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A Guide to Hyphens and Dashes

A Guide to Hyphens and Dashes A Guide to Hyphens and Dashes A Guide to Hyphens and Dashes By Mark Nichol This post details the purposes of various horizontally aligned typographical symbols. Hyphen Hyphens perform various functions, including the following: They link standing compound words (mind-set, self-respect). They are used with some prefixes (anti-inflammatory). They represent expression in isolation of a prefix or a word element (pre-, -er). They link spelled out numerical terms representing different place values (twenty-four). They link words in phrasal adjectives preceding but not following a noun (â€Å"short-term investment,† â€Å"off-the-cuff remark†) and when combining similar-looking constructions that begin with comparative adverbs such as better, much, and well (â€Å"best-kept secret†) Some style guides (but not this site) recommend that phrasal adjectives be hyphenated regardless of their position, and a few such expressions (such as far-reaching) are always hyphenated regardless of position or style authority. Also, a letter space should never intervene when a hyphen connects two words or numbers, except when suspending the first use of a word common to two or more phrasal adjectives (â€Å"fifteen- and thirty-day increments†). Hyphens are often introduced when new compounds are created, including in technological vocabulary, but such terms usually become closed compounds (though there are exceptions, such as mind-set, mentioned above, and light-year). Some terms that include letters linked to nouns retain hyphenation (A-list, T-bone, X-axis). Omission of a hyphen in email is trending, but similar terms such as e-commerce resist this evolution. Em Dash The dash, technically known as an em dash (to distinguish it from the en dash, described below), is used to indicate parenthesis when more emphasis is intended than indicated by a comma or a pair of parentheses. One dash is employed to when the wording expresses an attempt to get attention (â€Å"Look- a squirrel!†) or to indicate a sudden break in syntax and the parenthesis ends a sentence (â€Å"What I meant to say is- hey, are you paying attention?†) Similarly, it can replace a colon (â€Å"You have three options- fight, flight, or surrender†). Two dashes are employed when the parenthesis occurs mid-sentence (â€Å"The original version of the document- the one I hold here- is worded differently†). The dash is also employed to set off the identification of the source of an epigraph (â€Å"‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’ - Franklin D. Roosevelt†). Also, one or more dashes may indicate redaction of all or part of a word or name in order to avoid identification or euphemize profanity (â€Å"The target was identified as - - - †; â€Å"Ms. A- - is not unacquainted with scandal†; â€Å"Well, I’ll be d- - ed!†). Dashes are usually closed- that is, they are set with no preceding or following letter spaces- but some publishers prefer to format them open. Some, too, out of ignorance or apathy or for the sake of simplicity (as in the case of some newspapers), use a single or double hyphen in place of an em dash- or, because they prefer its size, employ an en dash. (This is a valid design decision, but use of a single or double hyphen appears amateurish and should be avoided.) En Dash The en dash, always so called to distinguish it from the default em dash, which is often referred to simply as a dash, has two functions: representing a range of numbers or a time span (â€Å"Read pages 15–37†; â€Å"John Smith [1936–2012] is not listed†; â€Å"These figures represent revenues during the first quarter [January–March]†) as a substitute for through serving as a substitute for a hyphen in a compound term (â€Å"Pre–Civil War conditions sometimes prevailed†; â€Å"The United States–Mexico border is nearly two thousand miles long.† (These distinctions are, again, sometimes ignored.) The en dash is employed for the latter use because â€Å"pre-Civil War conditions† implies â€Å"before the Civil† rather than â€Å"before the Civil War† and â€Å"the United States-Mexico border† appears to refer to a united border between States and Mexico rather than one between the United States and Mexico. Plus Sign A plus sign (+) is employed in mathematics and other disciplines to indicate addition or positive numbers, and in lay usage it may modify a letter grade or qualify a blood type. It is sometime used informally to indicate a value greater than the stated one, as in â€Å"I would say 50+ people attended.† (Formally, â€Å"I would say more than fifty people attended† is better, and a direct quote would be better represented as â€Å"I would say fifty-plus people attended.†) Minus Sign A minus sign (–) is a distinct symbol used in digital displays of mathematics and other disciplines to signal subtraction or negative numbers; like the plus sign, it may be used in designations of letter grades and blood types. However, a minus sign is often represented by a hyphen or an en dash in print or online. Multiplication Sign A multiplication sign (Ãâ€") is used almost exclusively in mathematics and in isolated functions in notations in biology and history. In lay usage, the letter x generally takes its place. Division Sign The division sign, officially called an obelus, was replaced by the dagger mark († ) as a reference sign and now pertains exclusively to division in mathematics. Equal Sign An equal sign (=) represents equivalence and is occasionally used in informal writing in place of equals. Tilde A tilde (~) usually functions to denote a variation in pronunciation of certain letters in various languages, but it also serves in informal writing to signal approximation, as in â€Å"We continued along for ~20 miles.† Underscore The underscore (_), employed on typewriters to create underlines, survives now mainly as a symbol in email addresses, URLs, and computer code. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:"Because Of" and "Due To" Proved vs. ProvenWoof or Weft?

