The Relationships Among the Four Functions Essay Example for Free

The Relationships Among the Four Functions Essay The four functions of management are planning, organizing, influencing, and controlling. These functions are interrelated because the performance of one depends on the performance of its predecessor. While each is equally important on its own, I believe that the functions are a part of a process that must be viewed and implemented as a whole. First, planning involves choosing the tasks that are to be performed to meet the organization’s goals. Next is organizing, which is the process of assigning the tasks to the people responsible for getting the job done. Then there is influencing which is the guiding of the activities of the people assigned toward a desired end. And finally, there is controlling the process of gathering and comparing information to determine whether a project, or organization, is on track or needs improvement. Once you have done the planning, and organized the players to complete the tasks, you must influence the players by getting them to buy-in your plan. In this function you are being more of a â€Å"coach† than anything. A manager’s influence over the personnel assigned and how they approach the organizations goals is key. How to motivate, lead, or direct them toward the goals is the primary goal. In a sense, influencing is a way you can obtain the fourth and final function, controlling. The fourth function, controlling, involves possible modification to existing plans, organizational structure, or the motivation system used to develop a more successful effort. Being able to measure the performance of the personnel who have responsibility for the assigned tasks, will enable one to compare this to expected standards, then either influence them towards more positive gains, plan additional tasks, or continue to monitor progress towards goals. As you can see, each of the functions, while separate, are inextricably intertwined and necessary for the effective management of a project, or the organization as a whole.

Impact Of Emotional Intelligence On Conflict Management

Impact Of Emotional Intelligence On Conflict Management Purpose This paper aims at exploring the role of emotional intelligence in affecting the conflict management styles used. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered questionnaire was used to survey 233 employees from several banks. Correlation and regression was used to analyze the results. The findings are discussed in the paper along with some recommendations for managers and researchers. Findings The results revealed a significantly positive relationship between high emotional intelligence and usage of integrating, compromising and obliging styles of handling conflict. Low emotional intelligence was found to be associated with high use of avoiding and dominating style. Research limitations/implications The study has limitations which hold suggestions for future research including self-report issue, focus on only one sector i.e. banking sector for analysis located in Islamabad/ Rawalpindi. Also, the study was one shot therefore there is need for longitudinal research to validate the findings. The need for applied research is also emphasized. Practical implications The paper provides practitioners with some advice about understanding and managing conflict through usage of emotional intelligence and the importance of its training is highlighted. Originality/value The paper is a contribution to the existing limited research on the topic. However previous researches offered an important base for the study regarding the consequences of emotions on conflict management; nevertheless, they have not addressed the particular approaches that people are more likely to use when confronted with conflict. It explores the link between the EI and all the five styles of conflict management which has not been yet researched by any academician. Keywords Emotional intelligence, Integration, Compromising, Avoiding, Competing, Obliging Paper type Research Paper INTRODUCTION The study particularly focuses on the individual emotional intelligence abilities to manage a conflict as emotions play a key role in effecting behavior in general (Weiner, 1992) and negotiation behavior in particular (Barry Oliver, 1996). Emotional intelligence shall be analyzed for its connection to the recognition of conflict formation and its influence on the selection of conflict management strategies under different situations. The concept of emotional intelligence can be traced back to Thorndikes (1920) concept of social intelligence, Wechslers (1940) proposition of non-intellective abilities as well as Gardners (1983) conceptualization of personal intelligence. However, the term of emotional intelligence (EI) was originated by Salovey and Mayer (1990). Thereafter, it was the work of Goleman (1995) which globally popularized the construct of emotional intelligence and as a result of that, both practitioners and academia have started recognizing its importance in the world of organizations. In recent years the construct of emotional intelligence has been advanced as providing greater insight into organizational behavior (Mayer, Salovey Caruso, 2000). Thus, this research focuses on analyzing the impact of individuals emotional intelligence on individuals ability to effectively manage the conflict. Therefore, it was analyzed that which of the conflict management styles are mostly used by individuals with high emotional intelligence. Findings regarding the relationship between emotional intelligence and conflict management and conflict resolution patterns have mixed results. A very little research has been done on this topic, as to analyze the impact of emotional intelligence on all the five styles of conflict management. Previous researches have offered an important base for the study regarding the consequences of emotions on conflict management; nevertheless, they have not addressed the particular approaches