amount of wealth and notoriety.He purchases a mansion across the bay from Daisy’s residence perhaps in the hopes that one day she may be interested in this grandiose house lit up like a jack-o-lantern across the bay. Nick has an epiphany of Gatsby’s intentions as he says, â€Å"[t]hen it had not been merely the stars to which [Gatsby] had aspired on that June night. He came alive to me, delivered suddenly from the womb of his purposeless splendor†¦He had waited five years and bought a mansion where he dispensed starlight to casual moths—so that he could ‘come over’ some afternoon to a stranger’s garden,† (78).It is Gatsby’s sole purpose to attract Daisy back into his daily life. For this reason he throws parties once every two weeks in the hopes that Daisy will be intrigued by the music and the lit up mansion across the bay and wander right into his house. Essentially, Gatsby is hoping that Daisy will be attracted to the lights of his house just as moths are attracted to the light of a lantern in the night.He dedicates himself toward this dream of reuniting with Daisy and he creates a facade of a wealthy and flamboyant life believing that if Daisy did ever wander into his house, she would feel that Gatsby is now capable of fulfilling her needs and supporting her comfortably. He valued all of his possessions only on the basis that Daisy may enjoy them. When Gatsby gives Daisy a tour of his mansion, Nick says, â€Å"I think [Gatsby] revalued everything in his house according to the measure of response it drew from her well-loved eyes,† (91).At this point it appears as though Gatsby would be ready to rid himself of any of his possessions which Daisy disliked. Everything in his house is methodically purchased for entertaining Daisy and advertising his wealth. He dedicates himself toward a dream and is willing to redefine himself an d sacrifice everything in the pursuit of Daisy. As Gatsby’s heart remains fixed in the past, he is in a constant struggle with time as he risks everything in his attempt to erase the past and achieve his dream. Gatsby’s vivid memory of Daisy and her beauty has him constantly dreaming of the past and fantasizing of an idea that is impossible.He desires to turn back time and erase Daisy’s relationship with Tom completely. Nick realizes that â€Å"[Gatsby wants] nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: ‘I never loved you. ’ After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken,† (109). Tom is the only obstacle in between Gatsby and the achievement of his dream. Gatsby desires nothing more than for Daisy to admit that she never loved Tom and had always loved Gatsby. He wants to know that she reciprocated his love during the years they had been distant from each other.However, Daisy is unable to admit this and Gatsby’s dream is shattered. As he tries to erase the past in her mind, she becomes further distant from him and all hopes of reuniting are failing. Gatsby desperately attempts to revive his dream, â€Å"[b]ut with every word [Daisy] was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up, and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, undespairingly, toward that lost voice across the room,† (134).Gatsby puts an immense amount of effort into recreating the past and reviving a dream only to see it all collapse before his very eyes. His whole existence is centered on his love Daisy as he is overwhelmed by his obsession to win her heart. He has lost everything and his life has become meaningless. Up to this point, he allows his heart to rule his mind and he has put every moment of the past five years into accruing a fortune to attr act Daisy. Fitzgerald reveals, â€Å"No amount of fire or freshness can challenge what a man will store up in his ghostly heart,† (96).Fitzgerald implies the emotions generated from affairs of the heart have an uncanny power to control a man’s actions and his dreams. It is the power of Gatsby’s heart that leads him on his journey and motivates him to create his dream and his illusion of Daisy as a tangible ideal. This illusion initiated by his passion and love leads him to his own downfall and the collapse of his dreams. As a result of his heartfelt love for Daisy, Gatsby’s every moment is controlled by a time-warped illusion of his first moments with Daisy and his unfurling dream to recapture the love of his life.His pursuit of love is the force behind his attempt to redefine himself and create a new, wealthy Gatsby, suitable to Daisy and capable of achieving his dream of the two reuniting in love. Fitzgerald effectively demonstrates the power love has o ver a man’s soul and actions through the portrayal of Jay Gatsby in his quest and ultimate failure to win the heart of Daisy in his novel The Great Gatsby. Through his characterization of Gatsby, Fitzgerald illustrates that no matter how much passion or confidence a man may put into his dreams, they may never be achieved and may leave that man with nothing.Jay Gatsby epitomizes the affects the pursuit of love can have on a man as he passionately throws himself into his dreams of living happily ever after with Daisy and bases his whole existence around her. Consequently, although Gatsby is able to redefine himself into a rich and powerful man in a materialistic sense, the failure to win Daisy’s love renders him powerless as he is left with an empty heart and a dead, meaningless dream.

The Texas Judicial System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Texas Judicial System - Essay Example One of the most complex elements of the judicial system is that there are two distinct systems - federal and state, even though most of the cases are filed in state courts. Texas' system is based on confusing array of courts with overlapping jurisdictions and has the double court system even at the highest appellate level. The Texas Supreme Court has nine members and is the last resort in civil cases. The nation has much criticized the Texas judicial system, especially for the large campaign contributions during elections of the state judges and high execution level, however, in overall the system is not very effective effective. In 1822, the first provisional justice of the piece in Texas has been appointed - Josiah Bell appointed by Stephen Austin. Shortly after the revolution, the Spanish law has been replaced by the Constitution of the Republic of Texas under which the judicial power was focused in Supreme Court. The state was divided into judicial districts - each county had the court and the judge elected by popular vote. However, the chief justice of the state was elected by the ballot of the houses of Congress. The justice of the Supreme Court were elected by the governor with the consent of the Senate, however, in 1850 the offices were made elective (Braden 47). In 1876 additional appellate court of the last resort was established while the Supreme Court did not review the decisions of the Court of Appeals. Within the next decade, the intermediate level of appeal courts was established. In 1891, the Court of Appeals became the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals with the jurisdiction over criminal cases appeals from district and county courts. Today there are three levels of the courts, including district, county and inferior. Moreover, there is no uniform jurisdiction among the levels and it is necessary to examine the statutes of each. There are also courts of appeals and two courts of the last resort. Inferior courts include justice and municipal courts which have the most uniform jurisdiction in the state. The traffic offense cases are filed to inferior courts - they collect fines and are the revenue producers. Counties with more than 30,000 population have from 4 to 8 precincts - each having one justice of peace serving for the term of 4 years. Justice of the peace courts are filed criminal offenses punishable by fine (not more than $5,000). Justice of peace also serve as the magistrates and can issue warrants to arrest and search (Braden 60-68). Municipal courts are established in more than 800 cities and have more than one judge. The city's governing body appoint the judges of municipal courts, even though some of the judges are elected by the voters. Municipal courts are not courts of record and have jurisdiction over city ordinances violations punishable by fines. The county courts are divided into two systems: constitutional courts and statutory courts. Constitutional courts have jurisdiction over the inferior courts and criminal jurisdiction over the misdemeanors and civil matters. The judge of the constitutional court has legislative and executive functions and serves the term of four years. The statutory county courts have jurisdiction over civil, family and criminal matters, even though it varies throughout the state. District courts are trial courts and have jurisdic

An in-depth analysis of a Honduras Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

An in-depth analysis of a Honduras - Essay Example Honduras has a great historical figure. He is Florencio Xatruch who had led the country’s armed forces and fought successfully against an attempted invasion by North American filibuster William Walker in 1857. A Honduran can be proudly called by the nickname of Catrocha or Catrocho which is inspiringly derived from the last name of Florencio. Every Honduran takes pride in being called with this nickname. Another noteworthy person hailing from Honduras to be mentioned is Salvador Moncada , one of the world famous scientists who has 12 highly cited papers to this credit. His research on heart related drugs includes the development of Viagra. Moncada works at the University College of London and funds an NGO in Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras. By virtue of the nature’s gift, Honduras is siuated conveniently in a land zone of biodiversity hot spot which is also known as the Mesoamerican region. This region extends from Southern Mexico to Panama and is famous for i ts diversity of species. Like other countries in the region, Honduras too has diverse biological resources and its indigenous cultures as well. As per the biological estimates, Honduras contains approximately 6000-8000 species of vascular plants and the number of reptiles and amphians species recorded so far is around 245.Birds can be between 650-700 species and mammal species are close to 110. Honduras is an embodiment of scenic beauty and natural attractions. 80% of the country’s terrain consists of mountains.

