Professional Nursing Mission Statement Essay

This Professional Nursing Mission Statement describes the professionalism a nurse needs to perform excellent care in the health environment. The Mission also demonstrates different aspects of nursing and what nurses are to look forward to now and into the future. A. Functional Differences Board of Nursing has an authoritive role in nursing. They are made up of professionals that make up rules so the nurse is aware of what is allowed or not allowed in their scope of practice. Theses rules may differ from state to state but primarily, their focus is to protect the public from people who practice nursing without the appropriate qualifications. State Board of Nursing has the authority to rescind and reissue licenses. Board of Nursing also decides on penalizing action against a nurse who has a complaint or lawsuit against them (Villaceran, 2007). The State of Hawaii board of nursing purpose generally claims just the same. It claims that anyone posing as a nurse must show proof ‘in order to safeguard life and health’ (Hawaii Revised Statute Chapter 457 – Nurses, 2013). A professional nurses organization, or PNO, such as the American Nurses Association for example, was generated to direct a licensed nurse on how to present him or herself in an ethical manner. Although it is not law, it should be practice as a guide to uphold the integrity of the nurse (American Nurses Association, 2001). PNO defines the nurse Code of Ethics and the Scope of Practice. They also explains what a nurse is and promote professionalism. PNO may be involved with research to improve the quality of patient care as well as be apart of the political decision-making to endorse them (Sauls, 2013). B. Nursing Code Example A nursing code of ethics is a good place to start with to guide any nurse to become a great healthcare provider. American Nurses Association, also known as ANA, Code of Ethics gives ideas on how one may want to envision themselves as a respected nurse with values. It identifies how a nurse may want to carry themselves in the workplace with quality and good integrity. ANA provision 1 seems to define what a nurse is all about. It describes the nurse as student nurses were taught to be in nursing school. Practicing  human dignity keeps nurses in good standing with the Gallup polls. In 2008, Gallup polls showed that 84% of the people see nurses as the most ethical. This is the highest amongst other occupations (Cherry, 2011). Generating a relationship with the patient is inevitable. There’s no way a nurse can do their job without first establishing a relationship with the patient. The question is, will a nurse generate a good relationship as oppose to a bad one? To give good car e, the nurse and the patient is in need to be on the same page where the patient is made to feel as they are the one in charge of their care. So, if a patient does not feel like getting up to work with physical therapy the nurse should grant their wishes. Nurses should not ‘force’ patients to do things the patient does not want to do. The nurse should first encourage the patient that it is important to take their daily medications or encourage them to get up for physical therapy, for example. If they continue to refuse, the patient should have the sense of control of their care by not feeling ‘threatened’ for not wanting to take their medication or getting up for physical therapy. But, allowing the patient to set a plan for their day may have the patient more cooperative and less stressed. ANA code of ethics provision 5 is a code that states: ‘the nurse owes the same duties as others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, and maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth.’ (American Nurses Association, 2001). Moral self-respect is required to carry out this code; not only to ones self but to the patient as well. It is a good start to establish trust. Moral respect should also be practice to the individuals in the interdisciplinary team involved. Moral self-respect is key to keep self-esteem and respect to others. It keeps the feeling of unity in a patients care. Having a good rapport with the interdisciplinary team will keep the all on the same page as far as patient care. With the every changing healthcare systems and updated research, nurses are in constant need to keep up for the sake of keeping the patient up to date with healthcare technology (Amcee, 2003). This requires ongoing classes of not only updated technology but with competency as well. If the interdisciplinary team and peers are aware of this, this will boost trust and respect for the educated nurse. C. Professional traits The ANA Code of Ethics discusses many professional traits. Although all are very important and continuously need to be practiced, the professional trait of Collaboration is essential for the interdisciplinary team to practice as well (American Nurses Association, 2001). Collaboration is the job description of any disciplinary team. It is valuable for all individuals to be apart of the care of the patient. Each member of the team gives valuable information from his or her expertise resulting in a holistic plan of care. Another professional trait the nurse to advocate to the interdisciplinary team is to respect the patients right to self-determination while admitted in their care. Every patient needs to be apart of their care and should be able to claim what they want or do not want in their plan of care (American Nurses Association, 2001). This would give the patient a sense of control in their care and their life. Delegation is the third professional trait that is essential to the in terdisciplinary team in order to give appropriate and timely care to the patient (American Nurses Association, 2001). The interdisciplinary team all has his or her own unique specialty that will allow the patient to receive individual care they are requiring. Patients put their lives into the hands of the physician everyday. They trust that they will be taken care of as if they were the only patients the physician possesses. The nurses and staff are an extension of the physician. Everyone taking care of patients has an obligation to continue that integrity the patient has already upheld in the physician. This is why provision 5 in the Code of Ethics should be practiced. This fourth professional trait allows the patient the feeling of respect and dignity. This sense will allow them to have faith in the nursing team and the healthcare system that they will have the best care possible (American Nurses Association, 2001). D. Recommended resource Jean Watson established in 1978 the Theory of Human Caring. Watson introduces the 10 ‘carative’ (or caring) factors that support her theory. They are: 1. The formation of humanistic-altruistic system of values 2. The instillation of faith-hope 3. The cultivation of sensitivity to one’s self and to others 4. Thedevelopment of a helping-trusting relationship 5. The promotion and acceptance of the expression of positive and negative feelings 6. The systematic use of the scientific problem-solving method of decision making 7. The promotion of interpersonal teaching-learning 8. The provision for a supportive, protective, and (or) corrective mental, physical, sociocultural and spiritual environment 9. Assistance with the gratification of human needs 10. The allowance of existential-phenomenological forces  (Nursing Theories, 2012). D1. Theory in Professional Practices Jean Watsons Theory of Human Caring is essential in patient care. Being in the hospital, away from family and literally laying your life in the hands of a stranger cannot be easy. Human caring and showing compassion and empathy can possibly decrease stress and allow patients to focus on healing and be compliant with their care. If patients feel good about their care they’ll be more involved with their care. Using the environment of a Skilled Nursing Facility, as an example, where the healing process may take longer than expected, following the 10 ‘caratives’ in the Theory of Human Caring will not only show quality care but give the patient a pleasant hospital experience for the remainder of their stay E. Contributions Lillian Wald was known for her works in the public health nursing. She believed that the caring for the patient should start before they end up in the clinic. She encouraged the importance of disease prevention and taught health education. She provided well-baby care and treated minor illness in her main clinic named Henry Street Settlement House (Cherry, 2011). Lillian Wald emphasized the significance of prevention. A practice that continues to be reiterated everywhere. As seen in commercials or billboards or even on the radio, prevention is key to a long, healthy lifestyle. When patients leave the hospital, discharge education is vital to making sure they are capable to care for themselves and, hopefully, bring down the numbers of hospital visits. F. Scenario One principle I safeguarded for a patient was respect for autonomy.  Sometimes patients are admitted into the hospital for something as simple as daily intravenous antibiotics. They are independent with all of their activities of daily living. Sometimes these patients are intertwined with other patients in shared rooms. These independent patients, because of their alertness, should be able to be in a private room. These patients are not only of low acuity, but these patients will be happier not being around sicker patients. Happier patients means good rating for us. On the other hand, there are times when patients are admitted as stable yet confused. The second principle I safeguarded for a patent was non-maleficence. Because these patients are not in control of their thoughts or actions they are required to be supervised more closely than others. Patients who are at risk of getting hurt by getting out of bed without assistance can cause nurses to be of concerned. These patients can easily be put in a wheelchair and ‘hang out’ with the nurses at the nurses station for continuous supervision from, not only of the team nurse but, all staff. This would allow more eyes on the patient bringing down the risks of injury. This will also prevent more invasive means like using physical or chemical restraints.