that people are more likely to use when confronted with conflict. Other studies have explored limited, only two to three conflict management styles. This study explores all the five styles of conflict management. Moreover, the study aims to find out that the individuals high in emotional intelligence are inclined to which of the conflict management styles i.e. relationship between EI and conflict management styles. Further, it aims to recognize the importance of emotional intelligence and constructive and d estructive conflict management styles. Exploring these relationships will prove to be a great contribution to the existing body of knowledge by revealing important findings in the study. This study will prove to be a source of understanding the benefits of using emotional intelligence in context of realizing conflict management. It will prove to be beneficial for the organizations in a way that it will induce them to recognize the importance of emotional intelligence for the healthy functioning of their organization which will result in several training programs for employees to develop emotional intelligence abilities. A foundation is laid to better explain the construct of emotional intelligence as supported by various researchers. Further, research investigates the emotional competencies of individuals within the organization that promote constructive conflict management styles. LITERATURE REVIEW Emotions Emotion in organizations as an academic field in its own right did not emerge until recently (Yeomans, 2007). Understanding the behavior in the workplace requires grasping the nature and effect of human emotion. Our behavior and feelings at work are affected when we experience emotions. This situation is particularly prevalent in the state of conflict in which emotions are experienced regularly when individuals interact with each other (Jordan Troth, 2004). Whether focus is placed on distinguishing between felt emotions and revealed emotions, recognizing distinct emotions that appear in workplaces or the temporary effects of negative mood, each of the authors see emotions an important determinant of employees response to workplace situations (Jordan, Lawrence Troth, 2006). Emotional Intelligence The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) was first proposed by Mayer and Salovey (1990) which was then popularized by Goleman in his famous book Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, in which he made strong claims about contribution of emotional intelligence to individual success and specifically in workplaces. He identified intellectual intelligence as a contribution of 20 % towards success in workplace and remaining 80% may be attributable to emotional intelligence (Goleman, 1995). Since then, this area has got much attention in the field of leadership, Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior. Researchers have defined EI as a distinct psychological skill that can be consistently gauged. Interest among social scientists on emotions as a domain of intelligence has grown in recent years. Before the importance of EI was realized in organizations, IQ was supposed to be sufficient for good human performance. Workers were indeed advised to put away their emotions at their homes before coming to work. But it is unrealistic to suppose that emotions can be left home or set aside when you arrive at work. Some people may assume, for a variety of reasons, that emotional neutrality is an ideal, but it is usually not good for an organization for it can hinder people to move into management roles. As emotional intelligence is critical to high performance, a person who knows how to stay motivated under stress, motivate others, manage complex interpersonal relationships, inspire others and build teams who are recognized specialists on a product or service are likely to get better results (Goleman, 2005). Thus, the idea of EI has attained some attention from some researchers in this age of customer-focused organizations due to the perception of it as a means to survive in present era of unfriendly, competitive and volatile environment (Suliman Al-Shaikh, 2007). According to some scholars, e.g. Johnson and Indvik (1999) and McGarvey (1997), an employees emotional intelligence is likely to be higher when the organization is richer in the terms of emotions. It is easy to recognize low emotional intelligence in others. If the insensitive managers try to bulldoze their staff through steady criticism, loud voice, and veiled threats of joblessness will prompt the staff to great efforts. This attitude is emotionally unintelligent. The behavior of people to start having a dispute shouting match is also an emotionally unintelligent attitude. And once this behavior starts, it creates a downward spiral of low morale, avoidance and negative politics (Dreu, 1997). The reason for this behavior stems from emotions. Emotions provide us energy. Negative emotions create negative energy and positive emotions create positive energy. However, the emotionally intelligent are aware of this. They do not continuously think about how they feel. They do not reach the extremes of showing or hiding everything. They express what they feel when suitable, so that molehills do not grow into mountains (Bagshaw, 2000). The significance of emotions in work settings has been well-known. Emotional intelligence is a multi-dimensional concept that links emotion and cognition to improve human interactions (Jordan, Peter, Lawrence, Sandra, 2009). Salovey and Mayer (1990) defined emotional intelligence as the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor ones own and others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them and to use this information to guide ones thinking and actions (p. 189). This definition is comprised of three categories of abilities: evaluation and expression of emotion, regulation of emotion, and using emotions in decision making. Based on Mayer and Saloveys model of emotional intelligence, Wong