The Post-Washington Consensus policies should be completely abandoned Essay

The Post-Washington Consensus policies should be completely abandoned and countries left to choose their own development paths. Discuss - Essay Example nomic level to be adopted by these developing states, especially the Latin American states and the ex-communist bloc, to help them come out of the dire economic crisis. The main idea behind the propagation of the ideals behind Washington Consensus implied that there would be fre flow of capital across borders, including the free flow of services along with the goods, increasing market efficiency by monitoring and assistance via International Financial Institutions i.e. the IMF (International Monetary Fund). However, during the 1990`s the definition and the context of the Washington Consensus was revised, and consequently what is now being termed as the â€Å"Post-Washington Consensus† was deemed as a product of this development. As opposed to the earlier definition, where the ideals of Washington Crisis were being adopted for the well-being of the developing states, the ideals now being implemented were rather aimed at dictating biased policies on the part of the IFI`s with th e sole purpose of maintaining their status quo which is now being rejected by the mainstream intellectual community in the developing world. The Post-Washington Consensus must policies must be replaced by a progressive set of policies, considering the needs and economic feasibility of the developing world. Also, instead of imposing the neo-liberal policies on the Global South, the states must be left with an option to adopt a set of policies more suitable to their socio-economic setup. The Post-Washington Consensus was inherently flawed in understanding the basic economic structure of the developed states, and adopting generic measures for intrinsically complex state of affairs governing in each setup (Jomo & Fine 2006). Thus, the tools and techniques being applied in this context failed to produce desired results, and thus the wave of disappointment amongst the economically weaker states was instigated. Also, instead of coming off as industrially developed nations, these states turned into

Phenyl Thiocarbanate (PTC) Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based Research Paper

Phenyl Thiocarbanate (PTC) Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based genetic analysis of the PTC genotype using human-specific DNA primers - Research Paper Example Phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) also known as phenylthiorea (PTU) is an organosulfur thiorea that has phenyl ring (Karlsson, Et al., 2001). This chemical has a unique characteristic in that it tastes very bitter to some people or has no taste to other people (Woodings, 2012). PTC tasting is a genetically controlled ability to taste PTC and related substances, these have antithyroid activity (F.D. Kitchin, 1959). The PTC tasting ability is governed by a pair of alleles, dominant T for tasting and recessive t for non-tasting. People who have genotypes TT and Tt are tasters while those with genotype tt are non tasters. PTC tasting is determined by the level of dithiotyrosine in the saliva and this may be correlated to the dislike of plants in the Brassica genus among some people (M. Padmavathi, 2013). PTC is not found naturally, however, the ability to taste PTC correlates with the ability to taste other bitter substances that are found naturally. The PTC gene explains 85% of the total influe nce on whether a person is a taster or a non-taster, other factors such as having a dry mouth, explain the remaining 15% (HHMI, 2015). This explains why some people find some food too bitter to taste while other find this food not bitter at all.PTC has a unique characteristic because it tastes bitter to some people and has no taste to others. . PTC tasting is a genetically controlled ability to taste PTC and related substances that have antithyroid activity. Genotype refers to the genetic makeup or composition of an organism.

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

Google - Essay Example In this key segment of its business operations, Google garners nearly 60% of the market share. Its closest competitor Yahoo can only manage a 28% share of the market. At a distant third is MSN, with 6%. Google’s domination of the search engine market is comprehensive. So much so that â€Å"google† finds entry in the latest edition of Oxford dictionary. It is used in contemporary English as both a noun and a verb (Tischler, p.52). Google Inc.’s revenues have risen from half a million dollars in 2002 to more than 10 million dollars in 2006. During the same period, the net income rose from 99,656 dollars to 1,002,162 dollars, a whopping 90% increase. This growth outclasses its competitors in volume as well as proportion. The internet search engine industry is expected to scale $13 billion mark by 2010, which places Google is in a good position industry-wise. Nevertheless it has to confront new competition from InterActiveCorp, which, by virtue of acquiring Ask Jeeves Inc. recently, had transformed into a formidable player and in the industry (www.marketresearch.com). Google’s competitive advantage also lies in its simple, uncluttered and intuitive user interface. The home page offers only a few essential services to its users. In comparison, Yahoo’s homepage is a collage of 60 services competing for the attention of the user. The MSN’s homepage is not too dissimilar to that of Yahoo’s. However, attributing Google’s leadership to its interface alone would be unjust. After all, every search deals with a database of astronomical number of web pages, to pick and order the results on the basis of relevance. To be able to do this in a fraction of a second and with no errors requires a sophisticated coordination across different technologies. And no business enterprise has mastered this art better than Google. Its Adsense program is a classic example of

School Guidance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

School Guidance - Essay Example It has laid down in clear terms what are the responsibilities expected of the school counselors with regard to various groups of people who are directly connected with the school counseling program. iv) The counselor should rely only on tested evaluation programs and interpret the results of those evaluations in such a manner that it paves the way for further development of the student smoothly and steadily. i) Should respect the rights and responsibilities of parents/guardians for their children and should try to establish, an effective, collaborative relationship with parents/guardians in order to facilitate the student’s maximum development. ii) Should keep the parents and guardians posted about the results of the evaluation programs undertaken by the counselor and get their suggestions also for further corrective and suggestive actions that may be warranted for the benefit of the student’s overall development. In addition, the ASCA has also described the school counselor’s responsibilities to the Teachers and Staff Members and the Community members. If only the school counselor adopts a really professional approach, all the stakeholders, the students, their parents, the school and the community, will benefit immensely. This puts a greater responsibility on their shoulders which they can discharge efficiently if they adhere to the professional standards chalked out by ASCA, in their National Model with the 4 principles of foundation, delivery, management and accountability. Foundation: The professional school counselor understands the school’s mission and aligns the counseling program with the former to achieve overall success in providing academic, personal/social and career development needs of the students. In accomplishing this task, the shift has to be in changing the student counseling program from being just a service-centered activity to

