Thomas Mores Utopia as a Social Model Essays -- Thomas More Utopia

Thomas More's Utopia as a Social Model   Ã‚  Ã‚  In his famous work Utopia, Sir Thomas More describes the society and culture of an imaginary island on which all social ills have been cured. As in Plato's Republic, a work from which More drew while writing Utopia, More's work presents his ideas through a dialogue between two characters, Raphael Hythloday and More himself. Hythloday is a fictional character who describes his recent voyage to the paradisal island of Utopia. Throughout the work, Hythloday describes the laws, customs, system of government, and way of life that exist in Utopia to an incredulous and somewhat condescending More.    Throughout the work, Hythloday presents a society organized to overcome the flaws of human nature. This society has been carefully thought out by More -- as the author of the work -- to help avoid the problems associated with human nature. Individual human appetites are controlled and balanced against the needs of the community as a whole. In other words, More attempts to describe a society in which the seven deadly sins are counterbalanced by other motivations set up by the government and society as a whole.    More seems to think that the seven deadly sins will be fairly easy to overcome. Pride, for instance, is counterbalanced in several ways in his social system. For instance, he makes sure that all people wear the same clothing, except that the different genders wear different styles, as do married and unmarried people. More also makes individuals fairly interchangeable within the social system -- one carpenter, for instance, seems to be more or less like another to him, and can find work anywhere that carpenters are needed. He also says that the Utopians encourage their ci... ...en consumed by lust for power due to the way in which he was raised, others in his society would have been. No society can control the motivations of all individuals involved to such a degree as to completely eliminate power-lust in all of its members.    More's Utopia, then, presents a nice theory, but one too abstract, too Platonic, too rationalistic, and with too little understanding of real human motivations to be workable. However, it is hardly a useless or worthless work -- it contains many profound psychological insights, quite a bit of humor, and many very good points. I doubt that it is workable as a complete social system, however.    Works Cited: More, Sir Thomas. Utopia. New York: Washington Square Press, 1965. Marlowe, Christopher. The Tragedy of Doctor Faustus. Ed. Louis B. Wright. New York: Washington Square Press, 1959.   