and Law (2002) devised their own model of emotional intelligence which comprises of four abilities, Appraisal and Expression of Emotion (own and others), Use of Emotions and Regulation of emotions (own and others). Recognizing emotional intelligence as a set of cognitive abilities involves that a degree of individual effort is required for these abilities to be successfully utilized (Mayer, Salovey Caruso, 2000). Appraisal and expression of emotion is the ability to properly determine and express ones own emotions as well as to be sympathetic, appraise and express emotions of others (Zhou George, 2003). Management of our own emotion can help us avoid annoyance, worry and grief and guide to become dynamic in our jobs and personal lives. Thus for a content life, one should learn how to manage ones emotion. Emotions and cognitions are highly interconnected and emotional intelligence allows people with the ability to use emotions to aid the effective cognitive processing of information. Individuals vary not only in awareness, appraisal and expression of emotions but also in their ability to use emotions in collaboration with their cognitive processes to enhance effective functioning (Gross, 1998). Individuals with low emotional intelligence cannot effectively use their emotions to aid cognitive processes and may find it difficult to coordinate among how they feel and what are they doing (Zhou George, 2003). People not only understand the emotions of others but also make an effort to manage these emotions. The management of emotion enables an individual to join or not to join himself from an emotion in a given situation depending on its utility at that given time. This is apparent in the individuals ability to have control on his immediate reactions and postpone his judgment and then to communicate them in a measured and careful manner (Dodgson, 1993). Conflict Conflict is a collective dilemma in which two or more individuals, families, societies or regions disagree with each other (Dzurgba, 2006). Interpersonal conflict comprises of two or more persons in disagreement. Organizational conflict refers to a disagreement between or within groups in an organization. The groups might be of employees, workers union or management. Organizational conflict is the one mostly prevalent in the workplace due to the fact that people continuously hold opposing views on different issues, interests, beliefs, objectives and ambitions (Deutsch, 1990). Some harmful consequences of conflict can demoralize an organizations efforts. However, handling them correctly can be useful for individuals and organizations by creating effective, more flexible working relationship which would enhance innovative output and create novel solutions (Omoluabi, 2001). Conflict Resolution During previous number of decades, researchers took a keen interest in conflict and its impact on organizations. Many researchers have focused on numerous factors such as styles of handling conflict Jehn, 1997; Jehn, Northcraft Neale, 1999), resolution strategies (Van de Vliert Euwema, 1994), conflict and justice (Ohbuchi, Suzuki Hayashi, 2001), theories of managing conflict (Rahim, 2002), conflict of interest and objectives (Vilaseca, 2002) and conflict management techniques (Fillbeck Smith, 1997). Conflict resolution is an alternative approach to handling conflicts. It is a procedure in which parties in conflict, through interpersonal communication are reached to an acceptable and harmonious point of agreement (Omoluabi, 2001). Based on the conceptualizations of Follett (1940), Blake and Mouton (1964), and Thomas (1976), Rahim and Bonoma (1979) differentiated the styles of handling interpersonal conflict on two basic dimensions, concern for self and for others. The first dimens ion explains the degree (high or low) to which a person attempts to satisfy his or her own concern. The second dimension explains the degree (high or low) to which a person attempts to satisfy the concern of others. These two dimensions result in five distinct behavioral conflict management strategies: integrating, obliging, dominating, avoiding, and compromising. Integrating (high concern for self and others) style involves openness, exchange of information, and assessment of dissimilarities to reach an effective solution acceptable to both parties. It is associated with problem solving, which may lead to creative solutions. Obliging (low concern for self and high concern for others) style is associated with attempting to minimize the differences and focusing commonalities to satisfy the concern of the other party. Dominating (high concern for self and low concern for others) style has been linked with win-lose orientation or with forcing behavior to win ones position. Avoiding (low concern for self and others) style has been associated with withdrawal, or escape situations. Compromising (intermediate in concern for self and others) style involves give-and-take whereby both parties give up something to make a mutually acceptable decision (Rahim, 2002 ). Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Management The basic notion throughout this paper is the intrinsically emotional nature of conflict. According to Gayle and Preiss (1998), a small amount of research has explored the emotional understanding of conflict in the workplace. However, Jehn (1997) suggests that emotions are an important component of conflict. Others including Thomas (1992), Ashkanasy and Daus (2002), and Bodtker and Jameson (2001) advocate that workplace conflict and emotions are strongly linked. They argue that as conflict is related to stress and pressure, it escalates emotional response and negative stimulation. Pinkly (1990) found a discrete rational versus emotional dimension to conflict management frame from his study on the disputants interpretations of conflict. Individuals, in the emotional frame which includes feelings such as jealousy, hate, anger and frustration, are more likely to work less effectively because emotions