Does a production have to be tightly to a script or can you allow Essay

Does a production have to be tightly to a script or can you allow flexibility to encourage a more naturalistic response from actors - Essay Example Further, I will describe the stages of film making and reflect on the integration of social realism in the filmmaking process in respect to our fiction film and further draw adequate conclusions on inclusion of social realism in the fiction film. Kimberly a 17-year old daughter is in a white-station wagon sited in the back seat with her smaller brother Kiefer-15 years old. Ivy, the mother drives on a rough road headed to North Park Estate but keeps on complaining that she was unlucky in life for she had not gotten the right man to get married to but guesses aloud that it is because she had two grown up kids who no man could ever accept responsibility of. Kimberly and Kiefer do not say anything but the comment hurts them badly. Together, the family arrives at a North Park Estate where the family is to start a new life. While this place seems perfect for the mother and Kiefer, Kimberly is not satisfied and wishes that they could have continued to live in their previous home where she had met and made friendship in the neighborhood. Kimberly and Kiefer immediately gets enrolled to a new high school in the nearby and her mother starts working in a hotel in town as a cashier. Frustrated already, Kimberly finds it hard to make fri ends in the new school and even in the neighborhood. Her mother is frequently off since her work sometimes extended to the odd hours of the night and Kimberly has to stay home with Kiefer who was more of a computer geek. Kimberly finally meets a friend, Stacey, a teenage neighbor who helps her explore the neighborhood. Kimberly discovers Marble Sweet, a local cake shop thanks to Stacey. A nice looking gentleman, Park-owner of Marble Sweet, seems interested in Kimberly and offers her a job to work in the store as a baker since she had a passion in baking. Without hesitating, Kimberly accepts the offer and starts working in the shop secretly without talking

History vs. Hollywood Cleopatra VII Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

History vs. Hollywood Cleopatra VII - Term Paper Example Hence, Hollywood’s version of history is a combination of both fact and fiction. The substance of this prose will focus on Cleopatra, one of the most celebrated personalities both in the ‘real world’ and the silver screen. The latter was portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 adaptation titled â€Å"Cleopatra†. The movie closely follows the actual events but as is expected, there are some aspects that are spiced up, exaggerated or simply omitted due to the lack of appeal. Contrary to eminent historians, Cleopatra’s flawless beauty is the prime theme of the movie that is actually why men were drawn towards her. However, in reality Cleopatra’s beauty was neither jaw-dropping nor capable of driving men insane. In truth, Cleopatra wasn’t the beautiful lass that Elizabeth Taylor depicted her to be; in fact, she was a physically unattractive woman, who used her wit and wisdom as her primary tools of seduction (Grout 2012). The characterization of Caesar was also erroneous as he had never wished to be made emperor or dictator; it had been one of the fears held by the senate that eventually lead to his assassination. Furthermore, the movie also depicted how Caesar and Cleopatra’s affair had become increasingly public and the fact that Cleopatra bore him a son named Caes arion. In the movie, it is shown that Caesar publicly accepts his illegitimate son, Caesarion. Whereas in reality, Caesarion was never acknowledged by Caesar and much to Cleopatra’s ire, Octavian; Caesar’s nephew was proclaimed his heir. Caesar and Cleopatra had never married each other unlike the movie depiction. Historians have stated that Cleopatra’s and Caesar’s relationship was more of a political alliance than a romantic one that suited both individuals; their relationship is greatly dramatized in the movie. Nevertheless, the movie plot still followed the actual events closely and it did incorporate some very interesting details of history. The method through

Metabical case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Metabical - Case Study Example Pricing decisions on Metabical has an impact on the profitability of the drug as well as on the entire company. Depending on the type of the target customers and the geographical location, setting prices for the drug will impact its profitability. As far as pricing is concerned, people are not worried about the price and prefer to take prescribed drugs rather then non-prescribed drugs irrespective of the price of the drug. Thus to set up a higher price for Metabical would not be a problem, instead it will increase on profitability since customer numbers will not be affected (Quelch & Beckham, 2010).The Estimated Retail price will be $3 to $5 per pill, dosage is 1 pill per day, and treatment will be 12 weeks. The Return on investment (ROI) for the first five years for the pricing decisions is as follows:Â   or year 1, the sales turnover is 347.4 giving a ROI of (19%), year 2, sales turnover is 383.88 giving a ROI of 77%, year 3, sales turnover is, 424.18, ROI is 183%, year 4, sales t urnover is 468.72, ROI is 300% while year 5, sales turnover is 517.94, giving a ROI of 429 percent. From the figure, the ROI has been increasing year by year meaning the price strategies is one of the best (Quelch & Beckham, 2010). Question 3The positioning strategy chosen mean that Metabical has already a good image thanks to the communication and marketing strategy applied and the fact that Metabical is a prescribed drug. The existing marketing communications strategy will continually create a strong demand for Metabical.