Laura Ashley and Federal Express Strategic Alliance Essay

Laura Ashley is a global clothing and furnishings retailer based in the United Kingdom. They have grown at a very fast rate from operating 231 retail stores in 1986 to 481 stores in 1990. Unfortunately, its profits were not increasing as expected due to the inefficiency of its logistics management. There was an over dependence on in-house manufacturing, SBUs operated as stand-alone businesses with independent inventory and systems which means duplicated systems that are not integrated, and dysfunctional distribution operations such as outdated inventory ordering methods and inefficient movement of goods along the supply chain. Based on these problems, Jim Maxmin decided to form an alliance with Federal Express BLS, to let them handle the logistics of LA’s business since that is what BLS does best, while at the same time also benefiting Federal Express. The contract between LA and BSI for the strategic alliance was not your typical contract with specific rules, price, penalties, etc. The alliance was a â€Å"win-win business partnership,† with no defined end point and lasting at least for 10 years. The contract had a very relatively loose structure, and it was based on trust and focuses on areas of mutual interest. There were no specifics on defining issues since it may conflict with the mutual interest that this alliance is based on. Both sides have agreed to be transparent and share information with each other, and have mechanisms built in to deal with matters that could not be agreed upon. When it comes to forming a strategic alliance, this kind of contract is good because it is based on a high level of trust and the focus of mutual interests, to help each other gain competitive advantage in the market. Trust is very important in every relationship, even in business. Also, having a loose structure makes more sense in a fast changing environment because specifics changes over time. In other words, the contract was very simple. And by having it to be open-ended, meaning there is no defined end to this partnership. Therefore, if this partnership is successful, they will be able to continue being an alliance and benefit from it. The only problem with this type of contract is that it will be more difficult to assess any  conflicts that may arise between the two companies in the future. From LA’s point of view, I believe this alliance will be very beneficial to them. Currently they are very inefficient with the distribution area of the business, which is costing them a lot more money. It will be difficult and will take a long time for LA to try and reengineer its processes and form a distribution system that will work. So instead of trying to invest all that time and money into reorganizing and developing a working system, forming an alliance with FedEx and having them take over that function will be better since FedEx is known for its logistics expertise. Also, they have one of the best tracking systems in place, and that can definitely benefit LA. By integrating LA’s current systems to FedEx’s systems, it will allow LA to access FedEx’s efficient tracking system, and eliminate the duplicate and independent systems that LA currently have with the SBUs, all in a much shorter time. With the new infrastructure, information is transparent an d flows throughout the supply chain, and everyone will be able to see it. Also, FedEx’s dependable delivery services will get goods to destinations quickly and efficiently, reducing lead time (products shipped anywhere in 24hrs-48hrs), transportation costs, and inventory costs. All this will improve LA’s customer service, better informed front-line employees due to the transparency, reduce costs, improve efficiency in its operations, rebuild its reputation and relationships with its customers, and be more competitive globally. The only downside of this for LA is that they will lose complete control of the distribution part of the business, but at the rate LA is growing with the increasing inefficiency that it’s facing, that is a small price to pay because LA’s current distribution operations needs help. As for FedEx BLS, I believe this alliance is beneficial overall, but it is much more risky for them than it is for LA. For FedEx, it allows them to expand and utilize its capabilities on a global basis. This type of alliance was one of the first, and if successful, FedEx BLS can set a new trend and have a tremendous future. It will improve its current performance in Europe and gain market share due to the increased reputation that this will bring. Also, this could mean alliances with other companies and industries in the  future. FedEx will be able to use the success with LA to form alliances with other companies, which will allow them to gain competitiveness and business. Even if other carriers try to do this in the future, it will be more difficult for those other carriers because businesses will know FedEx BLS are experienced and dependable, and will more likely go to them. But on the other hand, if this alliance was to fail, it would ruin FedEx’s reputation for reliability, which is the most important factor for FedEx in its industry. Also, it would cause FedEx to rethink the strategic-alliances idea, possibly damaging BLS’s potential future.

Should We Have A Citizenship Test?

The citizenship test was introduced by the Australian Government fairly recently. As a western country, Australia is currently the most recent developed western country to have a citizenship test. However, there is a current debate being held on why is the citizenship test held for and what is the government really testing? According to the SBS news site, the Australian Government has now changed some of the content that is to be tested in the citizenship test and states that â€Å"would-be new Australian citizens will be quizzed on their understanding of their civic duty and responsibilities of citizenship rather than facing questions about Australia's sporting heroes † as it had previously asked questions about a Australian cricket player, Sir Donald Bradman and other irrelevant information. However, when questioned to why was the citizenship test was even introduced, a minister who appeared on an SBS program called ‘Insight' argued that this test was made to test English proficiency of the ‘new' Australians. The test was also made to give the new-comers a view on what is it mean to be Australian and what Australian values are? ,while stating all this information in a book that the participants would need to read. In my opinion, I do not think that this is a worthwhile test as a test can't possibly test whether the people sitting for it actually believe and practice these values but will only test their ability to memorize and learn facts and information out of a book. The test also doesn't use complex English but simple and easy-to-understand words. Therefore if the main point of having the test was to test English proficiency, it would be better to hold an English exam and to be able to apply for citizenship, the person applying would need to have been a permanent resident and would have needed to sit for an English proficiency test then anyway. This test is also a waste of time as the people sitting the test could use the time that was spent on taking the test and preparing for it on work and practicing ‘Australian values' to help Australia's community and economy. We have seen both sides of the argument here and to some others who may feel strongly for or against this issue, we can see that the Australian Government is trying its best to please the masses and that it looks like the citizenship test is here to stay for the long run.