infest and generalize the rational and instrumental way of thinking (Thomas, 1992). Weisinger (1998) recognized emotional management as a major ability essential to handle conflict in the workplace and improve relationships in workplaces. Subsequently, Goleman (2001a) listed conflict management as a core competency in his model of emotional intelligence, noting that effective conflict management is important for retaining business relationships. Lubit (2004) stated that emotional intelligence is a competency that increases the individuals capability to deal with toxic managers by means of enhanced conflict resolution skills. Suliman Al-Shaikh (2007) concluded in their study that employees with higher levels of emotional intelligence are expected to have more established life due to fewer conflicts and calmness which evokes creativity and innovation in employees. One needs to have good relationships with co workers and supervisors and should have an understanding of their emotions and feelings to be creative. Emotional Intelligence and Conflict Handling Styles Influence of personality characteristics, interpersonal needs, individual behaviour, organizational status, emotions, power, rewards, beliefs, basic values amongst others also have a direct impact on the styles applied (Bodtker Jameson, 2001). Jordan and Troth (2002) study discovered that individuals with higher levels of emotional intelligence were more likely to search for integrative solutions when confronted with conflict and preferred not to avoid. They asserted that, for the emotionally intelligent individual, integration in the appropriate conditions may be a sign of their ability to recognize and regulate emotions. As a result, integration serves to enhance employees relationships with their co-workers and assists to accomplish their goals during times of change. Indeed, in move ahead with their research, Jordan and Troth (2004) showed that groups having higher levels of emotional intelligence were more likely to inform using integrative conflict resolution style to settle o n a real decision-making task. Alternatively, those teams having less ability to deal with their own emotions had more chances to engage in greater use of avoidance tactics which resulted in lower performance. The study by Jordan, Ashkanasy and Ascough (2007) also found out the less use of avoidance techniques by those having high emotional intelligence. However, Foo, Elfenbein, Tan, and Aik (2004) in their study using student groups in a simulated negotiation, somewhat surprisingly found that individuals with high emotional intelligence actually landed up with low performance in the negotiation due to the reason that to reach an integrative solution, these individuals agreed to the lowest to achieve an integrative solution. However they noted that their findings needed to be approached with some caution. However, Lawrence and Lorsch (1967) indicated that integrative style dealing with intergroup conflict was considerably used to a greater extent in higher performing organizations than in low performing ones. Ogungbamila (2006) found that the forcing strategy had a direct significant relationship with work frustration while confronting, withdrawing, smoothing and compromising strategies did not. Burke (1970) suggested that the integrating style was related to the effective management of conflict, while forcing (dominating) and withdrawing (avoiding) were related to the ineffective management of conflict. Goleman (1998) suggests that emotionally intelligent employees are well able to negotiate and effectively handle their conflicts with organizational members. Silvia (2002) determined that high emotional self-awareness acts as an impediment on individuals experience of strong emotions. In other words, individuals with higher emotional self-awareness will experience lower levels of emotional response in reply to emotion generating situations, and will be better able to resolve conflict effectively with their fellow members. The management of own emotions involves an individuals ability to connect or disconnect from an emotion depending on its usefulness in any given situation (Mayer Salovey, 1997). In some conditions, emotions of other members need to be managed to ensure that working relationships are sustained. For instance, unmanageable anger in the workplace can have a negative impact on relationships, particularly if the anger is communicated to specific individuals (Davidson, MacGregor, Stuhr, Gidron, 1999; Fitness, 2000). On this basis, managing own and others emotions may be the key to avoiding these negative consequences during a conflict situation. For example, when faced with personal injustice during a conflict episode, an individuals feelings of anger may motivate or distract them for resolving the conflict. The individual with high emotional intelligence would be attentive of their anger, be able to administer their anger and regulate it to motivate their behavior beneficially. On the other hand, an individual with low emotional intelligence may not be aware of their emotions or the source of their emotions and allow anger to consume their feelings and reside on the unfairness that may have hurried their anger in the first place. Each of these emotional abilities has suggestions for how individual perform in organizations and in particular how they resolve conflict (Suliman Al-Shaikh, 2007). Extending the benefits of EI to the negotiation context, we expect that by regulating ones emotions, and by maintaining a positive negotiating environment, a negotiator high in emotional intelligence can create an environment in which both negotiating sides are satisfied with the way the negotiation was performed. Despite the possible benefit of high EI individuals to create a positive negotiating experience for both themselves and for the negotiating partners, it is uncertain whether an individual benefits by negotiating with a high EI partner. One dimension of EI is to direct their emotion