Operation Torch

Reasons for Initiating Operation Torch – – The Allies planned to occupy Vichy France to prevent the land from being occupied by Axis; the invasion would eventually force Axis powers to fight a two-front war; also helped to diminish transportation of supplies to Axis forces; Key Personalities (Involvements) – – General Dwight D. Eisenhower – – Jean Francois Darlan – – Andrew Cunningham – Objective(s) of Operation Torch – – Allies planned to team up with Vichy France in North Africa in order to take Tunisia before Germans could occupy it from nearby Sicily.After invading North Africa and convincing the French to join the Allies, American and British forces planned to head directly to Sicily, invade, and move up to the core of Europe. Victory here would also allow the Allies to clear up the Mediterranean of Axis forces for their own personal use. Important Readings – from Earl Rice’s â€Å"Strate gic Battles in Europe† . . . – page 24: The Americans joined their British allies. Roosevelt's military advisers wanted to build up immediately for an invasion of the European mainland later in the year or early in 1943.Churchill and his counselors declared that an invasion of the continent so soon would be next to impossible because of insufficient time to assemble the necessary forces and too few available landing craft in which to haul them across the English Channel. Churchill and his advisors did not want to risk a failed invasion. – page 25: Churchill instead favored extending operations in North Africa, where British forces were already fighting. he argued that seizing North Africa and beyond would introduce American troops to the action, boost American morale and appease Stalin's demands for a second front.But Roosevelt's advisors were unreceptive to Churchill's plan and suggested redirecting U. S efforts to the Pacific Theater. In June 1942, Churchill to ld Roosevelt that Britain was both unable and unwilling to undertake the invasion of Europe in 1942 or even in 1943. Having already been driven from Norway, France and Greece by the Germans, the British (now page 26) intended to stay the next time they landed on the Continent. – page 26: Roosevelt accepted Churchill's proposal. Torch’s primary objective was to take Tunisia before the Germans could occupy it from nearby Sicily.The Anglo-American invasion force in the west would then move eastward to link up with Lieutenant General Bernard L. Montgomery’s British 8th army, advancing westward through Libya. Together the 2 Allied armies would form a vise within which to crush Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s 100,000-man German-Italian army in Libya, including his vaunted Afrika Korps. But first they had to deal with the French. https://www. diigo. com/list/audreym96/operation-torch SOURCE and Earl Rices â€Å"Stategic Battles in Europe†; Even though Stalin required that the Allies attack somewhere in Europe, Operation Torch was successful: the Allies gained a wide amount of land and the Suez Canal was saved. So what’s the importance of the Suez Canal, huh? The Suez Canal provided a short sea route between Britain and Middle East oil supplies, and its imperial colonies in Asia and the Far East. It enabled the Allies to move supplies,men,equipment,fuel,and raw materials around the world to where they were needed much more quickly than if they had had to sail around the southern tip of Africa,which would have made them much more vulnerable to U-boat attack.Why the British cared SO much about North Africa? – When the second World War broke out, there were many soldiers from many different nations in Cairo. The Italians were there, but there were really no serious attempts to help Mussolini by them. The only real enemies in Cairo were the Germans. The British secret police watched them very carefully. There was a political r aid in which the British caught German spies that had come to Cairo with money, a radio transmitter and a house boat on the Nile.Because the English were unable to ship all of their supplies in from Britain, they trained and employed thousands of Egyptians in various trades. Some were mechanics, electricians, drivers, engineers and even lens grinders. They repaired military equipment and even built trains and machinery. Egypt started to weave their own cloth out of silk and wool. Advances were made in mining, cement, petroleum refining and chemical industries. In Egypt, the British spent over ten million pounds every year. In July of 1942, the British were pushed back almost to Alexandria.Rommel stopped at Alamein because his troops were exhausted and almost out of supplies. The British rushed to Cairo. Soldiers were sent to various places to train while other got ready to retreat from the city. The British officers went to the banks to try to get their money while at the British he adquarters, vital papers were burned. This scare changed Cairo to a point where it would never be the same again. Montgomery took over the Eighth Army in the desert and moved them to Alamein. He won this battle in October or November of 1942.After this battle, Egypt lost most of the fantasy and glamour that had been year during the years of occupation. Now the city settled down to the first order of business, national liberation. http://www. touregypt. net/hbritish. htm SOURCE ALGERIA AND MOROCCO – http://www. ushmm. org/wlc/en/article. php? ModuleId=10007303 Operation Torch, the Algeria-Morocco military campaign, began on November 8, 1942, and ended on November 11, 1942. US and British forces, commanded by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, carried out this campaign.Three task forces landed on the beaches near Casablanca on the Moroccan Atlantic Coast; near Oran in western Algeria; and near Algiers, more than 250 miles to the east in Algeria. Although Vichy French forces initially resisted, a coup d'etat by the French resistance in Algiers on November 8 neutralized the French XIX Corps before the Allied landing. General Mark Clark, Eisenhower's deputy, induced Admiral Jean Francois Darlan, Vichy High Commissioner for North Africa, and General Alphonse Juin, the commander of the Vichy French armed orces in North Africa, to order French forces to cease armed resistance in Oran and Morocco on November 10–11. In return for his cooperation, Darlan temporarily remained head of the French administration as the French forces in North Africa joined the Allies. The Allied landings triggered the German occupation of the unoccupied zone of France and the rapid dispatch of German troops to Tunisia. To avoid capture of their Mediterranean Fleet by the Germans, the Vichy French scuttled it in the harbors of Toulon on November 27, 1942. By the end of November, the Allies had crossed the Tunisian border in the northwest.

The Misconception of a Role Model and the Relation to an Athlete

A role model: a noun, meaning a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. An athlete: also a noun, a person who is trained in exercises or contents involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill. Two entirely different words, and two very different definitions, yet one must wonder; could it be that these terms may in fact be very closely related? Thus bringing us to the much debated issue of whether or not athletes can be positive role models. Over the years, this has proved to be an extremely opinionated issue for many. The truth is, an athlete is simply â€Å"a person†, and if we have people who are our role models, then yes, athletes, being people, can be positive role models too. However in today’s society there is a huge misconception surrounding the term â€Å"role model† and therefore there are many mixed opinions regarding this topic. Firstly, could it be that our expectations of athletes that are perhaps too high, thus preventing us from seeing the â€Å"positive-ness† in them. Secondly, in such a materialistic world, people often forget the difference between what they want and what they need, and therefore if the world wants to see prefect role models, with money, talent, and beauty, then they will look for that in people like athletes, because quite frankly, people are constantly in search of that â€Å"good life† concept. Lastly, there is a reason why the word role comes before model. Our role models are only models in a certain role, or as one may say forte. Athletes are role models in our society, however only in the role of an athlete, and we often forget that. Consequently we may need to re think our definition of a role model before we determine whether or not athletes can be considered positive influences on our society. Today, when a high-status athlete is accused of a serious offence or of cheating the game, of course it is news and newsworthy! Take Michael Phelps for example; no matter how many world records he breaks in the future, there will always be someone there to bring up the pact that he smoked marijuana at a party once. He wasn’t even in competition season, or training that day, ut he did it. He did something that many of us have done, yet because he is Michael Phelps, everything changes. We cannot consider ourselves perfect, because we make mistakes all the time, so maybe we need to allow these athletes to try and fail at the â€Å"non-athletic† human qualities, because in the end, they are simply human and, like us, they often make mistakes too. We have these silent requests for athletes. We force them into be coming our role models; we force them into achieving excellence in the athletic world. Therefore, the mere fact that athletes are constantly accomplishing this excellence, although they are under great pressure, is evidence not of the failure of professional sports in society but of their triumph. We should be proud of Michael Phelps, because he is a positive role model, regardless of whether or not he smoked once upon a time, that just shows us that this man has the talent and ability to maintain athletic success, and the events of a normal humane life, at the same time. We should be proud because the days of baseball players drinking beer during the game or basketball players using drugs prior to the tip-off are long gone; today we find less of the athletes who carelessly fritter away their talent, and more of the athletes who are more admirable and, more superior role models than before. So maybe we are unsuccessful when it comes to recognizing this, and as a result we require even more from them. This could be hy our vision of a role model, when it comes to athletes, is impractical and unreasonable. Furthermore, in such a materialized world as the present, we have forgotten what we need and replaced it with what we want. We used to have a good vision of the â€Å"good life† where all we really needed was the basics, which can be found on Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. Basics and necessities such as: air, food, shelter, sex, safety, love and belonging, self esteem, and personal fulfilment. Now however, we have become more technologically advanced, and the media has become such a huge influence in our lives which, inevitably, causes us to forget about the basics, and instead fill ourselves with greed, and want. We now feel that in order to have a good life, we must have money, fame, health, and beauty in appearance; all of which we can find in athletes. So now, instead of having role models who are successful, and respect all of Maslow’s basic needs, we have role models who have all the things that we want. We look at these talented athletes, and we pick out the parts of them that we want to have in our â€Å"good life† and we forget the parts of them that we need to have in our â€Å"good life†. We look at their outer selves, and forget about their achievements, and their stories. Therefore, athletes can be positive role models for us, depending on what our image of a â€Å"good life† is. Now at last we look at what a role model is meant to do for us. A role model is not just a model; they are a model of a specific role which is a vital limitation. Like previously stated, none of us are perfect, thus, realistically speaking; none of us are models for others. Parents, principles, community leaders; we should all be modest and hope that the younger generation do not follow in our footsteps entirely. For example, in the future, I would like my children to have my voice, passion for writing and sports, and my sense of love and belonging. However, I would not like them to have my health issues, or patience skills and tolerance when it comes to ignorance. You see, everyone wants to set good examples, we all want to have a good life, filled with our good qualities, not the bad, because then those who follow in our footsteps will be heading in the right direction straight from the beginning. So yes, of course athletes will often fail to model the role that we expect them to model, however we all make mistakes. We cannot expect them to model a role that they are not capable of leading, but nevertheless we can expect them to display good sportsmanship and commitment to fair play. In the end, we must come to realize that the question is not exactly â€Å"Can athletes be positive role models? † but instead, â€Å"What kind of role model do you see athletes as? † Our idea or a role model is distorted. We have such high expectations of them, causing us to treat them as if they were not human. We also need to take into consideration, our thoughts on a â€Å"good life† the difference between what we want to see in our role models, and what we need to see in our role models, because often we are looking at the outer athlete, and not the true inner talent that they might have. Subsequently, we must remember that athletes are models for their own specific roles, and like any role model they can be successful or they can fail at that role. Therefore we must simply judge them based on the vital constriction that comes with their role, and no more than that. We must expect from them only what they are capable of doing. The study and analysis of this issue has brought me to the realization that we have a huge misconception of what a role model is, and whether or not the relation between role model’s and athlete’s can be made.