Public Health Reflection on Care

Public Health Reflection on Care Title: Reflect upon an incident which occurred during your clinical placement as a student Public Health Nurse. The chosen incident is one where you met an elderly client with a leg ulcer who was not complying with the treatment prescribed from hospital. This essay is a reflective consideration of a case that had been encountered in clinical practice. For the purposes of illustrative discussion, I shall use the Gibbs model of reflection as a guide. (Gibbs, G 1988) Description: describe in c.400 words the experience. Client fell at home and fractured lower ankle. He neglected this and developed ulcer. He attended GP and completed 2 courses of antibiotics: referred to leg ulcer clinic in local hospital; diagnosis was ulcer with mixed arterial / venous disease. The client concerned will be anonymised and referred to as Mr.S in accordance with the NMC guidelines (NMC 2004). Mr.S is a 68 yr old man who lives alone having been widowed for 12 years. He is normally self caring but has been getting progressively more frail as time goes by. He fell at home and fractured his lower tibia. There was a suspicion that he has been drinking rather more than might be considered good for him and it is possible that this fall was after a bout of drinking. (Nicol M et al. 2004). Being generally very stoical, he initially ignored this but was forced to seek medical advice when the pain got too great. The fracture was treated with a plaster cylinder after reduction of the fracture but he subsequently developed a leg ulcer from direct pressure and friction from the cylinder which eventually attained a size of about 10 15 cms across and, despite being referred to the leg ulcer clinic and having regular visits from the community nurse who applied Aquacell AG , it refused to heal. (Harding K G et al. 2002) It was subsequently discovered that after the nurses had been to clean and dress the leg, Mr.S would take the dressings off and put iodine onto the wound which produced a marked allergic reaction. When challenged about this he said that he â€Å"didn’t hold with these newfangled ideas† and that he wanted to use a remedy that his grandmother had used with great success when she had developed a leg ulcer. Initially there was an impasse with the nurses wanting to use the dressings that had been prescribed by the hospital and Mr.S, although allowing them to be out on, would promptly disturb them and put the iodine directly onto the wound. The community nurses were asked to persist with the dressing regime and after a few weeks it became clear that the leg ulcer was making no progress at all. It was not healing, it was permanently infected and persistently sore with inflamed and macerated wound edges. (Donnelly A et al. 2000). There was considerable discussion in the primary healthcare team relating to Mr.S’s right to autonomy (Seedhouse D 1998) and whether it was right or not to continue to commit large amounts of resources to a clinical situation that was not only not healing but was actually being actively undermined and made worse by the patient. (Thomas J E et al. 1990). To an extent, it is not ethical to insist on, or to impose a treatment which the patient is (by word or action) objecting to. It is difficult to justify a course of therapeutic action, which may have the strongest of evidence bases, if the patient does not want it. (Hunt T 1994) The situation was compounded by the fact that Mr.S was not an easy patient to deal with as, since his wife died, he had become progressively more reclusive and he was clearly uneasy with other people coming into his house. The current course of treatment was clearly not successful and therefore a completely different approach needed to be tried. Feelings: how did client/you/others feel in this situation? How did you know this? The student was annoyed that the client was not complying with treatment and she knew the treatment he was applying was outdated and potentially harmful. Student is accountable to An Bord Altranais for their practice and must refer to evidence based practice. Student observed how the treatment applied by client had its place in the past and PHN made family aware that new dressings have silver content which has greatly improved results. Empowerment and advocacy were adopted. I found my feelings ran through an evolution of emotions and that the initial set of feelings were of annoyance, frustration and irritation that Mr.S could not see that the healthcare professionals were trying to help him. I initially saw him as a rude and aggressive gentleman who clearly did not want â€Å"interference† from the nurses and was content to live in comparative squalor. His persistence of the use of the iodine seemed to me to be mainly due to sheer perversity rather than any rational reasoning. (Osterberg L et al. 2005) I know that my original exchanges with him were very terse and aggressive, as I could not understand why he was persisting in using something which had no substantive evidence base and was clearly making the situation worse. My feelings changed to being less overtly annoyed as I came to realise that Mr.S was actually trying to use something that he had seen his grandmother use to heal her own leg ulcer and that there was a degree of reason beneath his obstinacy. My mentor took a different view and explained that empowerment and education (Howe J et al. 2003) was the way to achieve success with Mr.S and I watched as she firstly gained his confidence and then explained the reasoning behind the new Aquacell AG, she also explained that the iodine, far from helping healing was, in his particular case, preventing the leg ulcer from healing and that his situation was quite different from the situation of his grandmother‘s ulcer. (Miller, A. 1995). After about three sessions, it was noted that Mr.S had stopped interfering with the dressings and that the iodine was no longer being applied. As a result, the wound started to heal. As soon as he saw this, Mr.S became much more content to allow the nurses to continue with their work and actually became almost welcoming. (Faden, R R et al. 1986). At this stage, I found that my feelings changed to actually liking Mr.S and looking forward to each meeting. I also developed a great deal of respect for m y mentor and the other important realisation was a feeling of annoyance towards myself at my own initial inability to realise the motivation behind Mr.S’s actions. (Schon, D. 1997) Evaluation: what was good and bad about the situation? Mentor was able to develop relationship of trust with client. The bad elements of the situation was that the concept of empowerment and education (Howe J et al. 2003), was not embraced earlier in the treatment programme and that each treatment application was simply met by the acceptance that Mr.S was interfering with the dressings. There was the additional possibility that Mr.S was drinking more than was good for him and this element of the situation was overlooked with the prime focus being on the leg ulcer rather than making a holistic assessment of the whole situation. Equally bad was my inexperience-based lack of insight into the situation. On the good side, the fact that the mentor was able to â€Å"stand back† from the situation and make a dispassionate and empathetic assessment of the situation, construct an appropriate managements plan and then persuade Mr.S to comply with it to achieve a good clinical outcome, was a very positive step and a testament to the clinical experience of the mentor. Analysis: what sense can you make of the situation? what knowledge did or should have informed you? how does this connect with previous experiences? Reflection is necessary to enlighten a clinical situation. Element of