abilities to improve personal performance (Law, Wong Song, 2004). Conceivably the high EI partner can extract greater value from the negotiation; for instance a high EI person can use abilities at understanding others (Wong, Law, Wong, 2004) to recognize that his or her partner is satisfied with the offer and not increase the offer further. Despite this possibility of personal performance at the expense of the partner, we expect that individuals profit by negotiating with high EI partners. Individuals high in EI can better gain the trust of others and trust encourages integrative bargaining (Naquin Paulson, 2003). Further, positive emotions lead to cognitive elasticity and innovative strategies in fashioning integrative negotiation outcomes (Kumar, 1997). In contrast, negative emotions guide negotiators to identify the situation as distributive rather than integrative. Integrative bargaining is helpful because the negotiation parties can discover each others interests and find ways to increase joint outcomes (Fisher, Ury Patton, 1991). THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Independent Variable Dependent Variable In order to give a clear picture of the proposed research, a conceptual framework has been developed. This gives a logical sense of the relationship between the selected dependent and independent variables. According to the above literature review the variables defined are as follows: Emotional Intelligence (Independent Variable) Integrating (Dependent Variable) Compromising (Dependent Variable) Dominating (Dependent Variable) Obliging (Dependent Variable) Avoiding (Dependent Variable) As it is evident from the conceptual diagram that as the increment in one variable i.e. Emotional Intelligence, produces a positive increase in the integrating, compromising and obliging style. The relationship is said to be direct and highly positive as the increase in Emotional intelligence produces a positive effect on the three styles. Whereas, high emotional intelligence will have a negative impact on dominating and avoiding styles of conflict management. In short, high emotionally intelligent individual will be less likely to use the dominating and avoiding style to manage a conflict. HYPOTHESES H1: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt integrating style during conflict. H2: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt compromising style during conflict. H3: Individuals low in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt dominating style during conflict. H4: Individuals high in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt obliging style during conflict. H5: Individuals low in emotional intelligence are more inclined to adopt avoiding style during conflict. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Participants The targeted population for this research was banking sector of Pakistan. As like other organizations, banks also have their own hierarchy including chain of command, span of control. This organization structure and psychological contract may often result in various conflicts within the organization. Hierarchy describes the structure of the management from top to down. Chain of command is mechanism in which power and authority is exerted and delegated from senior management to every employee at every level of the organization. Whereas, span of control, is the number of people who report to one manager in a hierarchy. Psychological contract refers to the perception of the two parties including the employee and employer where their mutual obligation may be viewed as promises and expectations towards each other. These all may have negative impact on job satisfaction, organization commitment and low trust level causing various task and relationship conflicts (Ali, 2008). Moreover, due to differences in personalities, a conflict can also occur e.g. a quality oriented person will have conflict with quantity oriented person. So to cope up with these issues, this study presents the importance of emotional intelligence in dealing with the individuals who cause conflict. The sample was selected from the private banks located in Islamabad/Rawalpindi. Total number of employees among which questionnaires were distributed was 260 employees out of which 233 employees returned the filled questionnaires. Response rate was 89 %. Each employee was working at managerial level.66 % of the respondents were male and 33% were female. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was applied to check whether the sample used was adequate or not. The value of our measure was 0.584 which showed that the sample selected was adequate and the results of the factor analysis would be useful. If the value is less than .50, the results of the factor analysis probably wont be very useful. Procedures The total questionnaires distributed were 260 in number among the participants. The questionnaire was self administered as by visiting the banks, employees were individually requested to fill out the questionnaire. Before giving the questionnaires, all questions were explained to the participants so they can easily complete the questionnaire and provide the accurate and relevant information. Only one questionnaire was provided to each respondent. After the completion of the experiment, 15 participants were excluded from the study as they were found to fill the questionnaire randomly without reading the questions. In addition, 12 of the returned questionnaires were not completed correctly. Therefore, these 27 were also excluded from the study, leaving a total of 233 usable questionnaires, with an overall response rate of 89%. The chances of error in the responses were also reduced by this method. The convenient sampling technique was followed as the data collection was done from the e mployees of private banks who were conveniently available to provide information. The data collected from the 233 questionnaires were analyzed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) 13. Regression