Far From The Madding Crowd :: essays research papers fc

Far From the Madding Crowd Whether you are of the opinion that love is a wonderful thing, love knows no boundaries, or love is blind, one fact remains constant: love is like a snowflake—no two loves or snowflakes are ever exactly alike. In Thomas Hardy’s Far From the Madding Crowd, the heroine, Bathsheba Everdene, has the luck (or unfortunate mishap) of courting not one, or even two, but three suitors during the course of the novel. Although Bathsheba Everdene could be considered to be in quite an enviable position by many women, both yesterday and presently, she doesn’t always seem to enjoy being courted by her numerous suitors. Most importantly, though, Bathsheba’s character grows and evolves because of, or in spite of, the situations she encounters and eventually overcomes throughout her romantic escapades.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Initially, Bathsheba’s character is high-spirited, feminine, naà ¯ve and self-centered. This is the first impression she gives Gabriel Oak, who eventually becomes a suitor, when she encounters him at the beginning of the story. The first time Gabriel lays eyes on Bathsheba, she is gazing admiringly at her own reflection in her pocket mirror. Gabriel realizes immediately that her greatest fault is â€Å"what it is always . . . vanity† (p. 56).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Gabriel, although impressed by Bathsheba’s beauty and vivacity, does not immediately begin to court her. He is quite smitten with her from the very beginning of their relationship. Gabriel even goes so far as to repeat her name over and over and is quoted as saying â€Å"I’ll make her my wife, or upon my soul I shall be good for nothing† (p. 74.). He proposes marriage to her, but she admits that she does not love Gabriel and, if they tried to make a relationship work without love, he would grow to despise her. Being the amiable fellow that he proves himself to be throughout the story, Gabriel is quite firm when he tells Bathsheba, â€Å"Very well . . . then I’ll ask you no more† (p. 82).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although Hardy might wish his readers to believe that this episode is the end of any romance between Bathsheba and Gabriel, we realize that there is a grain of truth to the phrase â€Å"save the best for last.† Meanwhile, Bathsheba moves on with her new life as mistress of the farm that her recently deceased uncle has left for her. She agrees to hire Gabriel as a shepherd, so he stays in the picture throughout the remainder of the story and witnesses her romance with Mr.