compromise needed. Client centred approach required. Student PHN had experience of working as Community General Nurse. She found observing how the mentor dealt with the situation very enlightening. Discussion with clients family was beneficial. Analysis of the situation shows the potential gulf between the pursuit of evidence based medicine and the practical difficulties in actually applying it. It is all very well knowing that Aquacell AG releases ionic silver into the wound in a delayed and controlled release manner as the wound exudate is absorbed, thereby releasing more silver in the most contaminated wounds. ( Bowler P G, 2003). The fact that the dressing formulation itself is thought to protect the periwound skin and thereby aid in granulation formation is of theoretical importance. In cases of leg ulceration, the fact that the dressing conforms easily to the surface of the wound helps with occlusion and thereby maintains a moist healing environment (Jude E B et al. 2007) is clearly a substantial contribution to the evidence base in this area. The fact that dressing exerts a demonstrable antimicrobial activity for up to 7 days reduces the need for frequent dressing changes and therefore frequent wound disturbance (Jude E B et al. 2007) is of practical and clinical importance, but none of these factors are of any use at all if the patient does not understand or is willing to comply with the clinical therapeutic regime. In essence, this case illustrates the gulf between the knowledge that is assimilated in an isolated academic situation and the knowledge that is derived from experience in clinical situations. (Van Manen, M. 2007). It was my reflection on the situation that allowed me to appreciate the true value of my mentor’s experience and handling of the situation which was the critical factor in persuading Mr.S to understand both his predicament and the rationale behind the treatment that was being offered and this was the key to his eventual understanding and compliance. (Marinker M. 1997). It was clear that simply persisting with the situation was not going to achieve the desired effect and that a degree of compromise was needed. That compromise was achieved by viewing the situation from the patient’s viewpoint and then tailoring the clinical approach to an empathetic understanding of that perspective. In other words a client centred approach. (Platt, F W et al. 1999). The point about Mr.S’s drinking was no longer overlooked and discussions with his extended family confirmed the clinical suspicion. Pressure was exerted by the family to reduce the opportunities for his drinking and they increased the degree of social interaction (reduced his social isolation) which also had a beneficial effect (Wilkerson, S. A et al. 1996) Conclusion: how do you now feel about this experience? what else could you have done? has this changed my ways of knowing? I can say with confidence that reflection on this whole episode was a major learning experience for me. Not only did I witness and important lesson in patient management, but I was able to reflect on the evolution of my emotional approach to the situation. It showed me how my initial aggression and annoyance was not only completely misplaced, but that it was also completely counterproductive. As a conclusion, I have seen just how important it is to stand back from a difficult or deteriorating situation and make a completely dispassionate and holistic assessment of the patient and his clinical situation before trying to construct an appropriate management plan. A further conclusion must be that there is very little merit in simply knowing the evidence base surrounding a particular course of treatment if one lacks the experience or humanity to actually effectively put it into action. (Fawcett J 2005) Action Plan: if this arose again, what would you do differently? As I have already mentioned in the conclusion, it is because this episode was a major learning experience for me that I can say with confidence that, if a similar situation arose again, I would deal with it in a completely different way to the way which I handled this episode. I would not initially approach Mr.S with a feeling of aggression and annoyance as it proved not only to be counterproductive but it was also a barrier to my standing back and reviewing the situation. If Mr.S was clearly not complying with the treatment I would ask myself (and the patient) what were the reasons why compliance was a problem. Having ascertained the reasons, I would then construct an appropriate treatment or management plan which directly addressed this reason and contained a mechanism for directly confronting it. Empowerment and education have been demonstrated to me as very powerful tools in the quest for patient compliance and concordance. I would actively use these concepts to try to maximise t he effectiveness of the treatment and also to enhance the overall patient experience. (Hewison, A. 2004) References Bowler P G, 2003. Progression towards Healing: wound infection and the role of an advanced silver-containing dressing. Ostomy Wound Management 49 : (8) Suppl. 2 5 Donnelly A, Alistair M Emslie-Smith, Iain D Gardner, and Andrew D Morris (2000) ABC of arterial and venous disease : Vascular complications of diabetes BMJ, Apr 2000; 320 : 1062 1066. Faden, R R, Beauchamp, T L. (1986) A History and Theory of Informed Consent Oxford University Press New York. 1986 Fawcett J (2005) Contemporary Nursing Knowledge: Analysis and Evaluation of Nursing Models and Theories, 2nd Edition. Boston: Davis Co 2005 ISBN : 0-8036 1194 3 Gibbs, G (1988) Learning by doing: A guide to Teaching and Learning methods. EMU Oxford Brookes University, Oxford. 1988 Harding K G, Morris H L, Patel G K. (2002) Healing chronic wounds. BMJ 2002; 324 : 160 163 Hewison, A. (2004) Management for Nurses and Health Professionals : Theory into practice. Blackwell Science: Oxford. 2004 Howe J, Anderson M (2003) Involving patients in medical education. BMJ, Aug 2003 ; 327 : 326 328. Hunt T (1994) Ethical issues in Nursing. London : Routledge 1994 Jude E B, Apelqvist J, Spraul M, Martini J. (2007) Prospective randomised controlled study of Hydrofiber dressing containing ionic silver or calcium alginate dressings in non-ischaemic diabetic foot ulcers. Diabet Med. 2007; 24 : 280 288. Marinker M.(1997) From compliance to concordance: achieving shared goals in medicine taking. BMJ 1997; 314 : 747 – 8. Miller, A. (1995) The Relationship between Nursing Theory and Nursing Practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing 10, 417 424. Nicol M, Carol Bavin, Shelagh Bedford-Turner Patricia Cronin, Karen Rawlings-Anderson (2004) â€Å"Essential Nursing Skills† 2nd ed. Churchill Livingstone, Mosby 2004 NMC (2004) Nurse Midwifery Council: Code of professional conduct: Standards for conduct, performance and Ethics (2004) London : Chatto Windus 2004 Osterberg L, Blaschke T (2005): Adherence to medication. N Engl J Med353 : 487 – 497, 2005 Platt, F W Gordon G H (1999) Field Guide to the Difficult Patient Interview 1999 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, pp 250 ISBN 0 7817 2044 3 London: Macmillian Press 1999 Schon, D. (1997) Educating the Reflective Practitioner. Jossey Bass, San Francisco. 1997 Seedhouse D (1998) Ethics; the heart of health care. London, John Wiley Sons 1998 Thomas J E Waulchow W J (1990) Well and Good : Case Studies in Biomedical ethics. Broadview Press 1990 Van Manen, M. (2007) Linking Ways of Knowing with Ways of being Practical. Curriculum Inquiry 6 (3), 205 228. Wilkerson, S. A., Loveland-Cherry, C. J. (1996). Johnson’s behavioral system model. In J. J. Fitzpatrick A.L. Whall (Eds.), Conceptual models of nursing: Analysis and application (3rd ed., pp. 89-109). Stamford, CT : Appleton Lange. 1996