and Correlation was applied to the data to achieve the results regarding the relationship between the variables. Measures A single questionnaire (See Appendix) was distributed among employees of the bank, which was adopted from Wong and Law (2002) and Rahim (1983). The questions were carefully worded to avoid misinterpretation. The questionnaire layout was formatted in logical manner to ensure a higher response rate. Questionnaire included only closed-ended questions. Structured questionnaire was designed to measure all the independent and dependent variables on a 5-point likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree (coded as 5) to Strongly Disagree (coded as 1). The questions also sought data on demographics of respondents. Conflict Management For getting responses on conflict management styles, one of the most commonly used models, Rahim (1983) who developed an instrument known as the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II or ROCI-II (Rahim, 1983) was used. This instrument measures the five conflict management styles of dominating, avoiding, obliging, compromising and integrating. The ROCI-II comprises 28 statements, seven of which relate to the integrating style, six each to the obliging and avoiding styles, five to the dominating style and four to the compromising style. Notwithstanding the different terminology, these styles are broadly parallel to those of Blake and Mouton (1964). The items were measured on a 5 point likert scale. The instrument has been tested in numerous studies and has been found to have a high degree of validity and internal consistency (Rahim, 1992; King and Miles, 1990; Weider- Hatfield, 1988). The respondents typically require 8 minutes to complete the ROCI II (Rahim, 1983). The population appropriate for taking responses is any member of the organization. As employees at the workplace has not much time to spend on filling out the questionnaire correctly, so this questionnaire was selected keeping in mind the time factor as well as the comprehensives of the questionnaire. The questionnaire measures all the conflict management styles in a brief and concise manner. Emotional intelligence As emotional intelligence is all about keeping ones own as well as others emotions in mind, regulating them and using them to solve a conflict, so a questionnaire having all these dimensions was aimed to be used. Emotional Intelligence was assessed using Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) (2002), based on the model developed by Davies, Stankov and Roberts (1998) and Mayer and Salovey (1997).This scale consists of 16 items. The WLEIS was designed as a short measure of EI for use in organizational research. It comprises of 16 items, responded to on a 5-point Likert scale and measuring four dimensions: Self-Emotion Appraisal, Emotion Appraisal of Others, Use of Emotion, and Regulation of Emotion. Wong and Law (2002) report good internal consistency reliabilities for their measure. RESULTS The targeted population for this research was the employees of the banking sector of Pakistan. However, sample considered was 233 employees from several private banks in Islamabad/ Rawalpindi. All the result and analysis were based on these 233 responses. Data Analysis Technique Results were analyzed by using the statistical analysis software named Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 13.0. The demographic data included gender, name of organization, type of work, department, and duration of job. Correlation and regression tests were applied to analyze the variables where emotional intelligence was treated as independent variable while integration, compromising, dominating, obliging and avoiding were considered a

Jacksons Disagreement :: essays research papers

Materialism is the belief that all things can be explained in physical terms or by science. Frank Jackson argues against this belief. Jackson’s philosophy is that not only are materialism false, but he also claims that consciousness is a subjective experience that can not be defined by any physical term or by science. The nonphysical experience known as qualia is Jackson’s explanation of consciousness. Qualia is the nonphysical feeling that can not be explained in physical terms or by science. Humans can not understand the feeling of qualia without experiencing it themselves. Materialism suggests that everything that occurs have some type of scientific relationship or physical term. Jackson goes through his argument looking for proof until he gets one idea. Jackson performs an experiment that demonstrates that consciousness is a qualia feeling and that one can not understand or learn the feeling with out experiencing it. The subject he uses is Mary. Mary is an extremely bright scientist and since she could remember she was placed in a room with nothing but black and white. With limiting her sight to only this black and white gray-scale, she is unaware of what true color looks like. All her life she is educated through newspapers, television and teachers giving lectures. Near the end of the experiment she has mastered every aspect of the physical terms and science explaining the process of viewing color. One example was that she knew that an apple was red, but she cannot grasp the concept if she has never seen it. The final part of the experiment is to pre sent to her real color. They use a red apple to demonstrate this. The hypothesis for the experiment follows the laws of materialism. They hypothesized that Mary would not have a shocking reaction to the apple. They believed that she would know that the apple carried those characteristics. In the conclusion of the experiment they find out that their hypothesis was wrong and that Mary was shocked to find out what red really looked like. For the first time in her life she noticed that there was more to the red apple than the physical description. She felt qualia, the feeling of actually seeing the color. This proves that materialism cannot fully explain the world.