Maldives and Sustainable Development. Understanding and Developing the Essay

Maldives and Sustainable Development. Understanding and Developing the Role of Tourism in the Economy of Maldives - Essay Example This paper examines the role of tourism in the economy of Maldives in order to recommend specific programs that promote sustainable development. In this light, this paper begins with a general overview of Maldives by emphasizing on its geographical features, and the unique culture of the Maldivian people. After this, an intensive look at the economy of Maldives is done by crucially studying its top three sectors: tourism, construction, and fisheries. Then, the discussion is narrowed down on tourism by having an in-depth look at current tourism statistics, current market segments, and major products and services. This part is closely linked at an analysis of the positive and negative impacts of tourism on the economy and environment of Maldives. This paper concludes with a presentation of specific programs that can be used to promote sustainable development in Maldives. The Republic of Maldives is an archipelago that is consisted of 26 coral atolls, located in the northern Indian Ocean. It is comprised of 1,190 islands, and 200 from which are inhabited (Maldives Marketing & Public Relations Corporation, 2009). Its capital island is called Male’. Its climate is warm and tropical, and seasonal changes are determined by the two yearly monsoons—the northeast monsoon and the southwest monsoon (Corporate Travels and Tours, 2011). The Maldives has a population of approximately 350,000. Its type of government is Independent Republic, while its primary religion is Islam. The currency used in this country is Rufiyaa (1 USD = MRF 15.42). B. People and Culture The culture in the Maldives is tightly linked with the geographical features of the country. As claimed by Red Dot (2009), the physical features of the Maldivian people differ from one atoll to the other, attributing to the genes passed on by South and Southeast Asians, Africans, and Arabs. It can be said that this racial mix has also marked the differences in the Maldivian people’s language, beliefs, and sub-cultures (Countries and their Culture, 2012). The mixing of cultures is evident in the Maldivian arts and craftsmanship. For one, the musical instrument used by Maldivian people called bodu-beru (big drum) resembles that of common African drums. Also, the dhoni is a unique Maldivian sailboat that has an overall design similar to the dow of Arabian countries. Last, the fine artistry behind the wooden beams in Maldivian antique mosques can be attributed to the architecture in Southeast Asian countries. Maldivians are known for their adaptation skills and positive outlook in life. They are generally cheerful, welcoming, and hospitable. In terms of their belief system, Maldivians still appreciate the upholding of unity and oneness in faith, but modernism has delivered a whole new culture with new sets of ideas and attitudes to the people. II. Maldives: Economy According to United States Virtual Presence Post or USVPP (2012), the economy of Maldives is based primarily on tourism and fishing. However, the other key sectors of Maldivian economy are construction, distribution, telecommunications, shipping, aviation, and banking support. A. Background on Economy The Maldives has achieved substantial economic growth over the last several decades (USVPP, 2012). In 2009, the country attained the highest GDP at around $1.3 billion, which is about $4,300 per capita. Tourism, the primary contributor of GDP, remained relatively strong due to the increase in tourist visits as evidenced by the growth in total bed-nights (The World Bank, 2011). However, it was also in 2009 when Maldivian economy shrank by 4 percent. Indeed, as USVPP (2012) further asserted, the fall in tourist arrivals, external financial, and product exports were all contributed by the global economic crisis that severely hit the country during that year As

Discovery of gold Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Discovery of gold - Essay Example Several explorers came in search of gold and the subsequent major discoveries of gold deposits contributed to the rise of the region’s economy as well as industrial growth (The History of Gold Mining). The earliest reported discovery of the yellow metal was in the year 1803, when the explorer James Purcell found some nuggets of gold by the South Platte River (The History of Gold Mining). This was followed by other discoveries such as the 1820 expedition lead by Lieutenant John. C Fremont during which members of his exploration party discovered gold in about six different places in and around present day Colorado (A General History of Colorado). However, as the California gold rush happened during this period these findings did not gain much importance; nevertheless it provided an opportunity for gold-seeking groups to pass through the rocky mountain region of Colorado. As these prospectors returned with very little findings of gold in California, they decided to explore gold along the South Platte River, Cherry Creek and Clear Creek and were successful (Gold!Gold!Gold!). One such group from Georgia lead by William Russell became the first to discover small quantities of placer gol d. These people settled down in that region and collected gold deposits from the streams between the years 1858-59. However, rich deposits of gold were found by George Jackson in the year 1859 along the Clear Creek region. With this finding he began to mine the placer gold deposited in the region near Idaho springs where the Clear creek joins the Chicago creek. In the same year another gold-seeking prospector from Georgia, John Gregory discovered a quartz vein made of gold resulting in the first discovery of consolidated or lode gold. This paved the way for the establishment of the Blackhawk-Central city mining region near the Creek. Following this find several deposits of gold were found in many locations around present day Colorado leading

Customer Relationship Management Strategy Essay Example for Free

Customer Relationship Management Strategy Essay 1)Introduction Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become a main focus for businesses with today’s markets becoming more saturated and competitive. ‘Customer Relationship Management is the ultimate challenge for marketing experts in any business. A successful company will use customer information wisely to build relationships with their customers, on the level that together they will work together towards a long-term relationship.’ (Xu et al. 2002) High customer Intimacy can be produced from these processes and strategy. ‘Customer intimacy is an essential factor in the Customer Relationship Management value chain’ (Buttle, 2004). This marketing strategy consists of a business using ways to get close to clients with benefits for a business including improved highly tailored problem solving capabilities and greater adaptation of products to customer needs, as well as higher customer loyalty levels. This customer intimacy has a major impact on the success on a company and we can see this in modern organisations. We see that customer satisfaction alone is not enough,’Oglivy Loyalty Centre found that, although 85% of customers reported being satisfied, only 40% repurchased’ (McKenzie,1995) and therefore customer must use CRM to help improve their customer intimacy. However, to what extent does the strategy and processes involved with CRM help achieve this customer intimacy and in what was are these processes seen as beneficial for both the customer and the company. The focus of this paper is to look at the ways in which organisation use various forms of CRM strategy and processes in order create better, and lasting relationships with their customers. 2)Membership Cards One way in which many companies, especially retail, aim to increase their customer intimacy is through membership card schemes. These can come in many different forms from and offer a variety of advantages for the customer to use. The main feature of all of these themes is that the customer is rewarded in some way, and in effect, keeps the customer happy and encourages repeat trade. However many card schemes go a step further and are used for the advantage of both the customer and the company. ‘Around 80% of UK households participate in at least one customer loyalty card scheme’ (Stone et al. 2008) and they come in different forms such as the Tesco’ Clubcard, Boots’ Advantage Card and Sainsburys’ Nectar Card. The common feature these cards have is that not only do they provide offers for the customer, but they allow companies to collect valuable data which, in turn improves customer intimacy between the business and the customer. ‘Using customer data and targeting those customers helped make the retailer’s transition much more efficient’ (Shaw, 2012). 2.1)Membership Card Achieving Customer Intimacy This data is extremely valuable to a company. They spend millions of pounds each year conducting market research to try and find out their customers’ requirements, expectations and preferences. With the use of this card, the technology builds up this information and stores it all to databases. This provides a company with useful information which will allow them to target their customers in such a way that they can build up an everlasting relationship. ‘Customer Relationship Management is grounded on high quality customer-related data and enabled by information technology, (Buttle, 2009). With this card, a business, such as the market leaders of Tescos and Boots can see everything they wish to know about their buyer. This can vary from the information upon registering their card such as age, geographical location, contact details. Along with this, the card will collect data such as what the customer buys, how much they spend and how often. A company can see trends in a particular region, a need for a particular age group and they can segment their products to a more specialised market. ‘Companies get a clear view as to how their business affects individual customers; associated segmentation and other benefits’ (Stone et al, 2008). In addition, to further improve customer intimacy, a company can target a customer and send offers for the products they buy most through email or by post all of which strengthens this bond between customer and company. Here we see a table which shows us the ladder of customer loyalty. With an increase in customer intimacy, a business can take prospecting purchaser and convey them into a loyal customer (Christopher at al, 1998). 2.2)The Cooperative Membership Card The company to demonstrate is The Co-operative Food. Retail chains are at the fore-front for advances in technology and are competing for ways in which to understand their customers and use the strategies to improve customer intimacy. The purchasing behavior in food retail is the most repetitive of all (Manas, 2011), so to get this customer intimacy correct has never been more important. The Co-operative Food (Co-op) uses their loyalty strategy by having membership scheme available to all colleagues and customers. This card acts as most retail cards do in that they collect a customer’s information which is then fed to the company’s data base. There is a number of ways in which this card creates an improvement in customer intimacy. First of all, unlike all of the other schemes available, twice a year the Co-op gives a share of its profits through the post to all of the members of the scheme. ‘You can enjoy your share of the profits along with exclusive member discounts and offers’ (www.co-operative.coop/membership). Along with this, each customer is sent a seasonal brochure from the company. Inside, it gives a customer details of how the company is operating, information of how the company is helping the community, recipes for things to make with the coop products along with vouchers to spend in store. Another scheme used by the coop is membership coupons which are printed at the till terminal which allow money off the next spend. These strategies allow a mutual benefit; the company is updated with a customer’s information, along with the customer receiving healthy benefits from the company encouraging customer intimacy. 3)Customer Interaction Another strategy that many organisations use to create a high level of customer intimacy is through customer interaction. Many companies use schemes which allow employers to either speak face to face with a customer or give them a platform to have their voice heard. ‘By giving your customers a platform for reaching prospects, your marketing efforts become more objective and inclusive’ (Rast, 2012). This customer interaction can be seen in many different forms, varying form feedback surveys, forums or mystery shopper visits. This can be seen in many different organisations which are customer focused. Examples of these include online survey/feedback forms which can be found for most organisations, customer