The Final Game :: Personal Narrative Volleyball Essays

The Final Game It was November 1st and it was the day of my last volleyball game. I ran into my friend Eri and we started talking about the game later that day. It was against Tunkhannock. They were the best volleyball team from our area, and wouldn’t you know it on our senior night we had to play against them. Senior night was the one night where the seniors were recognized, whether they were good or not. The whole day the team was joking about how much we would lose by against our rival team. In a game to fifteen we thought we would end up owing them points. â€Å"Hey, Eri, are you excited about the game tonight?† I asked. â€Å"Well, I’m more sad than anything,† she replied. â€Å"I’m going to miss all of the freshman that we taught how to play.† â€Å"I know, but don’t you think that it’s going to be a funny game tonight?† â€Å"Oh yeah! We’re going to get killed,† she added. â€Å"Don’t you think it was wrong for them to schedule our senior night with that game?† â€Å"Yeah, I do think it was a little unfair,† I replied. â€Å"But at least we know we are going to get killed and don’t really have to worry about it.† Everyone knew that this game was going to be impossible to win, so we all sort of shrugged it off. The last practice before this game consisted of reminiscing more than drills. Even our coach knew we were going to get killed, but for some reason everyone had in the back of their minds ‘what if†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ â€Å"Don’t you think it would be funny if we actually did win this game?† I asked. â€Å"What? Are you nuts! They haven’t lost a game yet,† Jen replied. â€Å"No, seriously. Don’t you think that they are thinking the same thing we are?† I added. â€Å"That they could win, no problem. And maybe their coach will put in the not so good people for that reason? â€Å"Dana, they don’t have any ‘not so good’ people on their team,† Jen said while giggling. â€Å"I don’t know. I think that we could give them a run for their money.† â€Å"Finally it was seventh period and school was almost over. I could feel the butterflies growing in my stomach. It was 2:35, five more minutes to go and I was counting down until I could run to the gym to start practicing for the big game.

Making Moral Decisions

There are many things we must consider before we make any type of decision. First off, we must think about how our actions are going to affect us and those around us. We must follow the golden rule, â€Å"do unto others as you would have them do to you†. We should also be sure that we have fully good intentions, but we must remember that good intentions do not justify evil means. In addition, we must think about performing the action around our loved ones and try to decide if they would approve or disapprove. If you were to follow the golden rule, â€Å"do unto others as you would have them do to you†, decision-making would be simple. In reality, however, we all know that making a decision is actually quite difficult. Often, we do not think of the other person in the situation, we only think of ourselves and how it will affect us. If we followed this rule with all of our decision-making, the outcome would be less likely to hurt anyone or anything. Another important point to consider before making a decision is that we must remember to always have good intentions. We must also remember that good intentions do not justify evil means. This means that even if we do something we good intentions and the outcome is evil, the action is still evil. If we have truly good intentions during our decision-making, the outcome will be good and moral. If we have any bad intentions at all, then the outcome will reflect these bad intentions and the situation will turn out evil. A smart thing to ask ourselves before making a decision is, â€Å"Would I be proud to do this in front of my mom? † If our answer is no, then the decision we have made probably is not a good one. If we know that our mother wouldn’t approve of what we are doing or what we are about to do, then why would we do it at all? If we think of this question during a time when we are making a decision, we are more likely to make a good choice. If we use all of these techniques in our decision making, we will be able to make better choices. We will hurt others less, and furthermore hurt ourselves less. We will also be able to stay on track and stay moral. We will always keep our good intentions in mind and push out the bad ones. Lastly, we will be able to make better choices in our lives and lead ourselves down a better road.

Free Essays on OPEC

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is better known to most of the world as OPEC. But the average citizen knows little about the reasons OPEC impacts the world economy. OPEC is a group of eleven nations that sells petroleum on the world market. Oil producing nations in the 1960’s found that when they worked together they could exert control over the world oil prices. This was the beginnings of the oil cartel known as OPEC. The original OPEC members included Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Today currently eleven nations are OPEC members; accounting for almost 40% of world oil production and about 2/3 of the world's proven oil reserves. (OPEC Brief) A cartel attempts to support prices higher than they would be under more competitive conditions thus increasing profits of its members. (Carbaugh) They are able to do this by restricting competition among competing nations using production quotas. Before the formation of OPEC oil producing nations behaved like individual competitors, each nation afraid to raise their prices in fear that the other nations would not do the same and the nation that raised their prices would lose its sells. Even though there are still some minor problems and differences between oil production members, OPEC has managed to be the most successful cartel in history. For a cartel to be successful its members must control a very large share of the world market and should agree on a common set of prices on their product. (Carbaugh) In the 1960’s the price of oil was three dollars a barrel. In the early 70’s prices begin to rise as the cartel began to work together. Since that time oil prices have never been the same. Most cartels have a hard time overcoming the difficulties that are associated with cartels. OPEC has suffered from some of the same problems. Some of the problems include: Number of sellers: as the members number increase, the harder it becomes it is to form a ca... Free Essays on OPEC Free Essays on OPEC The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is better known to most of the world as OPEC. But the average citizen knows little about the reasons OPEC impacts the world economy. OPEC is a group of eleven nations that sells petroleum on the world market. Oil producing nations in the 1960’s found that when they worked together they could exert control over the world oil prices. This was the beginnings of the oil cartel known as OPEC. The original OPEC members included Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Today currently eleven nations are OPEC members; accounting for almost 40% of world oil production and about 2/3 of the world's proven oil reserves. (OPEC Brief) A cartel attempts to support prices higher than they would be under more competitive conditions thus increasing profits of its members. (Carbaugh) They are able to do this by restricting competition among competing nations using production quotas. Before the formation of OPEC oil producing nations behaved like individual competitors, each nation afraid to raise their prices in fear that the other nations would not do the same and the nation that raised their prices would lose its sells. Even though there are still some minor problems and differences between oil production members, OPEC has managed to be the most successful cartel in history. For a cartel to be successful its members must control a very large share of the world market and should agree on a common set of prices on their product. (Carbaugh) In the 1960’s the price of oil was three dollars a barrel. In the early 70’s prices begin to rise as the cartel began to work together. Since that time oil prices have never been the same. Most cartels have a hard time overcoming the difficulties that are associated with cartels. OPEC has suffered from some of the same problems. Some of the problems include: Number of sellers: as the members number increase, the harder it becomes it is to form a ca...