English Commentary †James Thurber Essay

James Thurber’s â€Å"Footnote on the future† is a first person limited narrative written as an account of the author on the topic of science and the future. The piece is written with the aim of entertaining the reader; many elements in it – comedy, colloquial and conversatonal language, irony, personification and unusual imagery – reflect this unified effect. It is important to remember that although the author criticises scientists, himself and the human race in general, he does so weakly and in an amicable and comical way. The theme of the piece is humour and this is achieved in several ways. One method used by Thurber is to include deliberately implicitly sadistic ideas into the piece. Thurber writes as if he were disappointed when he finds out that â€Å"neither the sun nor the mind of man is, after all, going out. † This achieves humour because it seems as though Thurber is in opposition to mankind and its future even though he is a human himself. In addition, amusing and ridiculous personification is included in the text: the universe is said to have â€Å"quit shrinking†; Thurber wishes that Halley’s Comet â€Å"deals California a glancing backhand blow before it goes careening off†; the sun-spots spread as said to have been â€Å"spreading as rapidly as ulcerative gingivitis†. Humour is also accomplished by Thurber when he ridicules himself in the opening paragraph of the piece. Whilst attempting to make himself seem important and chiefly intelligent, he implies that information is delievered to him rather than searched by him as shown in the quote: â€Å"word is brought to me†. However, following on from this forementioned quote, Thurber reveals that it is his â€Å"pageboys† that deliver information to him. The fact that page boys do not normally deliver â€Å"information†, but instead deliver wedding rings to a priest, implies that Thurber may have mistaken the function of page boys and has therefore ridiculed himself in an attempt to seem intelligent. In terms of content, eccentric imagery is also used to simply achieve the reader’s attention. Thurber makes the reader to imagine Earth as a â€Å"flimsy globe† and then later to imagine it being knocked â€Å"far into the oblivious Darkness, the incomprehensible Cold†. This produces shock to the reader and in fact could be considered as ironic as it implies that Thurber does not believe in a religion; instead believes that the existence of the universe can be explained through science – something that he criticises throughout the piece. Thurber directs some attention to scientists and takes care to use the image of â€Å"bearded watchers of the skies† as a stereotype to describe them. Throughout the passage manages to portray scientists negatively through successfully (in his opinion) disproving Dr. Tilney’s theory, describing his frustration in the lack of certaintiy scientists have when predicting where and when a comet may hit Earth and commenting seemingly ironically that Time magazine is â€Å"always infallible† and. The use of irony is common throughout the piece. He comments that scientists are â€Å"quite naturally cheerful† even though â€Å"billions of unused brain cells have been detected in the cortex of man†. Thurber however gives no explanation for why the scientists are joyful. Thurber further incorporates irony into the text when he states â€Å"we were given only a few paltry aeons to prepare our species for the end†. As an aeon is considered a period of a billion years, it would be reasonable to think that there would in fact be enough time to be prepared for such a catastrophe; Thurber does this purposefully to criticise scientists’ perception of time. The reader’s attention is retained through a consistently colloquial and conversational use of language. Thurber refers and converses to the reader in second person when he says â€Å"the rest of you may go†, â€Å"you may all file out now† and â€Å"don’t ask me why, it just has†. The author also informally refers to the theory that man has many unused brain cells as a â€Å"little menace† and chooses to describe his age in 1910 as when he was â€Å"a stripling of sixteen going on seventeen†.