Financial Comparison of Burberry and French Connection Research Paper

Financial Comparison of Burberry and French Connection - Research Paper Example This shows that the company can easily pay all its debts in case of liquidation due bankruptcy or other reasons. Current assets include cash and cash equivalents, accounts receivable and notes receivables, inventory end, office supplies (bond paper, folder and others), furniture and fixtures, office equipment (computers, calculators, adding machines and the like) and many others. When the total debt of Burberry amounting to 286 is divided by its equity to the tune of 387, the result is seventy -four percent. This shows that the company does have a good leverage ratio. The leverage ratio is a must analytical tool when borrowing huge sums of money from banks and other credit institutions. Based on the above analysis, Burberry has a better debt to equity ratio because its debt to equity ratio is seventy -four percent. On the other hand, French Connection has a bad leverage ratio because its debt to equity lower at only forty eight percent. The best debt When the net income of Burberry is divided by its revenues amounting to 106 is divided by its net sales or revenues of 743, the result is fourteen percent. This shows that the company should increase its net profit ratio by either increasing its revenues or decreasing its costs and or expenses. Based on the above analysis, Burberry has t... This shows that the company does have a good leverage ratio. The leverage ratio is a must analytical tool when borrowing huge sums of money from banks and other credit institutions.Based on the above analysis, Burberry has a better debt to equity ratio because its debt to equity ratio is seventy -four percent. On the other hand, French Connection has a bad leverage ratio because its debt to equity lower at only forty eight percent. The best debt To equity ratio is one hundred percent. C. French Connection Net profit Ratio = 11.08 = 0.05 246.3 When the net income of French Connection amounting to 11.08is divided by its revenues amounting to 246.3, the result is five percent. The company should try to increase its net profit by either increasing revenues or/ and decreasing costs and expenses. Burberry Net profit Ratio = Net profit = 106 = 0.14 Net sales 743 When the net income of Burberry is divided by its revenues amounting to 106 is divided by its net sales or revenues of 743, the result is fourteen percent. This shows that the company should increase its net profit ratio by either increasing its revenues or decreasing its costs and or expenses.Based on the above analysis, Burberry has the better net profit ratio because its fourteen percent net profit ratio is clearly higher than the net profit ratio of French Connection at only five percent. D. French Connection Return on Equity 11.080.10 = 110.46 = When the net income of French Connection amounting to 11.08 is divided by its equity amounting to 110.46, the result is ten percent. This shows that its return should increase by increasing revenues or decreasing

Labor Market and Minimum Wage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Labor Market and Minimum Wage - Essay Example ns for their youth the disemployment effects are smaller, and in countries where labor market is regulated the minimum wage standards have the least impact on disemployment (Neumark & Wascher, 2003). Labor demand in the present era is determined by the rapid changes in technology which have placed more emphasis on increasing productivity by dependence on computerization and software rather than the human workforce. This might present an inference that the average labor requirement will decrease as the industries become increasingly technology driven. However this is not true as the change will only be in the quality and not the quantum of workforce, as human input will be needed to run such technologies. Any increase in minimum wage usually affects the employment pattern of a country in a negative manner. The most affected are the younger workforce who usually work on much less wages and therefore become unemployed. The usual analysis of the effects of fixing a minimum wage were usually done by using a ‘time-series’ method where the impacts were studied over a specific period. However the approach misses on some aspects like the relation of data to other contributing factors such as recession and other labor market policies. A cross sectional data analysis approach was therefore preferable to arrive at a more pertinent and accurate conclusion ((Neumark & Wascher, 2003). The authors’ analysis suggested that other factors contributed much more towards unemployment rather than the fixing of a higher minimum wage alone. Recession was cited as one of the prime factors affecting employment patterns. Any increase in the minimum wages makes employment seem more attractive than studies to those in late teens and thereby disturbs the equilibrium. However with the latest trend of changes in the labor market from traditional industries like production and manufacturing to more sophisticated ones like the service industry and those involving technical knowhow like

CIS 599 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

CIS 599 - Assignment Example The CIO days as the principal manager are long gone. Currently, both the IT manager and CIO need to be productive business leaders who are conversant with technology. Grasping the strategically aligned organization framework and applying its ideas will assist in releasing the management’s full potential as leaders (Lane, 2011). On covering people, the author’s contributors stress on the relevance of recruiting and collaboration supported by some great notions on talent management and employee development. The chapter on people also contains a vast amount of detail on the CIO role in each section as well as the career needs of the CIO (Lane, 2011). The book brilliantly handles the technology part by focusing on how better to handle the technology folder. Strategies such as assessing an organization IT portfolio effectiveness using on-budget and on-time percentages of projects to correspond with the needs to the actual functionality could be effective performance strategies. Other more efficient implementations of IT portfolio management is to assist the organization to prioritize IT projects so that fewer assets could be managed guaranteeing IT’s placement with maximizing IT investment and business priorities. In terms of compliance, the IT professionals need to be conscious of the compliance need with many different kinds of laws. Definite rules have to be used, and they may need supervisory reporting to agencies that control such compliance. There are different company policies necessary so as to heighten the effectiveness of the company profit making efforts. The book states that in the CIO world there is nothing more important than project quality. If one identifies himself or herself as a quality fanatic, they should put CIO weight behind project quality and adopt some simple strategies that project leaders, quality leaders, PMO, and business partners will gain

HR policies regarding workplace behavior Term Paper

HR policies regarding workplace behavior - Term Paper Example As a rule, workplace ethics are often regarded as an integral part of the workplace behavior, therefore, all the aspects of the HR policies should be reviewed from the perspective of the overall atmosphere improvement in the company, as well as the overall performance efficiency growth. Workplace Behavior and Ethics As it is stated in the research by Covey (2000), the conflict causing behavior is rather contagious, since the entire personnel may become contaminated with the improper behavior. This incurs additional (and often, hidden) costs for the company, while the destructive behavior, such as rudeness, gossiping, incessant complaining, ignoring etc., causes losses in productivity and efficiency. In accordance with the research by Lord et.al. (2002), it should be emphasized that behavior and ethics are the essential aspects of employment, since both assist in the company’s attempts to improve the profitability. This is explained by the statement that all the employees have different moral values, ethical backgrounds, behavioral norms etc, while the key employer’s task is to harmonize the cooperation of these people by setting rules and regulations that are intended to adjust certain compromises. In general, every company has a specific set of rules that are not associated with the general working procedures directly. These rules are intended to specify which behavior is acceptable, and which is not, and are mainly associated with harassment, language, smoking and eating at working place, as well as working attire. Some of these rules are stipulated by the domestic legislation, while the others originate from the corporate traditions and HR experience. As for the smoking regulations, it should be emphasized that these rules are intended to maximize comfort for all the employees and customers of the company, as well as for improving the fire safety measures. In this case, a compromise is set between a company and all the employees who smoke, sinc e the company agrees to allocate a specific area for smoking, or implement control systems (in case of non-smoking policy), while smokers agree not to smoke in the areas where smoking is forbidden. Ethical behavior, generally, involves various aspects: Integrity. As a rule, this aspect is mainly required for the positions with high financial or any other material responsibility; however, most companies encourage integrity for the entire personnel. In accordance with the research by Estlund (2003), high integrity promotes the absence of gossips and sneakiness among employees. Accountability. In fact, it is often included into the list of unspoken requirements for any worker, since employees are obliged to take responsibility for the particular set of actions. However, most managerial and executive positions have this requirement listed in the job descriptions. Additionally, this involves coming in time, putting honest efforts while performing the job, etc. Teamwork. Actually, this is not an obligatory ethical requirement, nevertheless, employees interact with each other, and hence, this interaction should not be discouraging for the overall organizational performance. This means that personal dislike should be set aside, as the team will have to concentrate on reaching the corporate goal. Commitment. Similarly to previous aspects, this one is not regarded as an

Strategic Covert Action Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Strategic Covert Action - Essay Example Having the aforementioned accurate information will help a state to identify a point of priority and to respond accurately and appropriately [by for instance funding, making legislation, using diplomacy, and/ or engaging in military combat or proxy war] (Loch, 1989, 75). In the event that an intelligence agency is the same that uses secret information to carry-out executive decisions to engage in covert action, there is likely to be an absence of accountability. Again, the conflict that this trend is likely to herald is the usurpation of the roles of the foreign affairs docket and its offices. When an intelligence agency uses secret information to carry-out executive decisions to engage in covert action other important aspects such as accountability and oversight are easily bypassed and excesses become a reality. There is a strong and clear point of convergence between the use of covert action support the practice of state-craft and the use of covert action to carry out actions to further security, military, economic, and business interests. This makes it impossible to disassociate the use of covert action from supporting the practice of state-craft and furtherance of security, military, economic, and business interests. This is because covert action supports the practice of state-craft [achieving, consolidating and wielding power to control outcomes, actors, issues and events in international relations]. Indisputably, this power is also used to consolidate and perpetuate a state’s security, military, economic, and business interests. The specific subject of covert action has suffered a lack of serious and in-depth study because of the failure to produce theoretical concepts to explain instruments of foreign policy such as diplomacy, trade and force. It is because of this failure to address the theoretical concepts to explain instruments of foreign policy that the

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 198

Assignment Example Then in the very next point, he says that students should practice before studying a grammar rule. In the observed lesson, the teacher was working on improving comprehension skills. She began by distributing comprehension worksheets to the entire class. Then she gave a brief summary of what was expected of the class. She then asked the class to read the entire comprehension. While some were reading the essay, other students had read the essay. She involved those students in a small group discussion while the rest of the students completed reading the comprehension exercise. Later she asked the students to read the questions and answer them. While students were doing this, she observed the entire class for students who were experiencing difficulty. She helped them out. As some students finished early, the teacher began discussing the answers. She even asked students to exchange their work to get a feedback from other student. In this way, the pacing of the lesson was such that every student was involved in the lesson. The teacher ended the lesson by reading the questions aloud and discussing the answers. According to the teacher, she had divided the lecture into four parts. The first part was introducing the lesson, the second part was involving the students into the lesson. The third part was the most important as students completed the learning activity. The final part was closure where the teacher took feedback from her students. Answer: The criteria for determining the success of a learning activity is by assessing the level of comprehension of the students. This can be judged through assessments and feedbacks. The teacher can also determine the success by observing the class which the learning activities is being conducted. If the students are immersed in the activity and are enjoying the activity, then it is most likely to be successful. In my opinion, an effective learning activity should be able to develop an