Critique for ‘Teaching ethics in accounting and the ethics of accounting teaching The WritePass Journal

Critique for ‘Teaching ethics in accounting and the ethics of accounting teaching Introduction Critique for ‘Teaching ethics in accounting and the ethics of accounting teaching IntroductionDo the authors have the capability to write this thesis?Methodology: is the methodology used able to make a persuasive case?ConclusionBibliographyRelated Introduction Do the authors have the capability to write this thesis? Yes the authors have the capability to write on this thesis; they have the academic experience to make authoritative claims on accounting education. Gray, et al. (1994) have passed their views across based on extensive research and personal experience. Gray, et al. (1994) won the British Accounting Association Special Interest Group Manuscript Award for writing this paper. Rob Gray the main author of this paper is now a Professor of Social and Environmental Accounting Director of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research at St Andrews has authored/co-authored over 250 books, monographs, chapters and articles (University of St Andrews School of Management website, 2011). Issues raised by Gray, et al. (1994) in ‘Teaching ethics in accounting and the ethics of accounting teaching: educating for immorality and a possible case for social and environmental accounting education’ An issue raised in this paper is that despite the current success of current accounting there is still evidence of ethical and intellectual failure among accounting practitioners (Gray, et al., 1994). The immediate blame is on the accounting educators as they have seen evidence that accounting education fails to develop students’ intellectual and ethical maturity (Gray, et al., 1994). According to Gray, et al. (1994) educators do not seem to understand the consequences of not having ethics as a core content of an accounting degree; hence graduates are not prepared for employment as an accounting trainee. Along with personal experience and evidence they got from (Sterling 1973, Lehman 1988, AECC 1990, Sikka 1987) Gray, et al. (1994) suggests that university teaching practise tends to be dominated by techniques acquisition. The inadequacy of university accounting education according to Gill, (1993) is the reason why graduates are neither practically trained individuals who canno t evaluate reason conceptualize and evaluate hence cannot be immediately used in the office (Gray, et al.,1994). Methodology: is the methodology used able to make a persuasive case? I will go through the methodology used by Gray, et al. (1994) also bringing in other academic research that agrees, and others that bring another perspective to the issues addressed. Gray, et al. (1994) looks at educational theory and accounting education and have discovered that accounting educators have paid emphasis to teaching method but accounting literature does not emphasize the learning theory in accounting education. They have looked into the work of Shute (1979) and Ainsworth and Plumlee (1992) where Blooms taxonomy of learning is used to look at accounting education and there is evidence that students are not encouraged to progress the levels of taxonomy and may reinforce lower levels of cognition (Gray, et al., 1994). Their findings suggest that accounting education does not make students reach the highest levels of cognition evaluation which involves making judgements on materials, information and method (Ainsworth and Plumbee, 1992 as cited in Gray, et al., 1994). Gray, et al., (1994) states that ideally accounting education should be at the deep approach/deep-elaborative/transforming/formal-operational but instead it is perceived to be on a low level of Entwiste, et al., (1992) adaptation of learning approaches surface; approach/shallow-reiterative/reproducing/concrete-operational. Gray, et al., (1994) have looked at Kohlberg’s levels of ethical development and discovered with backing including (Rest, 1974, 1987; Rohatyn, 1987) age, gender, childhood, background and years in education are the most favoured determinants of ethical maturity. I have found that some researchers even believe that it is too late to teach ethics at university stage and that ethics education does not necessarily translate to ethical behaviour (Bean and Bernadi, 2007).I have found evidence from Ameen, et al. (1996) who surveyed students in upper-level accounting courses in 4 large public American universities that suggests that female accounting students are more e thically sensitive than their male counterparts. Age and gender is another perspective that should be considered when looking at the future of ethics in accounting education. Gray, et al. (1994) find evidence that suggests that accounting education is only on the first two levels of Kohlberg’s level of ethical development which is ‘Heteronomous morality’ and ‘Individualism and instrumentalism’. Educators should be questioned as to why accounting education is not reaching the higher levels of Kohlberg’s. Without ethics in the core curriculum it is not likely that accounting education will ever contribute to ethical development or produce what is necessary for deep learning (Gray, et al., 1994).However I have found other measures of ethics in accounting education that Gray, et al. (1994) has not looked at such as the DIT and the Mach IV scale. The Defining Issues Test (DIT) is the primary measure of ethical concern and is in most accounting ethical research (Pope, 2005). Another measure of ethics is the Mach IV it is well-validated but is not commonly used in accounting ethics research (Pope, 2005). I have found evidence that suggests that accounting academics are less committed to ethics and ethical education is mostly restricted to discussion of professional codes of auditing courses whereas other professions like law and medicine have always had a long tradition of ethics courses (May,1994; Pallegrino, et al., 1990 as cited in Gunz and McCutcheon 1998). McNair and Milam (1993) who did a survey on 202 schools most of which were accredited by AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) found that although majority agreed that ethics should be covered more in accounting education only 8.3% believed it should be taught as a separate course. McNair and Milam (1993) study suggests that accounting education does make ethics significant, with the faculties who already incorporated ethics as part of another course only spending an average of 3.18 hours teaching it. Gray, et al. (1994) find results that reveal that business ethics courses are indeed present in some un dergraduate accounting degrees, and is still growing although at a negligible