Note On Development Of Waqf Land Economics Essay

Note On Development Of Waqf Land Economics Essay Introduction 1. There is no doubt that the existence of waqf since the time of the prophet s.a.w is meant for the humans to do good deeds for the society and should benefit the Muslims. Waqf or endowment has been embodied in Islam as one of the good deeds in which the spiritual deed rewarded by Allah with 70 times returns.  [1]  In another verse, the act of philanthropy by disposing out property as an act of charity is encouraged in Islam.  [2]  From economic point of view, waqf is a powerful mechanism in developing the nation in form of charitable instruments which is very unique and beneficial for poverty alleviation programmes. 2. In Islamic tradition waqf is very important. Its potential in future development should not be underestimated. The average rate of return on investments made in developing waqf properties came to a minimum of 20-25% (Rashid, 2012)  [3]  . Besides religious purposes, waqf land has also been used for infrastructure development, education sector, healthcare and public amenities. For example, among the prominent education institutions that were founded and maintained using waqf lands are the Al-Azhar University in Egypt, University of Cordova in Spain, Universitas Islam Indonesia in Jogjakarta, Indonesia  [4]  and AlBukhary International University in Malaysia. While in the healthcare sector, the hospital (Al Noori Hospital) in Damascus and clinics (Klinik Nur) in Malaysia.  [5]   Review of Development in Waqf 3. Recently, there is an increasing interest in reviving the waqf institutions. Several international conferences on waqf have been held in recent years (i.e. Harvard, 2006, 2008; South Africa, 2007; Singapore, 2008; Kuwait, 2008; Iran, 2008, Malaysia, 2010).  [6]  These conferences and seminars have discussed how waqf institutions have been revived by means of interviewing relevant authorities and conducting surveys on waqf land rules and regulations in many parts of the Muslim world. Box 1 provides the example development of waqf lands and properties in Malaysia and Singapore. However, despite various efforts by the governments to enhance the benefits, the utilization of waqf lands is still not being optimized and in fact there are a lot undeveloped waqf lands which have potential to be invested through various instruments. 4. From the perspective of research, the literatures discussed the different usage of Islamic modes of investment for waqf institutions (Kahf, 1998; Hasan and Abdullah, 2008). There are also a few literatures dedicated to the topics of waqf land development. Most of these have discussed the historic development of these lands and their legal aspects (Perai, 2005; Hasan and Abdullah, 2008). There are writings that have classified waqf lands according to how they have been used, for example agriculture, construction, mosques, cemeteries, etc. (MAIS, 2008). There is, limited literature that has categorized waqf lands according to their strategic locations and uses let alone matching them with Islamic investment modes (Noor and Mohamed, 2009). 5. There is no recent news of any worth-mentioning waqf development project except in Malaysia during the last two years (20 major and 70 minor waqf projects have been completed, worth over US$100 million)  [7]  . On the other hand, the number of properties sponsored by the Awqf Properties Investment Fund of IDB (APIF) was not up to the mark. During 2002-03 only 8 projects were developed, while 7 projects in 2009 and 5 projects in 2010. The distribution of dividend from the funds was relatively low at only 2.5% compared to Harta Tanah PNB Trust in Malaysia at 6-7% of income distribution annually  [8]  . In addition, World Waqf Foundation has been very inactive as there is no publication from the foundation since 2004. Box 1. Development of Waqf Lands in Malaysia and Singapore The development of waqf in Malaysia and Singapore especially land is fundamentally aimed at generating more income to waqf institution that could be benefited by the beneficiaries. In the context of Malaysia, there are over 35,727 hectares of registered waqf lands in which may be invested to benefit the Muslims society.[1] One of the recent large scale investments of waqf land in Malaysia was initiated by the Federal Territories Islamic Religious Council together with Tabung Haji, TH Technologies Sdn. Bhd. and Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad involving a project for the construction of a 34-storey building at a cost of RM151 million. Regardless of this development, it is observed however that the utilization of waqf lands is still not being optimized and in fact there are a lot undeveloped waqf lands which have potential to be invested through various instruments. There are various model of investments of waqf land could be adopted by the waqf authority either they are depending on funding from the federal or state government or statutory bodies or financial institutions. The utmost important is that the ability of the waqf institution to choose the most appropriate and suitable methods of financial schemes for any of its investment project. In Malaysia, the instruments of investment of waqf land namely debt-based instrument, equity-based instruments, self-finance instrument and Islamic securities instruments. However, the existing waqf lands have not been strategically categorized and the modes of Islamic investments have been used arbitrarily. In the case Singapore, although many waqf were still managed by the private trustees, all awqaf created are vested in Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura (MUIS) and required to be registered in MUIS. The effective and efficient management of waqf assets and properties by MUIS had enabled waqf revenue to increase exponentially. MUIS also adopted joint venture and partnering approach to develop waqf properties (i.e a S$28 million development of the 20 units of massionette and selling for 99 years lease). This approach and method proved to be an effective way to develop waqf properties, particularly with property prices spiraling upwards and land scarce Singapore. There are many creative solutions in the development of waqf properties. In current properties investment, Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) instrument is a popular route to owning properties as the structure highly appeals to the investors. MUIS has creatively made an internal REITs for its waqf properties (i.e the purchase of a 6-storey office building with a pool of waqf properties). As at 2006, MUIS manages waqf properties and assets worth about S$341 million.[2] As far as financial resources are concerned, cash waqf scheme and modern financial mode of Sukuk Musharaka bond have been introduced to fund waqf development activities. [1] According to a survey conducted by Jabatan Agama Islam Malaysia (JAKIM) in 2000. [2] WAREES PTE LTD (2007). Source: MUIS (2006), Hassan and Abdullah (2008). Binding Constraints to Development of Waqf Land 6. In practice, a wide range of applications of the waqf idea have emerged over time and space, including for purposes of markets, guilds and other civic endowments, usually under the administration of a mutawali, as well as for mosques, schools, cemeteries, housing for the poor and general welfare. In this respect, waqf occupies the ambivalent zone of many charities and philanthropists along with other institutions. However, significant issues facing waqf institutions need to overcome when it comes to process of developing the waqf lands. For instance, the waqf administration is accused of giving less than impartial and just decisions and complaints of bribery against the waqf officials are not uncommon.  [9]  There are also many examples of disputed waqf lands that now in the process of court hearing around the Muslim world. 