Brief Case Study For The Requirements Specification Document

Brief For The Requirements Specification Document - Case Study Example The main assumption of this model will be The systems used will concentrate on serving one customer at a time as opposed to handling orders from multiple customer. The main objective of this approach will involve serving multiple users at the same time (Connolly and Begg, 2007).. A database containing the details of orders made by all customers, their prices, due dates and status of the orders will be created. It is assumed that all multiple orders will be processed at the same time. However,the rate of processing the orders will be different as this will be dependent with he agreements made between the company and each individual user. The best approach among the two will be the combined approach because it allows for the increased efficiency of serving customers. It will enable the company to process multiple orders concurrently, thus contributing to the achievement of increased revenues (Stephens,

Human motor development a lifespan approach Research Paper

Human motor development a lifespan approach - Research Paper Example The lifespan approach studies an individual over the relapsing and progressive stages of growth. Socialization in human motor development is very important because through it people learn who they are and how we are connected to other people. When a child is born, the process of socialization starts and this period is most crucial for the process because it is at this stage that we acquire identities like culture, language and acquire personality. This process continues further even into adult life. As a child grows, it enters into different stages and are expected to socialize with different people. There are different ways that are used to teach socialization to their children as they grow (ONeil, 2011). Formal education, one of the ways, is the knowledge that teachers pass onto children and is a crucial period for children as they grow into adults so as to socialize properly with the people with whom they will interact. The other one is informal education which can be passed on through many forums and it involves imitating what is done by others, experimenting and practicing basic skills that are being done by others. Cognitive development is the growth of the thought process which includes the ability to remember things and events, solve problems, and arrive to decisions through from childhood to adult hood. It is known that babies start to be interested in their surroundings and to explore them from birth. As children go through different levels of growth, they are able to for example, smile, recognize close family members, respond to name become inquisitive and do various other things as they undergo cognitive development. Unless the child undergoes cognitive impairment, or the affecting of this process by factors like autism and other leaning disabilities or illnesses, this process is systematic throughout life. When there is deprivation, research has shown that it affects motor development. Children who have been brought

Financial Analysis of General Electric CO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Financial Analysis of General Electric CO - Essay Example GE is investing in cleaner technologies and being recognized for the effort. GE Company is well managed. The data are mostly positive over the years. The company is showing growth in all the areas. It is also low geared and showing positive growth in profitability, liquidity, efficiency measurements. The company seems to be in the maturity phase. Analysts are positive about the growth of the company. So, the company has not topped its potential as yet. Appendix 1. Return on Investment (ROI) = {Profit before taxes (PBIT) / Investment (total assets - current liabilities)} 2006: {24,620 / (697,239 - 220,514)} x 100; 2005: {22,696 / (673,321 - 204,970)} x 100 2. Gross Profit Ratio = (Gross Profit) / Total Revenues) x 100 2006: (89,281 / 163, 391) x 100 ; 2005: (81,142 / 147,956) x 100 3. Return on Equity (ROE) = {Profit after taxes / Shareholder's Equity }x 100 2006: (20,666 / 112,314) x 100 ; 2005: (18,661 / 109,351) x 100 4. Earnings per share (given) 5. Working Capital = Current Assets - Current Liabilities 2006: (438,728 - 220,514) ; 2005: (378,269 - 204,970) 6. Current Ratio = Current Assets : Current Liabilities 2006: (438,728 / 220,514) ; 2005: (378,269 / 204,970) 7. Acid Test (or Quick) Ratio = Quick Assets : Current Liabilities (Quick Assets = Current Assets - Equity) 2006: (390,902 / 220,514) ; 2005: (336,121 / 204,970) 8. Total Asset Turnover = Revenue / Total Assets (fixed + current) (times) 2006: (163,391 / 697,239) ; 2005: (147,956 / 673,321) 9. Fixed Asset Turnover = Revenue / Fixed Assets (times) 2006: (163,391 / 258,511) ; 2005: (147,956 / 295052) 10. Cash Turnover Ratio = Total Revenues / Cash Balance s (times) (Cash Balances = Cash + Accounts Receivables) 2006: (163,391 / 28,229) ; 2005: (147,956 / 23,676) 11. Gearing ratio = {Total Debt Capital / (Total Debt Capital + Equity ) }x 100 2006: {432,957 / (432,957 + 112,314)}x100 ; 2005: {370,437 /