rate. More recent studies form Bernadi and Bean, (2005) even suggest a three-course system for teaching ethics in accounting education including a foundation course, a general business ethics course and a discipline specific course (Bean and Bernadi, 2007).Up until recent times it has been suggested by a number of researchers that the Anglo-American accounting education constrained approach to accounting and business education to maximising shareholders wealth has limited the supposed benefits of add-on courses in business ethics (Ferguson, et al., 2011). It has been suggested that the ethical lapses resulting in the scandals that embarrassed the accounting profession notably the Arthur Anderson and Enron scandal in 2002 may be as a result of students believing that cheating is an acceptable, and perhaps necessary, form of competition (Bean and Bernadi, 2007). I am happy to have found evidence that suggest s that post-Enron accounting university students are now more concerned about the corporate ethical structure of the firm they choose to work for (Esmond-Kiger, 2004). Loeb’s goals of accounting ethics education is used to show how ethics and morality can be educated in accounting education (Gray, et al., 1994).   Gray, et al., (1994) introduce three ways without any hierarchy of accessing wrongness or action ‘Cosequentionalism’, ‘Motivism’ and ‘Deontological’. Concentration of the accounting profession lies within Consequentionalism which assesses actions by reference to the utility they generate (Gray, et al., 1994). Possible Solutions to the issues raised by Gray et al, 1994 Gray, et al., (1994) suggests that the solution of issues they have raised may lie within social and environmental accounting which challenges much of the approach of traditional accounting education. They find that although the solution would be to incorporate ethics in accounting education the focus is also largely inseparable from (1) ethical responsibility of the teacher to seek maximum educational development in the student and (2) the apparent relationship between ethical and educational development (Gray, et al., 1994). I found evidence too that also suggests social and environmental accounting and alternative forms of accounting should be taught more to accounting students with the same level of emphasis as traditional accounting (Mathews, 1997).Students have resistance to social and environmental accounting because they do not find it to be immediately relevant and it is seen to be about ‘what accounting is not’ and ‘what accounting can be’ as oppos ed to ‘what accounting is’ (Gray, et al., 1994). I have read Webber (1990) who gives evidence that some ACCSB schools have already responded to these challenges by offering business ethics courses and the reason why more business schools may be failing to introduce ethics to their curriculum is because academic literature has failed to evaluate the effectiveness of the courses. Another possible solution to the issues raised by Gray, et al. (1994) that has not been considered in this paper is that there should be more literature that show backed up evidence that ethics in accounting education produces graduates that are more intellectually and ethically capable in their accounting trainee jobs. Conclusion Despite the extensive research Gray, et al, (1994) questions are left unanswered and the paper is concluded in an inconclusive way asking more questions to themselves and other accounting educators. After reading this paper and understanding the issues raised and evaluating the possible case for social and environmental education and other views from academic research I have read I have one questions for Gray, et al. (1994): With Professional Accounting Bodies like ACCA having ethics courses as a requirement to become a qualified accountant is it fair to still blame the accounting university education for the ethical and intellectual failures among accounting practitioners? Bibliography *Gray, R, Bebbington, J, McPhail, K, 1994 Teaching ethics in accounting and the ethics of accounting teaching: educating for immorality and the possible case for social and environmental accounting’ Accounting Education 3 (1), 51-75 ACCA, 2011 Professional Qualification, Business Ethics Course Description [online] Available at: accaglobal.com/students/acca/ethics [Accessed 12 March 2011] Adkins. N., Radtke, R.R., 2004 Students’ and Faculty Members’ Perceptions of the Importance of Business Ethics and Accounting Ethics Education: Is There an Education Gap? Journal of Business Ethics 51: 279-300 Ameen, E.C., Guffey, D.M., McMillan, J.J., 1996 Gender Differences in Determining the Ethical sensitivity of Future Accounting Professionals. Journal of Business Ethics   15:   591-597 Bean, D.F., Bernardi R.A., 2007 Ethics Education in our Colleges and Universities: A Positive Role for Accounting Practitioners. Journal of Academic Ethics 5:59–75 Bean, D.F., Bernardi R.A., 2006 Ethics in Accounting Education: The Forgotten Stakeholders. The CPA Journal [online] Available at: nysscpa.org/cpajournal/2006/706/essentials/p56.htm [Accessed 12 March 11] Esmond-Kiger, C, 2004 Making ethics a pervasive component of accounting education. Management Accounting Quarterly [online] Available at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0OOL/is_4_5/ai_n6276422/pg_4/?tag=content;col1 [Accessed 12 March 2011] Ferguson, J, Collison, D, Power, D, Stevenson, L, 2011 Accounting Education, Socialisation and the Ethics of Business. Business Ethics: A European Review [e-journal] 20 (1) 12-29 Available through: Wiley online library [Accessed 12 March 2011] Gunz, S., McCutheon, J., 1998 Are Academics Committed to Accounting Ethics Education? Journal of Business Ethics 17: 1145-115 McNair, F., Milam, E.E., 1993 Ethics in Accounting Education: What is Really Being Done. Journal of Business Ethics 12: 797-80 McPhail, K, 2001 The Other Objective of Ethics Education: Rehumanising the Accounting Profession. A Study of Ethics Education in Law, Engineering, Medicine Accountancy. Journal of Business Ethics 34: 279-29 Mathews, M.R., (1997) â€Å"Twenty-five years of social and environmental accounting research: Is there a silver jubilee to celebrate? Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal, 10 (4), 481-531 Pope, K.L., 2005 Measuring The Ethical Propensities Of Accounting Students: Mach IV Versus DIT. Journal of Academic Ethics (2005) 3: 89-111 University of St Andrews Management School 2011 [online] Available at: st-andrews.ac.uk/management/aboutus/people/academic/robgray/ [Accessed: 12 March 2011] Weber, J, 1990 Measuring the Impact of Teaching Ethics to Future Managers: A Review, Assessment, and Recommendations. Journal of Business Ethics 9: 183-190