Article 231 of The Treaty of Versailles :: World War I History

Article 231 of The Treaty of Versailles Firstly, we must proceed to explain the nature of Article 231 in order to be able to analyse its judgement about Germany's responsibility for the war. After the war had ended, Europe's, especially France's economy was devastated. There was also a general desire for such a war never to repeat itself, as the first proof of modern warfare proved to be ruinous. To deal with this two issues the allied powers made Germany sign the "war guilt clause" which made it accept all the guilt for the war and because of this, pay reparations to the affected states. In this way France's economy would theoretically recover faster while Germany was kept economically weak so it could never attempt to cause a war again. Even though at the time most non-German historians went along with this, while German historians were not happy with this interpretation for obvious reasons, after a few years opinion began to move away from only blaming Germany and accepted that other countries should also take part of the blame. However, in 1961 a German historian called Fritz Fischer proposed the idea that after all Germany should take most of the responsibility. These two points of view have been a cause for debate for historians and a final agreement has not yet been reached. While most historians accept that the key decisions for war in July 1914 were taken in Berlin, other factors such as German foreign policy ("Weltpolitik") and the alliance system remain still as the grounds of discussion. To analyse in depth Germany's guilt for the war we must first look at the most distant events and work our way up to the July crisis. To understand Germany's actions that lead to war we shall look first at its foreign policy, specifically from the point were Bismarck's policy ended in 1890. After Bismarck's dismissal the Kaiser and his advisers were convinced that the most likely wars in Europe were Germany against France of Austria-Hungary against Russia and in neither case could Russia and Germany be on the same side because of the existing alliances. This meant the rupture of the Russo-German friendship and the starting point were the two fronts that battled in the Great War started to shape up. Another example of a failed attempt of alliance was that of with Britain. Kaiser Wilhelm inherited her mother's admiration for English liberalism and the accepted view of English pre-eminence while keeping his father's strict Prussian military code of behaviour.

A Student Evaluates the Websites of Three Shoe Companies :: Sell Websites Buy Web Sites

A Student Evaluates the Websites of Three Shoe Companies Many companies now use websites to advertise their products. In this essay I will evaluate the effectiveness of several shoe websites. Three websites that I have been looked at are: www.nike.com (niketown), www.reebok.com, and www.adidas.com. They all are big companies that provide many kinds of shoes. Their websites looked similar in the first sight, but they are actually very different in several ways. My evaluation will be based on the navigation, contents, organization and layout of the websites, target audiences, user satisfaction with the websites, and how long the page takes to load. Navigation is one of the most important aspects in creating a good website. Navigation consists of several terms, such as: ease to use, internal link, broken link, internal search engine, and return to homepage from any page. Nike seems to have the best navigation from these threes websites. I can find things easily and I can go back to the homepage from any page. Reebok also has good navigation in its website, but it does not have a direct link to the homepage from any page. On the other hand, Adidas seems to be the most complicated website in terms of navigation. I need to spend a couple minutes to find a certain product. It has many internal links inside its website. Besides that, Adidas uses pop up windows in its website. Both Nike and Reebok also have a search engine at the top bar of their websites. This search bar can help consumers to find their desired product quickly, which I think that is very helpful. Unlike Adidas, which does not have a search engine in the website, so consumers have to browse all over the website in order to find the desired product. . The good thing about these three websites is they do not have a broken link, because they are being maintenance and updated all the time. Besides navigation, content is also a good consideration in order to create a good website. As I go into these three websites, I found that they all basically have the same content. They provide such important information about their products. They all also provide some details about their product such as, prices. The content that is provided by these websites is very attractive. They provide the image of the products that can be enlarged so consumers can look clearly at the desired products.

Essay on Technical Education in India