Food and Culture Report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Food and Culture Report - Assignment Example The most prominent nutritional ailment is obesity, which has a higher prevalence among African-Americans, as compared to any other group in the United States. These facts have motivated the interest on focusing on this ethnic group’s health habits. Approximate number of people belonging to this group living in the U.S. According to the 2011 U.S Census Bureau estimates, African-Americans number approximately 40 million and account for 14.1 percent of the total population in the United States.1 Traditional Food Habits Core or Staple Foods When African slaves were brought into the United States, they carried along their food practices and styles of cooking. Some of the staple foods they brought along include okra, peanuts, sesame seeds, rice and black-eyed peas. The slaves also learned to prepare the food provided by their masters such as pork, vegetables and cornmeal. They also used molasses as a sweetener in food dishes and drinks such as iced tea. These are still being applied to date. African-Americans also celebrate their cultural holidays through the promotion of unique cooking, characterized by ethnic styles which are sometimes referred to as soul food.2 For instance, fish has always been considered a staple food among the African-Americans. ... Food Preparation Methods and Seasonings Many African-Americans prepare food using a frying or barbecuing method and serve the prepared dishes with heavy sauces and gravy. They also prefer making baked goods from scratch, as opposed to using commercial mixes, which come pre-packaged in a box. Meal Composition and Cycle It is customary for African Americans to consume a lot of food for breakfast. In the morning, they prefer eating grits, sausage, ham and freshly baked biscuits with syrup and butter. Lunch usually consists of bologna, which is eaten in sandwiches. The dinner is normally baked chicken with corn bread, baked ham, green vegetables, rice, candied yams and baked macaroni and cheese. Dessert is comprised of fruit cake and/or apple pie. Foods Associated With Superstitions Most of the superstitions revolve around the consumption of black-eyed peas. If the black-eyed peas are served with greens the food represents money i.e. the peas represent coins while the greens represent no tes.2 If the corn bread is added to the black-eyed peas and greens meal, this represents gold. If eaten with stewed tomatoes, it represents health and wealth. The culture dictates that for one to witness everyday luck, they should eat at least 365 black-eyed peas during New Year’s Eve. Foods Used For Therapeutic Purposes Most contemporary African Americans have become more health conscious and realize the significance of ensuring that their diets contribute to their well-being.3 This has resulted in an increase in the addition of fruits and vegetables in every dish. They have also ventured into healthier and lighter cooking with the traditional fattier foods being left for special holidays and occasions. Foods for Traditional Celebrations

International entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International entrepreneurship - Essay Example This definition of international entrepreneurship arises from the fact that IE arises from the desire to expand their operation beyond the borders of the countries of their operation. International entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly important in many economies around the world as corporations take advantage of the vast opportunities availed by globalization. Consequently, companies, both small and large multinationals, are increasing finding it necessary to expand their operations into other countries or regions so that that they can tap the numerous benefits availed by such ventures. Hence, a perfect definition for international entrepreneurship must entail the desire to create a successful business venture in a country different than the present country of operation. My definition captures this aspect of IE. Although the wording used in defining IE differs from one scholar to another, almost all of the definitions point to one area: that of seeking out and conducting new and innovative business activities across national borders. For example, McDougall and Oviatt (903) define IE as ‘a combination of innovative, proactive, and risk-seeking behavior that crosses national borders and is intended to create value in organizations’. ... McDougall and Oviatt go a step further in their definition to state that IE creates value in an organization. This is absolutely right as IE elevates the profile of a company to that of a multinational, particularly if it establishes markets in numerous international markets. Expansion into foreign markets also adds value in form the company gaining skills and experience from the challenges and successes realized in the foreign markets. The same concept is captured in by Zahra and George’s definition of IE when they mention that companies establish operations in foreign markets in pursuit of competitive advantage. Another definition for IE was given by IE scholars meeting in 2008. Taking into consideration McDougall and Oviatt’s definition, the scholars aimed to expand this earlier definition to make it more concise and add an outcome or value to it. After consultations amongst themselves, they defined IE as â€Å"the creation of economic value through cross-border ent repreneurial activity† (ie-scholars discussion). This latest definition simply echoes those made earlier, particularly that made by McDougall and Oviatt. However, they add the aspect of value creation through exports and imports. Due to the recent emergence of globalization and creation of trading blocs such as the EU, AU, and NAFTA it has become necessary to create a distinction between international entrepreneurship from traditional entrepreneurship. While both types of entrepreneurships involve innovation, risk-seeking behavior, and creatively discovering and exploiting opportunities, the former transcends national borders or goes beyond the company’s domestic market while the latter is concentrated within