7. The binding constraints faced by the development of waqf land, among others are: i) unregistered waqf lands without land titles registered in the name of the waqf authority, the land cannot be developed and they remain undeveloped; ii) unexplore option of Istibdal on non-prime land or sale Istibdal or substitution would be a suitable alternative to non prime land being exchanged for prime or more suitable lands for identified development initiatives or refurbishment; iii) waqf on leasehold land and properties classified as national heritage waqf authority may encounter obstacles developing waqf land that are leasehold (till lease expires) or classify under the category of national heritage under the auspices of respective local authority; iv) legal framework to understand different legal frameworks of waqf administration and waqf matters; and v) security for financing route for project financing, the concept of waqf may not allow exceeding to the requirement for land becoming collateral which is a basis for financing. 8. In term of waqf institutions, it is undoubtedly unsatisfactory. In many areas, there has been a devastating evidences of awqaf. The awqaf institutions are not given proper attention and therefore, vast awqaf properties are ill-managed. The inevitable consequence is much dilapidation and disrepair. Even the best wqaf buildings, with tremendous commercial potential, are not getting basic repairs and maintenance (Ahmad and Khan, 1998). Indeed there is a general feeling that waqf properties of the highest quality, is now some sort of cheap commodity, available in the commercial market. On top of which the virtual collapse of institution of awqaf has resulted in a vacuum which, in most Muslim countries have failed to fill in the gap. The reasons for this include: i) poor legislative framework; ii) administrative lapses; iii) lack of political will; iv) indifferent attitude of the management committee of the awqaf; v) lack of funding; and vi) lack of honesty and integrity. Proposed Framework for Waqf Land Development 9. There are vast un-managed assets of awqaf in the world where Muslims also represent a huge amount of social wealth. In the development process, these can be combined to produce necessary facility of social services especially for the poor people (Bellhachmi, 2004). The institution of awqaf could play a better role in the process of social and economic development. In order to achieve this stage, there is a need to give special attention to the development of the vast under-used awqaf properties to reactivate its functions and ability to provide those important services they used to carry out in the past. One of the major problems in relation to reviving awqaf is a lack of funds for regenerating the productivity of the waqf land/properties as well as other moveable and immovable assets. 10. The intended development of waqf lands/properties may be either for the purposes of revivification or advanced in the sense of investment. There are several mode of financing can be employed for development of awqaf lands such as issuing output share, partnership share, leasing etc. Sabit (2006) has divided the development of waqf assets into three (3) main methods: i) credit based finance; ii) joint venture or equity and income sharing; and iii) self-financing. The combination of these three methods of financing or two of them may also necessary based on the requirements of the waqf assets. 11. Based on the recent studies and practices, this study proposes for establishment of waqf assets as an offer of alternative investment through the issuance of sukuk, complemented by cash waqf fund. In order to develop awqaf projects, creating cash waqf fund (i.e Malaysia and Singapore) and sukuk mode of finance (Singapore) will build up trust between investors, depositors and the awqaf institutions for enhancing the financial benefit. It is expected that these two sources of Islamic investment funds will allow the Muslim ummah to invoke waqf contributors motives by financing into the awqaf projects so as to fulfill the objectivities of the awqaf. The details of these two sources of funding for the development of awqaf institutions are discussed below: Before undertaking the development of waqf lands, IDB needs to fulfil three basic requirements: i) develop a co-ordination mechanism between IDB and waqf authority for the purpose of compiling waqf lands information; ii) identify and profile strategic waqf lands for the purpose of commercial activities (i.e hospitals, educational and training institutions, real estate); and iii) form a potential partnership in the form of SPV- IDB as a partner (sharik) with the potential waqf authority to undertake specific waqf projects/investments. Many wqaf institutions simply do not have the funds to develop new capacity while keeping their existing work going on. Waqf assets, through the issuance of sukuk (Islamic bond), offer an alternative investment. Most important point is that sukuk as a product is linked the returns and cash flows of the financing to the assets purchased, or the returns generated from an asset purchased. Therefore, sukuk can be used as a tool to finance for development of the waqf properties. The main objective is to provide long-term support with a focus on building capabilities and showing results. There are several types of sukuk but two, ijara sukuk and musharakah sukuk, are most popular in the real estate financing and for creating funds for construction of new complexes. The development of waqf assets through the issuance of sukuk may be most suitable by using the musharakah financing principle, due to three elements: i) it represents new source of funds on basis of profit and loss-sharing; ii) it is vital to developing awqaf lands; and iii) there is a great deal of surplus cash sitting in Islamic financial institutions. Figure 1. Illustration for Waqf Land Development Source: authors illustration Figure 1 summarizes the cycle for waqf land development via sukuk. The waqf management board creates a musharakah venture. Waqf management board also will also appoint a Waqf Asset Manager as an agent to develop the land. In order to mobilise the fund through musharakah sukuk the following mechanics can be employed  [10]  : i) the waqf asset manager and special purpose vehicle (SPV) enter into a musharakah venture to develop waqf land for a period with pre-determine profit sharing; ii) the waqf asset manager enters into a two-year forward lease agreement with construction company; iii) on behalf of the waqf management board, waqf asset manager contributes land to the musharakah venture; and iv) the SPV contributes cash as capital to build commercial building on the waqf land. The musharakah sukuk can be complemented by cash waqf fund. Cash waqf has become increasingly popular among Muslim, particularly because of its flexibility, which allows distribution of the waqfs potential benefit to be benefited by the poor. Cash waqf fund may be opened for soliciting cash waqf with the intention to support services to mankind in the name of God. The donors (waqifs) of this fund will give their cash money for the purpose of financing the development of awqaf land/building/properties. The waqf mutawalli will manage this fund and the fund will be utilized for providing revolving loans for development of awqaf properties. This loans that are payable to the fund, to be utilized again for financing other awqaf properties. Conclusion 12. This note examines briefly the nature of waqf land development, review recent literature and practices on waqf land development and propose a solution to undertake waqf land development for ISFD. The development of waqf lands is an important milestone for ISFD given the fact that there are large amount of undeveloped and ill-managed waqf lands in the Muslim world. By providing the expertise on enhancing the awqf institutions and develop waqf land in member countries, it is expected from this undertaking that the institution of awqaf could play a better role in the process of social and economic development but also generate additional source of income for ISFD to combat poverty in member countries. This note proposes ISFD to consider undertaking waqf land development through the issuance of sukuk and developing cash waqf fund together with member countries.