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) is the statutory body and a national-level council for technical education, under Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. [2] Established in November 1945 first as an advisory body and later on in 1987 given statutory status by an Act of Parliament, AICTE is responsible for proper planning and coordinated development of the technical education and management education system in India.The AICTE accredits postgraduate and graduate programs under specific categories at Indian institutions as per its charter. [3] The AICTE Act of 1987 AICTE is vested with statutory authority for planning, formulation and maintenance of norms and standards, quality assurance through school accreditation, funding in priority areas, monitoring and evaluation, maintaining parity of certification and awards and ensuring coordinated and integrated development and management of technical education in the country as part of the AICTE Act No. 2 of 1987. The AICTE Act, stated verbatim reads: To provide for establishment of an All India council for Technical Education with a view to the proper planning and co-ordinated development of the technical education system throughout the country essay writer salary, the promotion of qualitative improvement of such education in relation to planned quantitative growth and the regulation and proper maintenance of norms and standards in the technical education system and for matters connected therewith where to buy essays online. [edit] Current objectiveIn order to improve upon the present technical education system, the current objectives is to modify the engineering curriculum as follows: 1. Greater emphasis on design oriented teaching, teaching of design methodologies, problem solving approach. 2. Greater exposure to industrial and manufacturing processes. 3. Exclusion of outmoded technologies and inclusion of the new appropriate and emerging technologies. 4. Greater input of management education and professional communication skills. edit] AICTE bureaus The AICTE comprises nine bureaus, namely: * Faculty Development (FD) Bureau * Undergraduate Education (UG) Bureau * Postgraduate Education and Research (PGER) Bureau * Quality Assurance (QA) Bureau * Planning and Co-ordination (PC) Bureau * Research and Institutional Development (RID) Bureau * Administration (Admin) Bureau * Finance (Fin) Bureau * Academic (Acad) Bureau For each bureau, adviser is the bureau head who is assisted by technical officers and other supporting staff.The multidiscipline technical officer and staff of the Council are on deputation or on contract from government departments, University Grants Commission, academic institutions, etc. References 1. ^ Regional Offices AICTE website. 2. ^ Technical Education Overview Department of Higher Education 3. ^ AICTE Act[dead link] 4. ^ National Level Councils Tech Ed. , Department of Higher Education. 5. ^ Growth of institutions affi liated to AICTE 6. ^ â€Å"UGC, AICTE to be scrapped: Sibal†. iGovernment. in. Retrieved 29 November 2011. 7. â€Å"AICTE to revamp its approval system next week†. Business Standard. Retrieved 29 November 2011. * | | All India Council for Technical Education| | Abbreviation| AICTE| Formation| November, 1945| Headquarters| New Delhi| Location| Kolkata, Chennai, Kanpur, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Bhopal, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Gurgaon[1]| Main organ| Council| Affiliations| Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development| Website| Official web site Remarks| Dr. S S Mantha, Chairperson (acting| |   

Determination of Density Essay

Purpose: To determine the densities of aluminum and zinc cylinders Density is the relationship between the mass of an object and its volume. Sometimes density can be easy to sense. If two objects have exactly the same shape and size, the denser one may feel heavier. If their densities are close together, it can be hard to tell the difference. It gets really tough if you are dealing with materials that have very different sizes or very different shapes. The only way to decide the density of an object is to measure its mass and its volume, then divide. Ex. Density= Mass/Volume Procedure: For Aluminum: 1. Weigh the aluminum cylinders individually on the analytical balance to the nearest 0.0001g and record the weights 2. With a vernier caliper, measure the diameter of each cylinder to the nearest 0.01cm and record 3. Again, using the vernier caliper, measure the length of each cylinder to the nearest 0.01cm and record 4. Compute the volume of each cylinder by using the formula V= (3.14d2h)/4 For Zinc: 1. Weigh the zinc cylinders individually on the top loading balance to the nearest 0.01g, and record the weights 2. Place enough water in a 100mL graduated cylinder to cover the object. Record the volume of water to the nearest 0.1mL by reading the bottom of the meniscus 3. Place the zinc cylinder in the graduated cylinder. Read the new volume and determine the volume for each piece of zinc Data: Density of Zinc Mass#1 104.0168gVolume#1 18mLDensity#1 5.7780g/cm3 Mass#2 92.8178gVolume#2 15mLDensity#2 6.1876g/cm3 Mass#3 72.2115gVolume#3 10mLDensity#3 7.2215g/cm3 Mass#4 55.3077gVolume#4 9mLDensity#4 6.1453g/cm3 Mass#5 35.2653gVolume#5 7mLDensity#5 5.0379g/cm3 Average Density 6.079g/cm3 Density of Aluminum Mass#1 26.48gVolume#1 6.28mLDensity#1 4.22g/cm3 Mass#2 21.50gVolume#2 5.01mLDensity#2 4.30g/cm3 Mass#3 17.58gVolume#3 4.14mLDensity#3 4.25g/cm3 Mass#4 13.10gVolume#4 2.92mLDensity#4 4.48g/cm3 Mass#5 8.68gVolume#5 2.04mLDensity#5 4.25g/cm3 Diameter = 1.025cm Average Density 4.29g/cm3 Conclusions: The densities of both objects were successfully determined. The average density of the aluminum cylinders was 4.29g/cm3, and the density of the zinc cylinders was 6.079g/cm3. Both of these values seem reasonable, and the zinc seems to be slightly heavier than the aluminum. The density of the zinc cylinders was found using the volume by displacement method, and the volume of the aluminum cylinders was found by the formula method V= (3.14d2h)/4. Problems with the equipment may have possibly introduced error into the measurements. The 100mL graduated cylinder used to find the volume of the zinc cylinders was only marked in 10mL increments, requiring estimation for levels in between. The volume of the aluminum cylinders required the use of the vernier caliper to measure the diameter and the length of each cylinder. Improper use of the vernier caliper may have altered the measurements received for the aluminum cylinders. The error introduced by these problems was slight, however, and the calculated densities for both objects are probably quite reliable.