The Psychological And Physical Effects Essay Example for Free

The Psychological And Physical Effects Essay Discuss the psychological and physical effects of loss and grief: How might an ethical therapist incorporate this knowledge into his/her work? Base your answer of the theories and models presented in Module 7. It is a fact of life that every individual will experience loss and grief at some point in their lives but in certain circumstances they may be unaware of it. Loss can come in many disguises from the easily recognisable bereavement, to redundancy, children leaving home, divorce, relocation, disfigurement, chronic illness, miscarriage, loss of a close pet, abortion and others. When a client presents for Counselling, it is vital to be alert for losses, both recent and historical, to check if there are unresolved issues because grief can be easily missed or misinterpreted. Chrysalis (2012) states that there are two ways in which a therapist will encounter the need to work with loss and grief. These are: 1) When a client presents with a recent loss and their goal is to work through the process and understand it, reaching a satisfactory conclusion. 2) When a client presents with other symptoms which you then uncover as being a grief reaction. In this case the person may not recognise that their problems are related to grief or unresolved grief in the past. For the purposes of this assignment, loss and grief will be focus primarily on bereavement. Worden (2009) states â€Å"that the overall goal of grief counselling is to help the survivor adapt to the loss of a loved one and adapt to a new reality without him or her†. He goes on to explain that there must be four adjustments: increasing the reality of the loss, dealing with behavioural pain, and helping the client maintain a bond with the deceased while being comfortable with the new reality. I will now examine the psychological and physical aspects of grief and how a therapist may use grief models and theories in the therapy room and take into consideration social and ethical factors. The Physical and Psychological effects of Grief. Before exploring the theories and models of grief, it is important to be aware of the psychological and physical issues which accompany the grieving process. It is possible indeed common that a client may present for Counselling on an unrelated issue and on closer examination by the  therapist; it becomes apparent that the client is in the grief process, and is in fact stuck at a certain stage in this process, or has failed to grieve in the past. There are feelings, cognitive processes, behaviours and physical symptoms which manifest not only in grief but in other psychological issues. It is the job of the Counsellor to make the link between the presenting issue with the unresolved past grief and loss. Many people will assume that the over-riding feeling associated with grief is sadness and if sadness is not being experienced then the issue is not grief. This is most definitely not the case. There is often a ray of emotions that individuals experience, such as anger, frustration, s ometimes and a sense of relief. This is not uncommon after the deceased has been ill for months or years or if there was a difficult relationship between the deceased and the client. There are several stages to the grief process and each of these stages has distinct range of emotions and feelings. Common feelings surrounding grief are shock, numbness, denial, fear, sense of abandonment, anxiety, anger, guilt, loneliness, pining, relief, tiredness and freedom. The same is true for cognitive processes and behaviours which can be frightening and confusing to the client. They include obsessive thoughts, hallucinations or visions of the deceased, denial that the deceased has died or even sensing that the deceased is in the room with the client. Behaviours can be disturbed sleep, loss or a gain in appetite, forgetfulness, or lack of interest in life, withdrawal from the client’s normal network of friends and family, crying, avoidance, restlessness, a idealisation of the deceased and the treasuring of the deceased objects. The bereaved can also experience a range of physical symptoms which can be disturbing and frightening and may exacerbate any feelings of anxiety being experienced by the client. These can include tightness in the chest, hollowness in the stomach, sensitivity to noise, shortness of breath, increased sighting or yawning, feelings that they are going to collapse, a sense of disconnectedness from others and the external world. In such cases, it is important as a Counsellor that the client is encourage to visit their G.P. if theIR symptoms become serious or a cause for concern. Sometimes clients need reassurance that their symptoms are normal reactions to the grieving process and that the physical symptoms will pass in time. The physical symptoms of grief can mimic depression but there is a difference. Freud believed that in grief the world looks poor and  empty to the client, where’s in depression the person feels poor and empty themselves. The Theories and Models used in Therapy. These have been numerous theories and models proposed by psychologists over the years, these include works by Bowlby, Worden, Murray Parkes and Kubler Ross among others. Bowlby (1907 to 1990) believed that in psychoanalysis the therapist is too interested in fantasy and not sufficiently interested in the present environment and events of the client’s current life. Bowlby tried to understand the human tendency to attach to others. He went on to study the reaction of infants when they are separated from their mother and what occurs when this bond is threatened or broken, (he went on in the 1950’s he published his Attachment Theory). His ideas on separation response could be said to be the underpinning theory of bereavement. Chryslais (2012) explains the three stages of separation response: 1) Protest (related to separation anxiety) 2) Despair (relating to grief and mourning) 3) Detachment or denial (related to defence). The models and theories used by psychologists present grief as a curve and that the grieving process (sometimes expressed as phrases or stages) must be worked through. Worden explains that he chooses to use the word â€Å"tasks† because he finds it more useful for the clinician; phrases or stages imply certain passivity, something that the mourner must pass through. The tasks concept on the other hand, can give the mourner a sense of leverage and hope that there is something that he or she can actively do to adapt to the death of a loved one. As there are a lot of similarities between the theories on grief, I will focus on Worden’s tasks of mourning. He describes four tasks through which the bereaved must work through: 1) To accept the reality of the loss (that the deceased will not return). 2) To process the pain of grief, the pain associated with the grief must be worked through. If there is avoidance or suppression then this will be carried through life to surface at a later date. 3) To adjust to a world without the deceased. This will differ from client to client depending on  the type of loss and what the deceased provided for the bereaved. Parkes (1972), explains, it is seldom clear exactly what is lost. A loss of partner may or may not mean the loss of a sexual partner, companion, accountant, gardener, someone to help with the children; this will obviously depend on the particular roles normally performed by their deceased partner. There are also the financial consequences of losing a partner which can cause a lot of worry and anxiety for the client which also create further change in the client’s lifestyle. 4) To find an enduring connection with the deceased in the midst of embarking on a new life, the Counsellors role is not to help the bereaved give up their relationship with the deceased but to help them find an appropriate place for the person they have lost in their emotional lives, a place that will enable them to go on living effectively in the world. I have discussed already that some people who present for therapy may be unaware that they are experiencing a grief reaction at all. Others, who have suffered a recent loss may not understand the grief process, particularly if this is the first time grief has been experienced. It is appropriate to ask the client this during the therapy, to determine how grief will be handled and whether there is previous grief that is unresolved, which could signify â€Å"complex grief† as being a problem. To help the client understand the grieving process, the grief curve is a visual tool which can be employed in the therapy room and given t o the client to take home with them. The therapist can ask the client if explaining to them about the grieving process would be useful. The curve plots the emotions over the time which the client can expect to experience following bereavement and confirms to the client that the feelings and reactions they are experiencing are entirely normal. The disadvantage of actually showing the client an illustration of the grief curve is that the client may start to put pressure on themselves where they feel they ‘should be at this stage of the grieving process! The curve begins at the time the loss was first experienced and then continues until the point of resolution. That is to say, when Worden’s fourth task has been completed and the mourner is able to reminisce and remember the deceased while forging a new life for themselves. This process does not have a time limit, Chrysalis (2012), explains that the time it takes for a person to complete the process will depend on the situation, the client’s previous ex perience of grief and the environment they are living  in. Worden (2009) states in order to understand how somebody is going to grieve, you need to know if he or she has had previous losses and the circumstances they were grieved. Did they grieve adequately or does the individual bring to the new loss a lack of resolution from a previous loss! The grieving process is not linear and the client is likely to move forwards and backwards through the emotions depicted on the loss curve. This can be very confusing and frustrating for the client, who may believe that they beginning to move forward only to take a backward step. This can be explained to the client as a perfectly normal and expected part of the grieving process and although it may seem frustrating and challenging at times, the overall motion is one towards resolution, even if it is two steps forward and one step back. As previously mentioned the grief curve plots the emotions the client is likely to experience during the process. It can be very useful to ask the name of the emotion that they are feeling in order to bring it to the client’s full awareness. Worden’s first task of mourning is to actualise the loss because the process cannot start without full realisation and confrontation of this fact. He states, the first task is to come to a more complete awareness that the loss actually occurred and the person is dead and will not return. Survivors must accept this reality before they can deal with the emotional impact of the loss. He goes on to say on occasions the Counsellor needs to use language that reminds the client that the deceased has died. This language can help clients with reality issues surrounding the loss and stimulate some of the painful feelings that need to be felt. As can be observed in Appendix 1, the emotions on the curve begin with shock. According to Chrysalis (2012) shock is an emotional defence mechanism which allows the situation to dip slowly into the bereaved awareness in order to protect them from emotional overload. It is a very difficult time and in reality it is not until this stage is over that people usually present for Counselling, unless they have become stuck here. The second stage is separation and pain, during which time there will be periods of very deep darkness and periods of easier times. The client may report dreams and hallucinations of the deceased and exhibit searching behaviours. The next stage is despair, during which the client, may experience many  feelings and emotions to understand. It can be accompanied by depression and lack of concentration or inability to focus on everyday tasks. People in this despair stage may feel unable to function and may say things like â€Å"I can see no way ahead and no way out of this†. Acceptance comes next on the curve and is the beginning of the upward slope towards resolution. Chrysalis (2012) explains that it is important to note that the client will often reach intellectual acceptance before emotional acceptance and can experience mood swings and depressions associated with despair at times. At this point, the client may feel able to begin to adjust to a new life, but may feel guilty and need reassurance and permission from the Counsellor. The final stage is resolution during which time the client will be able to make plans for the future and has found a place for the deceased to be remembered with happiness. The above is a representation of a normal grief process (although it is widely accepted that there is no norm), but there can be obstacles which can complicate the process and this is known as Complex Grief. Clients may have unresolved issues from their past which may be affecting the grieving process or stopping it altogether. This is why the therapist must check for unresolved grief in the past. According to Chrysalis (2012) the factors which should be taken into account are: 1) The nature of the attachment (is there an ambivalent attachment or conflict with the deceased). 2) Method of death (including socially unacceptable deaths such as suicide, violent deaths, missing persons and in other dramatic circumstances). 3) Historical unresolved grief. 4) Personality, how easily does the client assimilate change! 5) Social variables, how is grief handled in the client’s culture or faith! 6) Concurrent stresses (is the bereavement around the same time as other major life stresses such as relationship breakdown, loss of work, a close relative has a chronic ill and the client is the main carer giver, moving house). 7) What support system (friends and family) does the bereaved have! There are four types of complex grief these are: 1) Chronic grief, where the client is unable to find resolution 2) Delayed grief, the client has unresolved grief from the past and a present loss triggers the grieving process. 3) Exaggerated grief, the client may  use maladaptive behaviours such as drugs and alcohol, suffer general chronic anxiety, clinical depression. If a client is struggling to cope with difficult emotions then they may find outlets to help them manage. 4) Masked grief, the client does not link the symptoms to the grieving process. This is why the Counsellor must check when working with a client that their presenting issue is not masking unresolved grief. Ethical Factors It is widely accepted that a Person Centred Counselling approach is required when working with grief. The process cannot be hurried and each person will take their own time to work through the curve. All that may be necessary is the holding of the client and allowing them to work through the process. This means allowing the client to take their own time, to create a safe space for the client to explore their emotions, to reassure the client that what they are feeling is â€Å"normal† and to be a non-judgemental listener. Inventions however, must be carefully planned and only used towards the end of the grieving process when the client is nearing resolution and has the strength to take them on board. It is important to recognise that clients may display displacement activities or using defence mechanisms. In a normal therapeutic session this behaviour would often be challenged but in this instance it is often advisable to continue to support the client without challenging their behaviour, as the client may not have the reserve or strength to confront them at the current time. Conclusion Grief and loss is something that will be experienced by everyone at some point in their lives. Counsellors and psychologists generally agree that grief is a process and generally follows a curve. It can take approximately two years to work through (for someone close to the client) but obviously varies for each individual and this does not include complex grief. A variety of emotions will be experienced by the bereaved. The curve is organic, meaning that the bereaved is likely to move forwards and backwards through these until resolution is reached. The way grief is handled depends on a variety of factors unique to the individual. Grief can be â€Å"normal† or described as â€Å"complex†. Factors associated with complex grief I have mentioned previously in this  assignment, such as the circumstances of the deceased’s death, the importance of the relationship between the deceased and the client, the depth of the attachment between the two, how stressed was the client prior to this loss! Another important factor does the bereaved have the opportunity to express their grief or do they feel pressured to supress their emotions. An example of this, would be a mother who has lost their partner and has dependent children and feels that in order to appear strong, that she must soldier on without the opportunity to express her own emotions around the loss. There are four types of complex grief, chronic, delayed, exaggerated and masked, the therapist must use their skills to determine whether the client who presents for an unrelated issue actually has an unresolved grief issue in their past. Tools can be used in the therapy room to aid the process. These could include asking the client to draw their own grief curve or ask them to write to the deceased. A person centred approach is necessary to give the client space and time to process the loss in safety. Interventions can be kept to minimum unless near resolution and the client has progressed along the grief curve and has the strength to handle them.

A Freedom Fighter, or Terrorist?