The Manager From Uzbekistan English Language Essay

The Manager From Uzbekistan English Language Essay This time, the manager from Uzbekistan is heading to Malaysia, to the beautiful country of forests and mountains, located in southeast Asia. Malaysia is a very interesting country that combines the features of the West and East cultures, it uses the development system of the Western culture, but at the same time, remains the traditions of the East. The people, who live there, Malaysians, are really proud of their country, their history and their culture. The formation of the Malay culture was influenced by many nations in the past, including local inhabitants, Malays who moved there, Chinese and Indian traders and, of course, the British colonizers. Even now the Malaysia is a multicultural country, where people of different nations live and cooperate together, especially Malays, Chinese, Indians and Eurasians. The unity is also supported in Malaysias motto, which is directly translated as Unity is Strength. The Malaysian constitution proposes the freedom of religion, nevertheless, it has clearly stated that the Islam is the main state religion and Malay is the main language. British influence can be observed in Malaysias governance as Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy with a king, who is a head of state, the Malay constitution is also based on English Law. I personally think that for Uzbek manager it wont be as hard to understand Malaysian culture as we have the same religion and some similar traditions, but anyway lets help him. Hofstedes framework Lets look at the Malaysia in the framework of the Hofstedes model, which measures such cultural dimensions as the power distance, individualism and collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and femininity, long-term and short-term orientations. Power distance According to (http://geert-hofstede.com/malaysia.html), power distance is the degree, by which the society tolerates the inequality of power and authority and the division on social stratas. In other words, are people comfortable with the idea that their society consists of poor people as well authoritative and powerful people? The statistics from (cont) show that Malaysia has a very high score of 104 in power distance index, which means that inequality of people is encouraged in this country, there is a strong hierarchy and every person has his own place. In the organizations, boss or manager is the source of power and his decisions are right like the law, so they must be performed by lower ranking employees without any challenges. Anyway, lower ranking employees always expect to be told what they should do. In addition, it means that contact with the boss can be achieved only through the command line. According to (http://typeandculture.org/Pages/C_papers93/20Ismail.pdf), survey sh owed that 69,4% of Malaysian managers use the sensing-judging style or tell style of communication with their subordinates, they always control and tell employees what to do. Individualism and collectivism Further dimension, individualism and collectivism, as it can be understood, refers to how people are treated in the culture as an individual person or they tend to belong to a certain group, in other words, do people say I or we about themselves. The statistics from (cont) show 26 low score in individualism index, which means that collectivism is more developed in Malaysia. People belong to a certain groups and there is a strong relationship between the group members, so that the group members always take care of each other. Success is considered to be the result of the group work performance. The individual person who doesnt belong to any group isnt respected and even counted. According to (http://www.idjrb.com/articlepdf/malaysiamanagers.pdf) there are lots of Malay proverbs promoting collectivism and here are the few: A heavy load should be borne together as well as a light load ,As a bamboo conduit makes a round jet of water, so taking counsel tog ether rounds men to one mind. Uncertainty avoidance The third dimension is uncertainty avoidance referring to(http://www.contentfy.com/malaysia-analysis/) , which shows the degree by which cultures are afraid of uncertainty and try to avoid it. Again the statistics from (cont) shows 36 index, meaning that Malay culture is more tolerate towards uncertainty. While USA tries to control the uncertainty by rules or actions to minimize it, the Malay culture dont have against uncertainty rules and they just let it be the way it is. Due to risk about future, people are more flexible to changes there. Masculinity and femininity The next dimension is masculinity and femininity, which describes the main cultural traits of society. This time, referring to (cont) Malaysia has 50, which means that it has features of both masculine and feminine cultures. Masculinity can be seen in placing male traits such as competitiveness, power and success as the main cultural values, whereas, for feminine cultures the important values are the life quality and relationships. Of course, most Malaysians work very hard in order to be successful, and, as a collectivistic culture, they also dont forget about importance of maintaining good relationship within the group, therefore Malays mostly try to combine both in the workplace. Long-term and short-time orientation Finally, I am pretty sure that Malays as a people, who tend to have relaxed time nature and who value the strong relationships and success, would prefer long-term orientations as only long period of time can help to achieve success and strong relationships. In addition, (http://www.contentfy.com/malaysia-analysis/) states that Malaysians do not rely on the short term goals but rather they focus on long term goals to be achieved which make them one of the developing nations of the world. Halls model Now we will find out the communication style of Malays using the Halls framework, which proposes that there are high-context and low-context communication cultures. I would surely state that Malays are the high-context communication culture. This decision is right with reference to (http://businesscommunication.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/09ABC05.pdf), which clarifies that high-context communication cultures build close relationships, they use indirect messages and analogous language, and they widely use non-verbal messages in the communication. Close Relationships Firstly, Malays tend to build close relationships during communication. Malays are very hospitable, they always welcome their guests serving them with their traditional food and drinks. This tradition has been also used now in business meetings. The main intention here is to create a comfortable atmosphere for communication. The (same) notes that even during meetings, Malays firstly try to build the relationship with his partner asking him a lot of personal questions. Only after that, the partners get to the business. Indirect messages Further, Malays are comfortable to use indirect messages. They talk around things and leave the message to be understood by the interpreter. For example, instead of telling the friend directly: I need the ride to home, they say: Oh I am so tired and I need to go home on bus, expecting the message to be interpreted as a desire to get a ride. According to (same), in Malay culture, due to the mutual respect, it is impolite to tell straightly the desire as it sounds demanding, moreover, it is impolite to express negative feelings directly or to say no. Non-verbal language Thirdly, Malays use the non-verbal messages more in their communication, because their language contains less verbal information, as a result, the Malay interpreter is more sensitive to non-verbal language. For example, according to (same), in Malay culture if the boy acts impolitely by interrupting elders, the long-lasting look of parents is understood by the boy as a sign that he was rude, whereas in USA culture, the boy may just think that parents are listening attentively. Analogous language Finally, according to (same), Malay language is more analogous. One word in Malay language has several meanings at the same time. For example, according to (same) the word beri that is translated as give has 12 meanings in the English language. These 4 factors surely demonstrate that Malays belong to high-context communication culture. Laurents model Laurent has conducted a global research in order to compare the managerial styles in different countries. Managers authority The first interested question was to know the spread of the managers authority outside of the organization in different countries. In my opinion, as Malaysia has a very high power distance, I am pretty sure that Malay managers are autocrats within the organization as well as in the society. Due to the collectivistic culture, either manager is an autocrat in the group of company employees or more likely he belongs to the higher ranking group of managers. Bypassing hirarchy Secondly, Laurent was interested in finding whether the employees are able to bypass the hierarchy for a benefit of effective work or not. According to (webintec), one of the Asian countries, China, has 66% of disagreement in bypassing the hierarchy. With reference to (http://typeandculture.org/Pages/C_papers93/20Ismail.pdf) , I found that the Malay managers are the same as Chinese managers in their value systems. In Malaysia, the power distance is very high, so the bypassing is not appreciated, moreover, it is the sign of disrespect of authority. Manager is an expert Thirdly, Laurent wanted to know is it important for managers to know answers on all work-related questions. According to (webintec), Asian countries show the highest scores for this statement, agreeing that the manager should be an expert in the organization. I think it happens because mostly, in Asian companies, people begin their career from the very beginning, getting promotion with time and expertise. So, as a manager who has experienced everything in the organization, it is important to know answers on all work-related questions. Therefore, the employees there cant become managers until they improve their knowledge to perfect. The manager who doesnt know the answer loses his face. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck culture Now it is time to focus on Kluckhohn and Stodtbecks cultural theories which will help us to determine the value orientations of Malays. There are six values to identify, they are the relationship with nature, time orientation, human nature, behavior, relationship with others and spatial usage. Harmony with nature According to (http://typeandculture.org/Pages/C_papers93/20Ismail.pdf), Malays live in harmony with nature. It means that Malays coexist with the nature in balance like it is proposed in Feng Shui. That is why there are still lots of forests in the Malaysia, according to (http://www.indexmundi.com/malaysia/resource-usage.html), 62,3 % of Malaysian area is still covered by forest. However, harmony also implies the partial usage of nature resources, otherwise, the furniture company couldnt operate without the supply of woods. Time orientation Secondly, (yes) states that the Malay culture focuses mostly on future in time orientation. This implies focusing on long-term goals and planning strategies to accomplish the future achievements. However, Malays also believe that changes in present leads to the success in future. People nature Thirdly, (yes) determines that Malays view their peoples nature as neutral they think there are good people as well as bad people with reference to ying-yang . Malays trust each other, but they also dont forget about being careful. For example, according to (http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/ce_my.htm) for Malays the trust in partner is more important than the written contract, that is why the Malay may ask to repeat spoken business terms, but anyway signs contract for safety. Behavior Further, (yes) inform us that Malays behavior style is being. Being is all about our internal motives to do something that we value or enjoying our lives. Relationship with others Then, due to the combination of the high power index and collectivism, the Malays are subject to hierarchical relation to others in society. In other words, people belong to groups, but depending on his social status. For example, higher ranking people would belong to elite group of high ranking employees. Spatial usage Finally, of course as a collectivistic culture, Malays prefer public spatial usage over private. Malays as a collective workers are used to public spaces. In my opinion, it would be the big room with the big table, where everybody could sit face-to-face in order to work together. Trompenaars model Finally, we got to the Trompenaars model of cultural analysis, where we will distinguish between universalism and particularism, neutral and affective relationships, specific and diffuse relationships, achievement and ascription, sequential and synchronous time approaches, internal and external controls. According to (http://www.via-web.de/universalism-versus-particularism/), Asian countries have particularism tendencies, therefore, the relationship is the determinant of what practices should be applied. For example, before thinking of business, Malays firstly build the relationship with their partner. Depending on level of trust and relationship gained, the terms of agreements may change. For Malays even the spoken contract terms are more crucial than those of written. According to (http://www.contentfy.com/malaysia-analysis/) , Malaysian culture is very neutral, which means that people there control their emotions. They dont show their thoughts and feelings. They try to orient more on reasons than on emotions to act upon. This happened due to the impact of the Asian culture, where respect to other people is emphasized through being neutral in feelings and calm. Thirdly, with reference to (http://www.stanford.edu/group/scie/Career/Wisdom/spec_dif.htm) , it is clear that most East Asian cultures tend to have diffuse relationships, where their relationship also spreads beyond the workplace. As a collectivism is developed in Malay, the new employees who enters the organization, also belongs to the company team, which means that he is interdependent on the group even beyond the office. The ascription is more practiced in Malaysia, because of the hierarchy and respect to elders. The statuses are given depending on the age and authority. The following words from (http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/ce_my.htm) surely prove my words: Malays judge people by who they are rather than what they do. Malay attitude towards time is synchronous, according to (http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/seven-dimensions.htm), they see past, present and future as interwoven, and therefore their view of time is flexible. For example, (http://businesscommunication.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/09ABC05.pdf) notes that even on malay weddings, flexible time scheduling can be observed, because even if the wedding was announced to be held at afternoon, the guests were coming after twelve and even few in the evenings. However, this situation is changing nowadays. Malays as people, who are Muslims, believe in external locus of control or or in fatalism with reference to http://www.contentfy.com/malaysia-analysis/. Fatalism is the strong believe that everything happening good as well as bad is happening by the will of the God, as a result, religious believers are driven by feelings combined with their religious faith. Recommendations: For Uzbek manager, high hierarchy situation would be beneficial because the employees would perform everything told without a doubt, although manager should be active and thoughtful as he is the only decision maker, excluding the boss. Also, if the manager would have a boss, he is strongly recommended not to challenge his decisions. The manager should keep in mind that, in Malaysia, where the collectivism is high, he is going to manage not individuals, but the groups. The performance of the groups is more effective than of individuals, if managed well. As the collectivism is encouraged, also it is advisable for manager to head to Malaysia in groups beforehand or to enter the company group in order to be respected. Uzbek manager should be careful with decisions, because it is risky and difficult to make right decisions in such uncertainty atmosphere as it is found in Malaysia, especially if he hadnt lived there before. The combination of masculinity and femininity allows male as well as female manager to be sent there. Also, it means that manager should not only focus on succeeding on masculine values, but also he should make relationships with other managers, as in such culture belonging to group plays an important role. Due to the long-term orientation, manager should be focused on improving performance and planning strategies in the long-run. According to (http://businesscommunication.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/09ABC05.pdf), Malays have strong feelings of hospitality, therefore they serve their guests with snacks and drinks. Moreover, this tradition is now being used in business meetings. In that case, our manager should at least try the servings to show respect against the partner. However, It is only the beginning, as this process only creates atmosphere for communication. According to (http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/ce_my.htm) , before getting down to business, Malays tend to involve the partner into a very long conversation with a lot of personal questions in order to build a trust and relationship, so, I would advise our manager to be patient. According to (http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/ce_my.htm), Malay businessmen may try to renegotiate even after drafted written contract, it happens because spoken contract terms are more important for Malays than written ones, therefore as a manager, be ready for it. In addition, Malay businessmen will insist on concessions, but wont give up something in exchange, therefore plan several meetings beforehand. According to (http://businesscommunication.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/09ABC05.pdf) expressing the desire and expressing negative feelings is impolite for Malays, therefore as a high-context communication culture, they will be sending indirect messages and using non-verbal signals a lot. For our manager, it means that he should be more sensitive towards the expressed words searching for their hidden context and pay more attention to the non-verbal signals as they will help to decode the context more accurately. Dont bypass the hierarchy in Malaysia, you will lose your face. According to (webin tec), in Asian countries, the manager should be able to answer to any work-related question of the employee. If he couldnt answer, he loses his face, therefore, I advise our manager to be experienced, knowledgeable and to research on everything about companys operations. My personal suggestion is to be ready to the change in the work atmosphere, as I am pretty sure that the group work of Malays will be conducted in one room, where it would be noisy and all people would be sitting face-to face and discussing everything together. According to (http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/ce_my.htm), Malays judge person by who he is, therefore, the manager should be chosen appropriately by age, gender, background, family, previous status and so on. I would suggest that he should be a very experienced and knowledgeable senior manager, preferably male, with a diploma from a famous university and with work experience in most powerful companies, in addition he should be from well-bred family, and also the important thing is that he should be powerful and from the high social stata. Keep in mind that Malays have flexible time nature, so dont be angry if he comes late, however, according to (http://internationalbusiness.wikia.com/wiki/Things_you_should_avoid_in_Malaysian_Business_Meetings), if you are hosting an event you should be punctual. According to (http://internationalbusiness.wikia.com/wiki/Things_you_should_avoid_in_Malaysian_Business_Meetings) left hands and feet is considered as dirty, therefore never use your left hand or legs to do something. However, business cards taken with both hands are the sign of respect. In addition, carefully examine the taken card as it is very respectful. According to (http://www.backpacking-tips-asia.com/malaysia-culture.html#.UKqRcoc3aP1All),Malays are so polite that they cant say no , so dont be too trustful with yes answers. Avoid making meetings on Friday as it is the religious day and Muslims go to the mosque. If you want to invite to a dinner, keep in mind that they dont eat pork and dont drink alcohol; in addition they eat Halal food. If someone gives you a gift, you should give something of the same value in exchange or invite somewhere, in addition, I would advise not to open the gift in the presence of gift presenter. Remove the shoes before entering someones house According to (http://www.backpacking-tips-asia.com/malaysia-culture.html#.UKqRcoc3aP1), if someone invites you, bring a gift but avoid wrapping it in white, blue or black as they symbolize death, also yellow too as it is a royal color. If you want to visit mosque, wear long clothing and cover your head. According to ediplomat, pointing with a finger is insult, keeping the hands in pocket is anger and hitting fist into cupped hand is obscene, in addition, it is not allowed to touch someones head as head is considered as the home of the soul, so dont do all this. According to http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/malaysia.html, the family is considered as the centre of the social structure, that is why elders should be always respected, and it is not allowed to smoke near to them. When introducing, you should first introduce senior or higher-ranking executives and women first According to http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/malaysia.html, the concept of face is different here as it is the indicative of good name, characters and reputation of the generations. And you can easily lose your face if you criticize, disagree or insult someone; if you earn shame to your group; if you challenge an authority; if you deny a request or dont keep your promise. It is also told that, face can be saved by keeping yourself calm. Dont smile as it has several good as well as bad meanings. There are lots of rooms for prayers in the streets, so dont mess them up with restrooms. To greet a person you should lightly touch someones both hands and then bring your right hand to your chest and say Salam. Handshake with women is not allowed, until she offers it first. Just in case, simple smile and nodding is enough as a greeting.