Dell Computers & Organizational Networking Essay

Dell Computers & Organizational Networking - Essay Example It suggests the inequality of influence between the two groups of internal stakeholders. External Stakeholders are often considered as the secondary and passive stakeholders with little or no direct influence over the affairs of the company. Dell has many strategic relationships with different organizations such as Sony, Microsoft, Citrix System, and Autodesk etc. such external stakeholders are networked through the strategic alliances in which organizations such as Microsoft providing its operating system with every Dell Computer. In a networked organization, employees often become the part of at least two teams and need to have explicit connections with each other. However, the time constraints arising due to multiplicity of processes is not often explicit therefore for Dell, it becomes sometimes difficult to arrange teams in their more efficient way resulting into productivity losses. Further, the time constraints shall also be viewed in terms of the reachability- a measure in which different nodes of the network interact each other. For a networked organization, density defines the interconnectedness of the group of the organizations however, density or the degree of interconnectedness between the members of the team dilutes, and the networked organizations often show vulnerability of loosing the efficiency. This often is the result of poor training in team dynamics which results into ineffective team functioning Creative tension vs. groupthink and group shift needs to be fostered. Team dynamics are such that individual thinking often takes precedence therefore networked organizations often lead to ineffective and conflicting team dynamics. Dell's strategy have been to rely on teams i.e. integrating different teams to achieve different objectives therefore can lead to inefficiencies and culmination of bureaucracies as discussed above. External customers are part of the continuing interdependency. Characteristics of the virtual company relate to the concept of interdependency: Networked organizations are often dependent on different variables or nodes of the network and customers are often referred as the essential nodes of that interdependency. Networked organizations often lead to extended and better customer services because of their approach of considering organizations as a group of interconnected entities. Dell's business model is probably the best model in terms of customer service. This has become possible because of following reasons: Fluid boundaries The radical view of the modern organization suggests that the firms have very flexible and fluid boundaries within which they tend to operate. It is also critical that the fluid boundaries allow organizations to become more responsive to their external customers. Flexible schedules Flexible Schedules allow organizations to manage the stability within the organizations by allowing organizations to develop competencies to manage in volatile environment. Flexible schedules are part of such flexibility drive of the organizations which allow them to view external customers i.e. customers, shareholders etc within a broader perspective and allow organizatio

Yakuza criminal organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Yakuza criminal organization - Essay Example The Yakuza is the name of the most famous criminal organization from Japan. However, the Yakuza is not a single homogeneous organization: it comprises several hundred of clans or gangs that operate in different cities. The Yakuza is involved - in some or other form - in many aspects of life in Japan and has certain interests in virtually every area of commercial activities. The Yakuza's sphere of influence is huge spreading from prostitution rackets to the government and top level businesses. At present, the Yakuza is considered to be one of the largest and most powerful criminal organizations in the world. Thus, the number of known yakuza members only in Japan is almost 85 thousand (Bruno 2007).The origins of Yakuza can be traced back to the Tokugawa shogunate. Tokugawa's unification of Japan in the beginning of the 17th century brought peace to the country, but also produced approximately half a million of samurai unemployed and with practically no employment opportunities. Althoug h many of these samurai turned merchants this option was acceptable and available to only few of them: the rest had not other choice but to search for other means to earn their living. Thievery and other illegal activities became an option for many samurai to support themselves (Seymour 1996).However, the precise origin of the organization is still debated: the diverse gangs that constitute the Yakuza have different origins. Furthermore, the versions of origin adopted by members of each gang often differ substantially from the actual origins traced through the historical records. Therefore, the most popular version is that the Yakuza developed from several different elements that characterized the Japanese society of Tokugawa period (Kaplan and Dubro 1986). Although the Yakuza claim that they originated from the Japanese versions of Robin Hood whose main function was to protect communities and restore social justice this standpoint is reasonably questioned by many. Thus, some resear chers trace origins of the Yakuza to the so-called kabukimono (crazy ones): the group of samurai who adopted unusual hair styles, dressed in a strange manner, spoke in highly specific slang, had long swords and harassed ordinary people: "Some feel that its members are descendents of the 17th-century kabuki-mono (crazy ones), outlandish samurai who reveled in outlandish clothing and hair styles, spoke in elaborate slang, and carried unusually long swords in their belts. The kabuki-mono were also known as hatamoto-yakko (servants of the shogun)" (Bruno 2007, p. 1). The adventures of kabukimono are still a popular theme in Japanese folklore literature. At the same time, the claims of some groups of the Yakuza to have their beginnings from the communal police or machi yakko (servants of the town) that protected the community are justified. These groups of police had different types of organization and consisted of various members of the community. Some groups also included several samurais: only samurai had the right to carry swords while the rest of population was officially prohibited to do so (Kaplan and Dubro 1986). The origins of the most well-known groups of the Yakuza, namely tekiya (peddlers) and bakuto (gamblers) have better traceability due to the specific initiation ceremony that involves rituals that directly relate to the initial spheres of interest of these groups. Tekiya began to create organizations to take over at least some administrative functions and duties relating to commerce and especially to protection of their business. Thus, during trade fairs and festivals each peddler paid certain amount to run his business safely under protection of their own security forces. These forces were eventually recognized by the Edo government, and their leaders called oyabuns (top chiefs) were granted the right to carry a sword like samurai and nobleman (Hill 2003). Bakuto (gamblers) also represented a low caste (even lower than tekiya) of the Japanese soci