A Freedom Fighter, or Terrorist? The recent surge in Terrorism as a phenomenon has been unparallel in modern history. It now features as one of the top priorities in government agendas for most of the countries around the world. It is debatable whether it has been hyped up to some extent but unarguably has been one of the most unfortunate trends that have made considerable impact on the way of life for all. The security agencies, religious heads, community leaders, experts and such, are all facing a mammoth task of tackling the menace. It is costing governments billions of pounds in loss of lives, properties, trade and importantly confidence. Due to sensitive nature of the issue, involvement of varied drivers, the lethal cocktail of domestic and international politics, the lack of political will to identify root causes, bungled intelligence information and importantly its geographical spread covering all continents are some of the contributing factors that has left the modern world exasperated. The importance of differentiating and defining the legitimate and unlawful has become academic and a matter of statute. This unfortunately has not helped the bigger cause of tackling the issue in a fair manner thus leaving lives of common people at increasing risk. The debate about values of civil society and rights of the oppressed has blurred and can be argued, to such an extent that no common consensus exists in relation to what is acceptable and what is not, leaving ordinary people confused and causing rift between different communities. This however does not diminish the importance of reaching an amicable definition, the need for it is more than ever before, especially to uphold the values of liberty, fairness and democracy in a volatile society. The discussion will elude to some relevant issues in the context of background, causes, and legislation and will endeavour to arrive at a satisfactory definition that hopefully would distinguish the freedom fighter from the terrorist. This discussion would take into account both national and international scenarios on the basis that the phenomenon is not restricted to UK alone and indeed the definitional problems it poses worldwide, as incidentally does the threat of violence from it. Background The Freedom Fighter: To allow this discussion to evolve and formulate, it is imperative to define and differentiate between a freedom fighter and a terrorist. The term freedom fighter can be defined as being for those engaged in a struggle to achieve political freedom for themselves or obtain freedom for others  [1]  . The common conception of a freedom fighter is that it is someone who opposes a cruel or unfair government by fighting against it, using weapons usually as a part of an organised group  [2]  or even someone who uses violent action, or threats of violent action, for political purposes  [3]  . These general definitions provided from varied academics, saturate an area which is already filled with many views and opinions on the definition of such word and how it should be classified. The Terrorist The term terrorist has also been attempted to be defined as being the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion  [4]  . It has also been classed as someone who use violence in order to achieve political aims  [5]  or a person who uses violent methods to try to remove a government from power  [6]  . A terrorist in a definitional sense connotates acts of violence being carried out, in order to fulfil aims. The resistance movement can be clearly termed as activities involving conflict of some nature. The conflict mainly against the authorities as the above definitions seems to presume. The purpose of achieving political freedom or aims indicates opposing some political establishment. It also however signifies restriction of liberty and free will and either a violent or non-violent approach to break these restrictions to make inroads for the organisations willing to do something about it. People who are described as freedom fighters are often also called in popular culture as assassins, rebels, insurgents, or even terrorists. This leads to the dictum one mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter  [7]  , which poses the difficulty that governments are faced with when trying to define it. A freedom fighter could be meant to consist of someone who will fight for the cause of freedom but as we thoroughly discuss, traditional use of such terminology in popular media is confined to those who are engaged in violent behaviour and those who fight for freedom peacefully are disregarded for the reason that violence by other groups whom claim to be freedom fighter, cast a shadow over them. This also poses the validity of using term armed rebellion as it is linked to violence outside the sphere of traditional terrorism. Nelson Mandela and Yasar Araafat were initially branded terrorists only to be recognised as diplomats and freedom fighters, even though the factions they were linked to were directly responsible for the loss of numerous lives and creating social disorder. In crude comparison even Osama bin Laden was encouraged and supported by US to fight Russia to protect their strategic interest in the area  [8]  . It is ironic that he is now the most wanted man on the earth. The perceived transformation of terrorist to freedom fighter and vice versa in context of their roles blurs the definition even further. The term terrorist and freedom fighter has become distorted with the changing times. It is interesting to note that Seymour above has no qualms in making those blurred boundaries more prominent. His emphasis on differing universal values attached to the activities instead of the blanket definition is worth noting and he suggests that they are the same entity and the difference between them both is only a matter of a opinion and a subjective view. International Perspective: The history of resistance movement goes back to from 1 AD to 6 AD according to various historians, even though no concrete evidence exists as to when the usage of the word terrorism came into existence  [9]  . Various studies have found over 100 definitions of terrorism  [10]  and this coupled with the fact that the term is politically and emotionally charged greatly compounds the difficulty of providing a precise definition  [11]  . Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the United Nations (UN) strived to classify terrorism, but the implementation of such definition concluded to fail as member states found it difficult to verify it, in regards to the use of violence for national liberation and self determination  [12]  . This was mainly due to Palestine movement which was not only whole heartedly supported by the Middle-East but countries in South Asia, Russia, China and Africa also provided tactical support to the cause as and when it was required. The solidarity groups ac ross the world staged peaceful demonstration on regular basis, mainly to keep the momentum going. The active freedom fighters or comrades of the movement also got involved in violent activities inside and outside of the mainland Palestine. This always posed problems for the countries that hosted such groups and they refrained from making any supporting statements when the activities resulted in loss of lives and destruction of properties. This showed how freedom fighters can immediately become terrorists or undesirables through the actions they undertake. The United Nations General Assembly uses the commonly agreed political definition of terrorism when condemning such acts  [13]  . The declaration reads: Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them  [14]  . The absence of term violence in the above declaration and its reliance on general criminality of the acts makes it less influential and renders it incapable to deal with modern day trend, which is more complex and extraordinary. It is safe to assume that the criminal laws of any country, irrespective of their political structure must be quite effective in dealing with criminal acts and the declaration ignores variety of internal and external threats the countries may face, such as risk to infrastructure, utilities, national treasurers, technology and others. Due to severity and the new reality that has dawned following 9/11 attacks, then Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, described the terrorist attack on USA as an attack on humanity as a whole, without definition, all terrorism to be condemned whatever the political origins  [15]  . This was a progressive step forward and highlighted the need for rigorous definition and a zero tolerance approach. There was also an acknowledgement and underlying message of not getting too wrapped up with the legal clarity about the definition and instead to tackle the issue at hand in a non-negotiable but effective manner. It is also worth noting the usage of term whatever the political origins, as a conflict of any political nature was considered as a trigger point that may result in terrorism and a battle for self determination. It must be observed that since the rise of terrorism in the west, the Patriot Act 2001 was enacted in the United States of America (USA), which attempted to define terrorism as being premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience  [16]  . This definition has no consideration of the social factors for the cause of terrorism and attempts to infer that political pressure is the only aim . The Act was described as a pendulum reaction to 9/11 event by Lord Carlile  [17]  . The act was scrutinised by both major parties in the USA as it encroached upon and showed scant regard for liberties of the individual  [18]  . The UN has made several resolutions to allow uniform adoption of counter terrorism measures. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373  [19]  (2001) was seen as a response to 9/11 and since as become a pillar of the global legal framework for the prevention and suppression of terrorism.  [20]  The introduction of such resolution meant that countries such as Japan took steps in order to freeze the assets of many individuals  [21]  . However it must be noted that although the counter terrorism measure in this resolution were adopted, the resolution failed to define terrorism and persisted to include Al-Qaida and Taliban within the framework of defining terrorism. Further attempts have been made from the UN to understand the growing threat of terrorists. UN Security Council Resolution 1566 defined terrorism as being:- criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages, with the purpose to provoke a state of terror in the general public or in a group of persons or particular persons, intimidate a population or compel a government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act.  [22]   This definition takes into consideration of the wide scope of damages that terrorism could cause such as in taking the lives of civilians and does not restrict it to just political aims or in times of war. The further need for a strict definition was attempted also by Tamar Meisels whom advocates a consistent and strict definition of terrorism, which she defines as the intentional random murder of defenceless non-combatants, with the intent of instilling fear of mortal danger amidst a civilian population as a strategy designed to advance political ends  [23]  . This definition seems in include an aim again and shows that violence and instilling fear are the key components of the behaviour of a terrorist. The history of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and African National Congress (ANC) is riddled with violence, kidnapping, civil disorder, threats, incitement in order to achieve the aims of these organisations, which in effect was self-determination, freedom, justice, equality, fairness and so on, similar aims of the freedom fighter. The rights of the Palestinian people to self determination has been recognised by the many organisations around the world including the security council and the international court of justice and most importantly even by Israel as well. About 100 nations recognize Palestine as a state  [24]  . In 1990, the successful negotiations between the government and ANC resulted in ending apartheid, culminating in multi-racial democratic elections in 1994, which were won by the African National Congress under Nelson Mandela  [25]  . In both the above cases the uprising was internally and externally supported by individuals, organisations and governm ents across the world. The campaign highlighted the injustices, segregation, and deprivation of basic human rights of indigenous people that became magnet for people to protest against it. It also gave platform for other people and groups internally and sometimes externally to participate in the struggle in a non-violent way. The justification of methods within an organisation is met with the internal wrestling between the political arm and the branch that deals with rebellion by way of force. This has meant that disputes within groups stagnate further development for their cause. There has been an increasing interest at the international level in supplementing traditional human rights principles with rights for minorities within in each group. For example, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe adopted a declaration on the Rights of National Minorities and established a High Commissioner on National Minorities in 1993  [26]  , this being significant as within the international framework, the rights of minorities are being protected in reaction to terrorism diluting their rights in certain states. Similarities and Differences The above definitions and backgrounds provide useful information on making an informed decision on the similarities and differences between the two. The overlapping of some triggers and factors are inevitable and readers are urged to be cautious when taking a stand for and against the issue. Most of the formal definitions of terrorism and freedom fighter have some common characteristics mainly a fundamental motive to make political or societal changes through use of violence or illegal force. The terms have stark differences as well. The use of violence perpetrated by terrorist is random and does not take into account the destruction of lives and properties of innocent people. The freedom fighter on the other hand, targets governmental and military installations with a view to bring them to the negotiating table. This is in contrast to terrorists who aims to create fear and terror and instead issues orders and demands to surrender and may lack diplomatic channels, resulting in the approach taken by militants, both can command support. The terrorists support comes from clandestine organisations and rouge states. The freedom fighter cause is celebrated and may get support from all sections of the society including democratic institutions. UK Context There is no single definition of terrorism that commands full international approval. It remains the subject of continuing debate in international bodies  [27]  . Lord Carlile arrived at this conclusion after carefully researching the current terrorism laws that exists in 60 countries. The majority of countries selected for the study had either too broad or too narrow scope of definition and importantly were designed to reflect specific political situation and threat of the individual country. Only few European countries had some similar features to UK legislation and context. The Terrorism Act 2000 was aimed to establish a sound definition of terrorism in the law with a view to introduce entirely new set of police and investigatory powers to deal with incidents that would be deemed beyond the ordinary violent offences. It also superseded and repealed some of the previous acts and provisions. Since 2000, the UK has enacted five main pieces of legislation to deal with terrorism  [28]  . Following the events of 9/11, legislation and security measures from the Government were under threat of not going far enough to deal with the issues raised by violence, such as terrorism. Following the events of 9/11, legislation and security measures from the Government were under threat of not going far enough to deal with the issues raised by violence, such as terrorism. In response to this the government initiated CONTEST (I and II) as the main authority for counterterrorism strategy for the UK. It was designed to take account of the evolution of the threat and of our understanding of the factors which are driving it  [29]  . The latest conception of CONTEST attempts to deal with issue that foreign policy concerns breed violent extremism  [30]  . It endeavoured to define how foreign policy in the UK could act as a catalyst for people to turn to extremism. Real or perceived grievances, some international and some local, including in particular: a perception that UK foreign policy in the Muslim world (notably military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan) is hostile to Islam; the experience of wider conflict in the Muslim world and conflict involving Muslims (often attributed either to western intervention or to western indifference); and a range of domestic issues, including racism, inequalities and the experience of criminality and migration.  [31]   This brings the paradoxical argument that, grievances such as the foreign policy of a country could lead to the radicalisation of those aggrieved, who in turn could result in fighting for the cause, and ultimately for the minority the perceived freedom fighter could become an instrument of terrorist activities. It must be mentioned that he report conducted by Lord Carlile  [32]  where he defined terrorism and reviewed all legislation in relation to this topic, has now become a fundamental part of terrorism legislation Terrorism Act 2000 The introduction of the Terrorism Act 2000 signified a huge step in the right direction in the attempts to define such violent acts. The act defined it as being an action which is designed to influence the government through a threat or to intimidate the public and threats made for the purpose for progress of a political, religious or ideological cause can be seen as terrorism, for the purposes of the act. These attempts show that the UK government had stretched the boundaries and attempted to define it. The act also cleared up discrepancies in regards to what type of damage or threats are caused. Section 2 of the Act also defines what type of actions can be inferred to be that of terrorists and includes actions which involve serious violence or serious damage to property. An action which endangers a persons life or a deed which creates serious risk to the public can be also be deemed as actions of terrorism. The act also attempted to cover the rise of technological warfare by includ ing attempts to disrupt electronic systems can also fall under the heading of terrorist activities. It is imperative to mention that the act also considered terrorist activities committed outside of the UK would still be classified as terrorist actions for the purpose of the act. This is important as the scope for actions is wide thus allowing such actions to be classed as terrorist activities. However, this act even with the attempts and inroads it has tried to make in regards to defining terrorism, has been met with criticisms chiefly from Lord Carliles paper. He suggested that the act should include the use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other similar case  [33]  . If the section 1 (1) (c) was to be amended in the 2000 act, it would provide a positive message by enhancing the legal clarity of the act. The Terrorism Act 2006 also extends the range of offences which can be classed as terrorism and included the term glorifies  [34]  , which can be meant as a novel word for a criminal offence. The amendments made by the 2006 Act, such as, glorification and mere preaching cannot be seen as terrorist actions, Lord Carlile was content with the protection that was in place in regards to the misusing of the clause preaching and glorification  [35]  . Like the Patriot Act in the Unit ed States, the current UK law has been scrutinised due to the slow dissolution of key human rights such as right to privacy which allows the police excessive powers, which could result in misuse of them. The Terrorism Act has been wrongly exploited by authorities such as the Police force and Customs as they have often cited the Terrorism Act when combating terrorism when in fact in various cases these events are not connected to those of terrorism. Another contentious issue arising from the act is section 44. This section involves the authorisations available to senior police officers if they believe that it is expedient for the prevention of acts of terrorism, they can confer powers to other police officers to search people and there is no requirement that the officers to do so on reasonable grounds. Stop and searches have been taken advantage of as those with no connection in terrorism can be targeted, such as protesters  [36]  , however the police must have reasonable suspicion that the person pursued is operating as a terrorist, according to the Home Office  [37]  . In many states across the world which breed terrorist organisations, the experience that they have such as poverty and hardship lead to the radicalisation of the masses. Recent research suggests that poverty and illiteracy as well as the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq are key factors leading to religious extremism  [38]  . This has led to the school of thought that freedom fighters and terrorist have not always derived out of the same background and it is the ideology that they pursue which is different from one another. Summary The discussion on the said topic was approached with a view to define Terrorist and Freedom Fighter, and includes researching various understanding of these terms and the views as expressed by national and international experts, including relevant legislations. The unique characteristics or commonality that compares and distinguishes both terms are vital in critically considering its legitimacy and legal status. The rapidly diminishing boundaries of terrorist and freedom fighter has not only left ordinary people confused but authorities struggling to provide legal clarity as well. The discussion also ask the questions to ponder on the necessity to define these terms to the hilt at the expense of ignoring such a sensitive issue and in turn giving secondary preference to tackling the issue. The Terrorism Act 2000 and subsequent legislation that followed like the Terrorism Act 2006 which made amendments to the 2000 act such as creating new offences in reference to the encouragement of terrorism which deals with the root cause of it  [39]  , provides an insight into the UKs context and how counter-strategy with all its teething problems and weaknesses remains at the heart of providing protection and stability to UK. Conclusion The exclusion of religious causes from the definition of terrorism is controversial and there is no discourse as it stands that political cause may be excluded from the definition, this also applies to an ideological cause. Can there be a religious cause which is neither political nor ideological? If so, should it be under the terrorism umbrella?  [40]   The above questions bring the debate about root cause to the fore. The counter-terrorism strategy identifies the importance of the role specific community should be playing. The Prevent strand aims to tackle the issue through community involvement. It is hoped that by identifying the underlying issues such as foreign policy, discrimination, deprivation etc the authorities would be in better position to address the issue through various community based and led initiatives. This however must not underestimate the importance of containing and eliminating the menace of terrorism through policing and judiciary means mainly via legislation. The international community it seems are still divided over defining the term freedom fighter. The thin line that separates it from terrorist is too risky to be crossed. It also depends on individual countrys foreign policy, e.g. The Middle East whole heartedly supports Palestine movement and some countries also give tactical support in form of funding, promotion etc. The argument with some of the western countries is that the funds can be easily channelled to terrorist causes and openly promoting the cause can have adverse effect on their relationship with Israel, not to forget the wrong message it would send to those elements who could resort to violence and derail the campaign. The current definition of terrorism as it stands now in UK has been rigorously designed and implemented through proper policy making mechanism. The inherent weaknesses and the lessons learnt of abuse of powers since 2000 have either been amended or eliminated. The process of treating each case on merit and trying to identify the root cause can only exasperate the situation. The sensible approach route however would be to look at the end result. Did the activities result in illegal and random violence? Did it cause loss of lives of innocent people and destruction of properties? Have the perpetrators got legitimate concerns that can be resolved through negotiations? Is the issue of persecution, human rights visible and quantifiable? The concept of Freedom Fighting is alien to current UK scenario. The robust laws and legislations in place, the mechanism of transparency and implementation of these laws, the equality and human rights, democratically elected local and central government, rights of citizen, checks and balances of political and judiciary system etc are antithesis to the path of violent struggle for freedom. It is also equally true that any widely accepted and legitimate freedom struggle outside UK such as Burma, Palestine etc must not be underrated. The UK citizens should have right to protest within the boundaries of UK law, including marching, publicity, awareness campaign, funding raising etc. Developing a Successful Corporate Strategy: Examining Volkswagen Developing a Successful Corporate Strategy: Examining Volkswagen A business strategy is an organizational plan with long and short tem purposes of achieving set business goals and objectives. Its a management plan aimed at strengthening the performance of a company through provision of quality products and services and maintaining market share and successfully containing competition (Aaker, 2001). A business strategy can be developed and implemented at three levels of an organization structure; the corporate level, the business level and the departmental level. Developing business strategies at corporate level involves maintaining the business positive performance while ensuring long term success of all business units through improving compatibility among the units. Companies develop corporate strategies to manage their operations, departments, products, services and staff to make the company competitive and ensure that every component contributes to the success and achieving organizational goals. The development and implementation of a business strategy or model involves the use of organizational design which is the process of deciding how a company must form, utilize and combine organizational structure as well as control systems and organizational culture to pursue a business goal (Hill and Gareth 2008). This essay will focus on developing and implementing business strategies at corporate level based on the Volkswagen Group which is a motor manufacturing company. Factors to Consider when Developing a Successful Corporate Strategy Well developed business strategies must address the strategy choice, organization structure, primary people concerns and organizational culture dimensions. Volkswagen Group has identified differentiation as it major market strategy. This strategy involves positioning the group on top of motor manufacturing by the year 2018 with increased service delivery and customer satisfaction. Developing this strategy has been practiced through provision of quality products, new designs and always improving and expanded services that go beyond the normal automobile manufacturing standards. Volkswagen Group therefore focuses on a quality strategy which is a subset of a whole differentiation strategy so that it can outstand among the many competitors in the industry. However, the current increase of many players in motor industry has gone into Volkswagen group strategy plan and implementation because of the greater efforts needed to maintain revenue, market share, reduce costs and most importantly keep customers who seem attract to other cheap car models from other manufacturers. Volkswagen Group management assigns employees to particular value creation tasks and roles that are linked together to create a framework that will increase quality provision, effective service delivery, innovation and responsiveness to customers to increase competitive advantage. This motor manufacturing group has succeeded in integrating the efforts of all employees across all company structure, functions and business sections so that specific set of strategies are achieved. The Volkswagen organizational structure is very flexible with all duties clearly spelled out together with the staff who should undertake them. The structure of the Volkswagen Group organizational structure has been one of the contributing factors to effective implementation of previous strategies because every employee knows his/her job description and expectations. The development of any corporate business strategy must take into account the primary concerns of all the people involved by ensuring production of good quality products and quality services to guarantee customer satisfaction. To achieve this, Volkswagen Group has installed programs to train all its human resources prior and after a strategy is devised and implemented. This assures the company that the staff is capable of turning the business strategies into business values. The choice of its staff is very complete because only staff with great quality combinations for a motor manufacturing industry is considered. Organizational culture is a collection of values, norms, beliefs and attitudes that are common among people and groups in an organization. Volkswagen group has organizational standards that control how the employees interact with each other, with the customers and stakeholders outside the company. Just like many other international companies, the top management of Volkswagen group has the upper hand in ensuring that employees work towards achieving the company strategies and goals because they can influence the kind of beliefs to be exercised in the company. Developing a corporate strategy is therefore a very complex process that is primarily concerned with selection of business area where the organization should operate and compete as well as developing and coordinating business profile through stipulation of objectives, aims and goals (Checco 2005). In developing business strategies organizations must address key strategy components that usually determine the long term performance of such strategies. These components include; strategy reach, competitive contact, managing resources and business relationship and management practices. The corporate strategy reach involves defining corporate mission, vision, objectives and goals. The strengths and opportunities as well as weaknesses and threats are considered in this component. The definition of these management components enables execution of the strategy while ensuring business units are integrated into each other for easy management. The competitive contact is more concerned with speculating the future competition environment and developing products and services that will be able to compete favorable with those of the competitors. Opportunities and threats are more addressed at this point. Coordinating the use of company resources, both material and intellectual across the business units forms the other component of managing corporate activities and relationships. Developing a business strategy dictates that all business units in harmony and compatible with each other such that communication and business instructions can flow from unit to unit (Porter 1998). The effective use and management of corporate resources should be stressed in the strategy since the success of a corporate strategy is dependent on how the resources are utilized. The choice between centralization and decentralization of a corporation needs more considerations such as the external factors that may face business activities, the level of compe tition as well the available resources and the benefits expected to be accrued from such resources. However, every organization should look carefully at its intended corporate strategy as compared to that of its competitors to see if it can better leverage its internal strengths and potential for operational efficiencies because development and implementation of a poor strategy may be the ultimate downfall as many competitors are finding ways to incentivize customer value through lower prices, additional options or more product for the same price to maintain customer base. This could be a battle that Volkswagen group could fail at if it does not keep pace or find a way to show consumers its value. Conclusively, strategic choice, organizational design, culture and principal people concerns shape employee beliefs, behaviors, values and norms and this determines how they will implement the business models and strategies.