Alfred Marshall

Alfred Marshall became one of the most influential economists of his time. His book, Principles of Political Economy (1890) brought together the theories of supply and demand, of marginal utility and of the costs of production into a coherent whole. It became the dominant economic textbook in England for a long period . Born in London, and educated at St John’s College, Cambridge, Marshall took the mathematics tripos.By 1868 he was college lecturer in moral sciences at St John’s College, with particular responsibility for teaching political economy. In 1885 he became professor at Cambridge University, retiring in 1908. Marshall was regarded as one of the founders of the neoclassical school in economics and the most influential figure in the marginalist tradition of British economics. He dominated economics at Cambridge University almost to his death with many disciples, including A. C. Pigou, the young J. M. Keynes, and D. H. Robertson.His major contributions related to the economics of the stationary state, welfare economics, and partial equilibrium analysis; although claims could be made on his behalf for much that became part of economics textbooks over generations, including innovations relating to utility theory, economies of scale, and supply curves. Marshall saw economics as concerned with those aspects of human behavior open to pecuniary influences and sufficiently regular and ubiquitous to permit statements of broad scope and some persistence.While maintaining that some heeded moral imperatives might be impervious to pecuniary considerations, he conceded that most behaviors lay within the ambit of the measuring rod of money. On the other hand, he emphasized that motivation was not merely a matter of pursuing pecuniary self interest, even broadly conceived to include interests of family and friends. He stressed the human desire for social approbation or distinction, and the pleasures of skilful activity. Marshall developed a number of econ omic theories that main of which are the following:Demand Theory Marshall’s treatment of the theory of demand is sketchy, concentrating on the demand for a single commodity, or commodity group, against a loosely defined background. One of the outcomes of his Demand Theory is that demand price and consumer surplus are proportional to the marginal utility and the utility benefit, respectively, the proportionality factor being the reciprocal of the individual's marginal utility of money. This result is fundamental for Marshall’s welfare analysis.The now-familiar concept of demand elasticity – propor ¬tional quantity change divided by proportional price change -was first defined by Marshall. Production and Long-Period Competitive Supply In deriving the long-period supply curve of a commodity, Marshall envisages production as organized by firms, typically family businesses. Each firm strives to minimize its production costs, substituting one productive factor or pr oduction method for another according to the Principle of Substitution.In its simpler forms this involves marginalist adjustment to bring relative marginal value products into line with relative marginal costs. But more generally, the Principle of Substitution is akin to a natural selection process, being â€Å"a special and limited application of the law of survival of the fittest† . Marshall’s firms do not have costless access to a common production function, but must grope and experiment their way to cost-reducing modifications. The long period supply curve is defined for a given state of general scientific and technical knowledge. But each firm must explore this to some extent anew.The conception of competition in Marshall’s manufacturing case is much closer to later ideas of imperfect or monopolistic competition than to modern notions of perfect competition. Products are differentiated and firms are not price takers. Even if the difficulties of rapidly buil ding up a firm’s internal organization can be overcome, the resulting enlarged output can not be sold at a price covering cost – even granted substantial scale economies in production – without going through the slow process of building up a clientele and shifting the firm's particular demand curve.The time this takes is assumed to be considerable relative to the duration of the firm's initial vitality. But in some cases the difficulties of rapid expansion may be overcome. They may not have been very severe, as when different firms' products are highly substitut ¬able, or the firm's founder may have unusual genius. In such cases the industry will pass into a monopoly or be dominated by a few, strategically-interacting firms, or ‘conditional monopolies’ as Marshall termed them . Price Determination and Period AnalysisThe long-period supply curve for any good indicates for each market quantity the least price at which that quantity will continue ind efinitely to be supplied. The equilibrium price and quantity (long period) are determined by the intersection of this supply curve with the negatively sloped market demand curve, indicating the highest uniform price at which any total quantity can be sold. In an agricultural case, equilibrium will be unique as the supply curve slopes positively. But in a manufacturing case, the supply curve, as well as the demand curve, will have negative slope, so that multiple equilibrium can occur.Equilibrium is adjudged locally stable if demand price is above (below) supply price at a quantity just below (above) the equilibrium quantity. The intuitive justification for this is that the actual price of any available quantity is determined by the demand price, while quantity produced tends to increase whenever an excess of market price over supply price promises high profits, while it tends to decrease in the opposite case. Period analysis is Marshall’s most explicit and self-conscious appl ication of the comparative-static, partial-equilibrium method with which his name will always be associated.As he observed, the most important among the many uses of this method is to classify forces with reference to the time which they require for their work; and to impound in Ceteris Paribus those forces which are of minor importance relatively to the particular time we have in view Normal Value and Normal Profit Normal value is defined as the value which would result â€Å"if the economic conditions under view had time to work out undisturbed their full effect† . It is contrasted with market value, which is â€Å"the actual value at any time† .Normal value is hypothetical, its role being to indicate underlying tendencies. The normal value of a commodity may approximate its average value over periods sufficiently long for the â€Å"fitful and irregular causes† , which dominate market value to cancel out, but this should not be presupposed automatically outsid e a hypothetical stationary state. Profit was viewed by Marshall as the residual income accruing to a firm’s owner, a return to the investment of his own capital and to the pains he suffers in exercising his â€Å"business power† in planning, supervision and control.Normal profit is essentially an opportunity cost, the minimum return necessary to secure the owner’s inputs to their current use, or rather to accomplish this for an owner of normal ability. Marshall presumes that there is a large and elastic supply of versatile actual or potential owner managers of normal ability. In long-period equilibrium each of these must just receive the same normal rates of return on his investment and exercise of business power whatever his line of business. The brief survey of economic theories constructed by Alfred Marshall provides the grounds to maintain that the main field of his activity was macroeconomics.His theories include most of Ten Principles of Economics. Specif ically such principles as ‘People face tradeoffs’ and ‘The cost of something is what you give up to get it’ and ‘Rational people think at the margin’ are considered in his Demand Theory, while principles ‘Markets are usually a good way to organize economic activity’ and ‘Governments can sometimes improve market outcomes’ are considered in interrelated markets and distribution theory; and finally the principle ‘Prices rise when the government prints too much money’ is included in his monetary theory.BibliographyMarshall, A. (1893) On Rent. In C. W. Guillebaud, A. Marshall (1961), Principles of Economics. Vol. II , 492 -512.Marshall, A. (1890) The Principles of Economics, Retrieved on Feb. 19, 2007 from http://www. ecn. bris. ac. uk/het/marshall/prin/.Medema, Steven G. , Samuels, Warren J. (Eds. ). (2003) The History of Economic Thought: A Reader. New York: Routledge.O’Brien, D. P. (1981) A. Marshall. In D. P. O’Brien and J. R. Presley (Eds. ), Pioneers of Modern Economics in Britain (36-71). London: Macmillan.Robertson, H. M. (1970) Alfred Marshall’s aims and methods illus ¬trated from his treatment of distribution. History of Political Economy, 2 (1), 1-65.Whitaker, J. K. (1986) The continuing relevance of Alfred Marshall. In R. D. C. Black (Ed. ) Ideas in Economies, London: Macmillan.