Shakespeare in Love Essay -- essays research papers

The movie that is being compared to a story here is one of the all-time best. The main theme portrayed in "Shakespeare in Love" is a love that is never meant to be. "Shakespeare in Love" parallels the play Shakespeare is currently working on, Romeo and Juliet, in which love is not meant to be due to the many obstacles in the way. Shakespeare's life in the film is very comparable to Romeo's life in Romeo and Juliet. William Shakespeare's life in the film and the play he is writing has several similarities and differences. In my opinion, this is one of the best movies and books to compare. "Shakespeare in Love" is a fairly accurate representation of the life of William Shakespeare at the time he was writing Romeo and Juliet. The young writer at the beginning of the film, is experiencing writer's block. He is writing, but is confused. Will's first inspiration is Rosalind, a woman that has stolen Romeo's heart at the beginning of the play. "Romeo and Rosaline. Scene one. God, I'm Good." (Norman pg.20). This shows how Will is inspired by Rosaline. It is not until he encounters the young noblewoman, Viola de Lesseps, that he discovers true love. This love that he meets is the one who takes his heart and is so special. The connection between Will and the woman he fell are love with is so special. Ultimately this movie is about the making of a great play, but most importantly it is about the power of words. The way they speak to each other is just like a play and it is true love being spoken. This is a connection that is love which, is never meant to last. In Romeo and Juliet, both Romeo and Juliet fall in love with each other as soon as they lay eyes on each other. The difference from this movie and the play, Romeo and Juliet, is that Will and Viola find love but they do not proceed it to the level it needs to go. However, in "Shakespeare in Love," both William and Viola feel true love at first sight, but it is more of an image that Viola falls in love with. She has fallen in love with some that she sees and everything about the poet. The mystique that surrounds William Shakespeare is uncontrollable and that is what she loves no matter what is wrong. It is after she spends more and more time with him that she begins to fall ... ... separated. "Goodbye, my love, a thousand times goodbye." (Norman pg. 116). Shows how Viola and Will had to say goodbye to each other. The reason for Will and Viola not being able to be together is because she is already set to be married. The reason for Romeo and Juliet is that there family and groups hate each other. Also, Romeo and Juliet do not get to act with each other like Will and Viola does. Will and Viola got to see each other much more. I have learned from the movie and the play that these are two very different and similar plots. When I watch the movie Shakespeare in Love, it is like I am watching William Shakespeare live same life as his famous screenplay, Romeo and Juliet. The nice thing about the movie is that no one had to die. Will fall in love with this beautiful woman, Viola de Lesseps. They share a hidden romance. Eventually, they will have to separate because she is already set to marry a man named, Lord Wessex. Sometimes it gets sad to know that they did not get to finish the romance, but Will would use his secret love to be a topic in some of his future love plays. I feel this is a fantastic movie and I would watch it again sometime if I had too.

Speech On Black Panthers :: American History

The purpose of the speech I will give today is to make you folks trust government less, any government. (tell them about Canada) I. How much do you guys know about the civil rights era? Well today I will tell you some startling news about the black panthers, one of the people that gave their life for the cause, and Cointelpro, the FBI program that killed him. II. I am not an expert, but have am in love with the topic. I. The Black Panther Party. A. The Black Panther Party was originally named The Black Panther Party for Self-defense. 1. The Black Panther Party was founded by Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale, and Richard Aoki in October 1966. 2. The name came from a voting drive that was organized. Alabama law required that there is an emblem for illiterate voters, so the mascot for Clark Collage was chosen. 3. They started out in the California bay area as a reaction to the growing crooked cops, blacks not having rights, and the war in Vietnam. 4. They did not fallow passive protest like Martian Luther king; instead they modeled themselves after the Black Nationalism preached by Malcolm X. Also they separated from non-violence and took up arms, being influenced by Robert F. Williams book Negroes with Guns. 5. After Getting out of prison for an assault charge Huey P. Newton returned to Oakland city collage in 1965. He and Bobby Seale grew dissatisfied with the inertia of the Afro-American Association. They began to feel more and more that the political and social climate at the time called for militancy. B. The Black panthers created the ten point program and platform. 1. The program was a list of needs for the survival and advancement in the United States 2. One Survival Program was called "Breakfast for Kids." This program was one of the most effective, it began from a church in San Francisco and spread, the program fed thousands of children throughout the party's history 3. Other services offered were: Clothing, classes about politics and economics, medical clinics, and lessons on self defense. 4. The first draft was adopted in 1966 and went through several revisions the last being finished in 1972, near the end of the Black Panther Party. 5. The Ten Point Program was also adopted by White Panther Party, The Young Lords Party, and The Brown Berets.

Refugee mother and her child by Chinua Achebe Essay

Explain what the poem is about and how the poet conveys the emotions he feels. The poem is about Achebe’s encounter with a mother and child in a refugee camp. This mother was different from the other mothers as she still cherished and loved her son. The other mothers had already stopped caring for their children as survival was not the most important thing and there wasn’t any hope of survival for their children anyway. In line 9: â€Å"Most mothers there had long ceased to care† The poet’s tone was varied, in the first stanza he used long, soft vowels such as the vowel ‘o’ and words such as ‘tenderness’. In line 4, Achebe chose to used the word ‘odour’ instead of the word ‘smell’ or ‘stench’ because it sounded softer and more rounded. The softness continued until the beginning of line 5 where Achebe used hard-sounding words such as ‘diarrhoea’ and ‘blown’. The fact that the child will die is hinted repeatedly. From line 7 to line 14 of the second stanza, he seemed to be admiring the mother’s love for her child in even those circumstances. At the end, his tone was sad and regretful. In the last three lines: â€Å"†¦ like putting flowers on a tiny grave. † There was alliteration in line 5 of the second stanza: â€Å"behind blown empty bellies† The poet used the work â€Å"ghost† as a metaphor in lines 8 and 9 of the second stanza. In â€Å"ghost smile†, he meant the softening of the mother’s expression as she looked at her son. There was repetition of â€Å"ghost† and in â€Å"ghost of a mother’s pride†, it represented what the mother used to feel and here there was only the tiniest left of it. The last 2 lines were a smilie, he’s saying that her combing her son’s hair is like a final goodbye because she would probably never get to do it again. In the first line, â€Å"Madonna and Child†, this is the scene when Christ was taken from the cross and placed on Mary’s knees. Achebe is saying that even this scene could not have been more touching than of the refugee mother and her child. In line 3: â€Å"for a son she soon would have to forget. † Here he means that after the boy dies, the mother will have to concentrate on survival for herself, forcing her to forget her son. This will not be able to mourn her child. In line 4: â€Å"The air was heavy with odours†¦ † The air was thick with the stench. The air was so dense that it seemed it had a weight and was more than just gas. In lines 7 and 8: â€Å"Struggling in laboured steps†¦ † Even walking is difficult for them. Walking is hard work. Achebe doesn’t know the mother’s name, so he refers to her as â€Å"she† and â€Å"her†. â€Å"Rust-coloured† is the colour of a dark-haired person’s hair when he or she has an inadequate diet. The hair signals that the child is incredibly unhealthy and on the verge of dying. In line 11: â€Å"†¦ hair left on his skull†¦ † The child is in such poor health that his hair has fallen out. Achebe used the work â€Å"skull† because it showed how poorly the boy was and because it represented death. In line 12: â€Å"- Singing in her eyes – † The hyphens surrounding this phrase outlined its significance. This was probably because the mother remembers singing to him, when they were happy. From line 15: â€Å"act of no consequence†¦ † Combing her son’s hair would usually be something a mother wouldn’t think twice about. They were probably quite well off before they were in this situation. The punctuation Achebe used were little. At the end of the first verse he put a period. This is because he was finalizing a statement. At the end of line 5 of the second stanza, there’s another period. This is because he’d finished describing about the surroundings and was moving onto the mother. In line 7, there was a semi-colon, which indicates a pause. There is another one in line 16. In line 13 there are three periods together. This is usually used to signify that something will eventually continue. At the end of the poem he put another period. This is because he is ending the poem and also because he is once again finalizing something. Since the child is dying, death is final, so the period was suitable. In lines 13 to 16, Achebe introduced the possibility that the mother and child were probably quite well off before they were in this situation. However, their lives had changed and it was no longer that comfortable lifestyle. I thought the poem was sad. It showed how disasters could change the feelings and lives of normal people like you and me. It was an eye-opening poem, and it made me realise that if I weren’t living this lifestyle that boy may well have been anyone I know or me.