Rhyniophytes Seedless Vascular Plants Characteristics

Rhyniophytes Seedless Vascular Plants Characteristics Rhyniophytes are a group of fossil plants, which compose the first land flora, These seedless vascular plants that developed during the early Devonian period and during the Paleozic era, occurred in the Rhynie Chert deposit. Some signs of this appeared as early as in the Silurian period as well. The first land flora is a clasificationof three extinct earlyvascular plant groups (the Rhyniophytes, the Zosterophyllophytes and the Trimerophytes), that flourished around 425to370million years ago. Despite the fact that these were very simple plants containing no seeds, flowers, and were even leafless, they bear a very striking resemblance to the plants we see today. The vascular tissue was comprised of a protostele or of one vascular bundle. A number of unicellular organisms were preserved in this location, such as fungi primitive plants and arthropods, leading researchers to believe that conditions were perfect for the process. The Rhyniophyta are notorious thanks to the prominent fossil record held in the village of Rhynie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Rhynia, one of the most notable plant groups, are primarily characterized by their moderately small structure and dichotomous branches, with various lateral branches, most of which was common in all three groups with minor differences in size and location of sporangia. In the Rhynia, the sporangia were located mainly at the top of the main branches, but were usually overtaken by the growth of lateral branches. The sporangia present in the fossils found, contain enough cellular detail to tell which plants are the sporophyte generation. Significant unique features, like reproductive structures, can be seen connected to their parent plants, thanks to the fact the plants were buried in-situ. Fossils also showed first indication of wounding by insects in the form of penetrating wounds, likely by arthropods. Another important characteristic to take note of is homospory, each plant having the same size spores. This gives resear chers more information into the kind of ecosystems these early plants evolved. During the second land flora or the coal age in specific regions of the globe, such as North America and Europe, were covered by shallow seas and swamps where favorable conditions yielded year-round growth with a tropical climate. Given these conditions five groups of plants thrived during this period, three of which were seedless vascular plants ferns, lycophytes, and equisetophytes. The other two dominante plants were of the gymnospermous type, the seed fern and the cordaites. These more complex groups dated from the late Devonian (375 million years ago) through the Carboniferous (290 million years ago). During the carboniferous period plants such as these grow high it the sky producing forests, but became extinct due to a time of increasing tropical drought during the Late Paleozoic. Leaving behind only a few relatives such as the herbaceous, several groups of ferns, and the conifers; some of these plants such as the fern and the herbaceous still exist today. The plants of this pe riod were classified by having more modern characteristics, things like pseudomonopodial branching, monopodial branching, microphyllous leaves, and sporophylls leaf that covered the sporangia. Even ferns, had developed megaphyllous leaves and eusteles. The third flora more commonly known as the gymnosperm flora signifies a sequence of evolutionary lines of seed baring plants. Late into the Paleozoic era the progymnosperms existed, which is considered to be the intermediate between the seedless vascular plants and the gymnosperns that predominantly characterize the later period. The progymnosperms carried some of the traits for their predecessors as well as their successors, with the production of secondary xylem similar to living conifers and reproducing by means of freely dispersed spores, but most importantly the presence of a bifacial vascular cambrium. Progymnosperms became extinct around 340 million years ago in the Mississippian period. Evidence suggests that seed plants developed from similar plants such as these. Gymnosperm, which means naked seed, is a broad expressive term for plants like conifers, which have seeds that are borne naked, the primary characteristic of the classification. They are pollinated by wind. It was the global climate change that brought an end to the Carboniferous Period and the succeeding growth of the third major land flora, set apart by forests of gymnosperms. The extinct gymnosperms existed from Devonian period up until the Jurassic and range from a number of groups and characteristics. The Ptericdospermales or seed ferns and Cordaitles varied in form, from plants that looked like tree ferns to smaller slender branch plants. There are also a number of extinct Mesozic plants that are included with the gymnosperms on occasion, with seed ferns as well as a series of other Carboniferous and Devonian seed ferns being inclded. There is also some debate as to the lineage of the Bennettitales, which was an enigmatic group of Mesozoic gymnosperms characterized by its palm like leaves that faded out during the Cretaceous period. The four phyla of gymnosperms that came about still have existing representatives, which including the Coniferophyta, Cycadophyta, Gnetophyta and Ginkgophyta. The relationship between the four groups is still uncertain. Gymnosperm forests grew dominate for almost 150 million years, well into the Cretaceous Period where they began to diminish in size, around 145 million years ago. They became overshadowed by the flowering plants that emerged and ultimately rose to dominance around 90 million years ago. What resemble modern day cycads and cycadeoids first emerged at the end of the Paleozoic Era, approximately 290 million years ago and became plentiful in the Mesozoic Era, characterized by the dominate trait of the period the cone. Cycadeoids fell to extinct before the end of the Cretaceous period, but conifers being the most abundant group of gymnosperms, still live on today with around 7 families and ap 600 species. Conifer is a woody plant and most are evergreens. The leaves of conif er are long, thin and needle-like such as pine. Ginkgophyta is a monotypic phylum that lives on through one species, Ginkgo biloba or more commonly known as Ginkgo, which has spanned over 150 million years. It has reproductive qualities like the cycads and vegetative qualities much like the conifers. Gnetophytes are considered to be the closest existing relations to the flowering plant, dating back all the way to the early Cretaceous. Angiosperm, which literally means covered seed, is a broad expressive term for flowering plants whose ovules or seed are covered by the ovary. The angiosperms comprise only a single phylum, while gymnosperms consist of several phyla. The phylum consists of two major classes, Monocotyledones and the Eudicotyledones as well as a much less sophisticated and primitive group called Magnoliids, all of which encompass approximately 235,000 different species of plants. Flowering plants started to appear during the Cretaceous period, about 125 million years ago. They are considered to be the most successful vascular plants to evolve, since they are the largest, most widespread, and diverse. Some of the possible causes for the flowering plants success include a range of adaptations for drought confrontation, together with the development of the deciduous habit, as well as, possibly the most important, the evolution of resourceful and specific systems for pollination and seed distribution. The first recognized flowering plant was the Archaefructus, which was only recently discovered. It has many of the major characteristics of angiosperms including slight roots, floral axes with sealed carpels on top as well as sealed stamens at the bottom, and bisected leaves, Angiosperms major characteristics consist of the most concentrated megagametophytes and microgametophytes of the vascular plants, fruits, flowers, ovules with two integuments, and double fertilization. Vessel elements are present in flowering plants xylem and in their phloem there are sieve tube elements. Some plants like the primitive class mentioned earlier lack these cell types. Sporophylls are leaves that folded to enclose the sporangia, which was most likely a defense mechanism to protect the reproductive materials. Different sporophylls undertake different jobs, while some produced male sporangia which became the stamens, others produced the female reproductive structure or pistil and some that dont produce reproductive sporophylls became the petals and sepals. The anther, which are the folded sporophyll that are positioned at the tip of the stalk or filament, are the location of the male sporangia. In the sporangium, spores are formed which divide almost instantaneously to gen erate gametophytes. Once mature, the anthers open to discharge the mature male gametophytes or pollen grains. The pollen grain is carried by wind or by animal to the female gametophyte. When the male gametophytes find a well-matched stigma, a pollen tube develops to reach the female gametophytes, through the pistil and into the carpel. Flowering plants rely predominantly on insects for pollen transfer. Insects get a sweet nectar reward and as flowering plants discharge odors to draw bees, beetles, butterflies, and wasps to their blossoms. Other larger pollinators include bats, mothhawks, and hummingbirds. There has been a co-evolution of flowering plants and their pollinators as modifications of plants and pollinators have been a key factor in the success of the flowering plant, which can be seen with an look at the flowering plant visitors.