Nba Lockout

EPPENGER, JALIL MS. HARRIS ENGLISH 10/3/11 #1. ( why the NBA Lockout hasn’t been a success? ) NBA LOCKOUT I feel the NBA Lockout has been one of the worst, incidents to ever happen, in the history of the NBA. It hasn’t made fans happy and the players in the league have been upset too. I’ve noticed that NBA players have tried to overcome this situation by having different leagues, not associated with the NBA to play in. This has shown there passion and love of the game.The NBA lockout has motivated some players and humbled a lot of them. I noticed that a lot of players have kept working hard and are staying on top of their game throughout this puzzling time. I feel the NBA lockout polarized the summer for NBA basketball. There was nothing to look forward to besides European basketball in the summer. The NFL was able to overcome its problems with contracts and business deals and end their lockout before the season started.I don’t understand why the NBA canâ €™t figure their problem out. The NBA doesn’t have nearly the fan base of the NFL. The severe shortage of the season will really hurt the NBA, much more than the NFL. The last NBA lockout was in 1998-99 season. The year Michael Jordan retired for the second time in his career. It was a horrible time also for the NBA much like this one. This also tarnished the sport of basketball. I wouldn’t be surprised if some NBA players left the NBA to play overseas.The game overseas is more orchestrated, hard-nosed, and skill orientated from what I’ve seen. The NBA is more about star-power and athleticism. I feel a lot of role players in the NBA would flourish more overseas, because they can be given the opportunity to showcase their skills, and gain some recognition for themselves. Overall, I feel the NBA and their players’ association will bargain together to make a productive agreement to resolve this problem just like the NFL did. it will just take longer and be more time consuming.

Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort Essay

Within the context of theory illustrates a demanding yet creative shaping of plans, structured requirements, and prediction of a provisional, determined, and systematic sight of phenomena (Chinn, 2011). Nursing theory is a crucial function within the nursing practice. Theories afford nurses with the distinctive facets that are in encompassed within patient care and the nursing profession. Clarification of practice governance, and expectations are also integrated within contextual framework of nursing theory. It bestows various manners to acquire data, examine and study, and foresee the practice of nursing and the outcomes of patient care (Parker, 2010). Kolcaba’s middle range theory of comfort captivated my interest because my impression of comfort curtails that of positive patient outcomes. Comfort is not solitary to just physical ailments, but emotional and psychological measures in addition. Throughout my experiences and years as bedside registered nurse, I can attest that patient requests stem largely from the factor of being made comfortable. As stated above, this not only embraces physical comfort, but something unassuming as a comforting touch or positive attitude to render the positive outcome and a content patient. Absorbing how theory influences practice has been an impediment that I have recently overcame. I was unmindful that certain situations and decision making were reinforced through the use of theory. Examination of the importance of nursing theories, more in depth review of Kolcaba’s theory of comfort, and theory of comfort in nursing practice, education, and research will be reviewed further. Importance of Nursing Theories Separately from the governance of practice and foundation for the practice of nursing, theories furthermore propounds opportunities for nurses in the sense of practical application. Measurable changes and enrichment of the profession occur when nursing theories are incorporated into practice. The benefits of having a defined frame of theory in nursing produces superior patient care, heightened professional repute for nurses, progressed interaction among nurses, and direction for exploration of the practice and education. Theories also illustrate the quality of the nursing profession, and serves as a reservoir of knowledge with the examination of the essential requirements of patients and necessary interventions. In addition, specialized rationales are provided. Succeeding medical doctors orders are not exclusively to the context of nursing care. Nursing care incorporates not only a compassionate attitude but passion for care of patients. The caring component of nursing cannot be measured, rather dissected through theory within the clarification of what nurses do. Systemically this is all supported through abundant theories and theorist. The nursing profession emphasizes on holistic care which is defined as treatment of the whole person. Within this skill is the admittance of problems that are biomedical but also opportune clarification of the well-being and health of a human that introduces added indicators of disease that are non-visualized (Powers, 2011). Kolcaba’s Theory of Comfort The origination of Kolcaba’s theory of comfort stemmed was first established in the 1900’s. Founder, Katherine Kolcaba, concluded that for a positive patient outcome to accomplished, comfort is a crucial obligation. Katherine organized a representation for exploring, analyzing, and gauging the care of the patient. Historically, she believed that the product of the profession of nursing is comfort. According to Kolcaba (2010), comfort is achieved in a few diverse ways to include transcendence, relief, and ease. Transcendence represents the aptitude to overcome the lack of comfort sensed by patients through their awareness to cease. Patients are able to rise above their challenges. For example, a post-operative below the knee amputee patient may experience great physical pain from the surgery as well as psychological trauma from the intervention. Pushing forward to regain strength and independence would be an instance of transcendence. Relief constitutes any ordered analgesic medication that can be given to the patient or  non-pharmacologic interventions such as distraction or repositioning. This structure of comfort is experienced as relief. Anxiety reducing measures such as anxiolytics or inducing expression through conversation or other forms of communication can be facilitated. These actions can be constituted as placing the patient at ease. In my day to day professional practice experiences, I come across different situations where comfort may be the only measure to take in a particular patients care. Pharmacological therapy interventions are important for adequate relief, but non-pharmacological interventions are just as imperative. A simple caring touch and tone conditions the patient to an enhanced state. This particular theory affords nurses a better comprehension and obligation to comfort in the practice setting. Nurse are the forefront of healthcare. We have the ability to promptly identify the demands the needs of the patient. Kolcaba’s theory of comfort conforms into the nursing metaparadigm with relation to the three concepts presented: transcendence, relief, and ease. There is a clear consensus about the concepts which includes health, nursing, person, and environment of the metaparadigm. Kolcaba elaborated on the four various experience backgrounds that comfort is achieved. These include environmental, physical, social, and psychospiritual (Kolcaba, 2010). Theory of comfort in nursing practice, education, and research Kolcaba’s theory of comfort guides research in assorted ways. It challenges the nurse to examine the correlation among holistic interventions and different comfort measures. It also imposes a contention between comfort and â€Å"health seeking behaviors†. If the product is positive, than it enhances future endeavors and postulates additional motivators to provide comfort. Institutional outcomes are also examined (Koehn, 2000). References Chinn, P.L., & Kramer, M.K. (2011). Integrated theory and knowledge of development in nursing (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby/Elsevier Koehn, M. (2000) Alternative and complementary therapies for labor and birth: an application of Kolcaba’s theory of holistic comfort. Holistic Nursing Practice. 15(1):66-77 Kolcaba, K. (1992). Holistic comfort: Operationalizing the constructs as a nurse-sensitiveOutcome. Advances in Nursing Science, 15(1), 1-10, p. 6. Kolcaba, K. (1994) A theory of holistic comfort for nursing. Journal of Advanced Nursing 19: 1178-1184 Kolcaba, K. & DiMarco, M.A. (2005) Comfort theory and its application to pediatric nursing. Pediatric Nursing, 31(3), 187-194 Parker, M.E., & Smith, M.C. (2010), Nursing theories and nursing practice (3rd ed.) Philadelphia, P.A.: F.A. Davis Company Powers, B.A., & Knapp, T.R. (2011). Dictionary of nursing theory and research (4th ed.). York: Springer Publisher Company

Intellectual Property Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Intellectual Property - Essay Example The paper the looks at areas for opportunities to devise a new innovative customer-focus service, how and where to search to devise and develop a new customer-focused service idea, and the new services development (NSD) process. The paper then looks at the potential risks and costs that will be determine by the successful development of new or modified services and the intellectual property issues. Finally, the paper makes a conclusion based on the discussions from the research conducted. There has been an increased attention on innovation which is the key to organizational growth and development. Most organizations today face increased competition because of the fast pace of improved technology, and the market external change that has pushed economic and organizational growth. Innovation has become a crucial part of organizations which has been driven by excellent labor force and advanced machinery. Therefore, innovation has become a powerful method of securing a competitive advantage and as a way of defending the strategic position. The research and development plays a crucial role in product and service innovation process. Innovation does not only apply to product or services, but also aims at improving the way people work, live, and play. Innovation has two aspects, which include radical and incremental innovations. Radical innovation refers to a total change in the way people think and use products or manufacture new products as compared to the way they did things before. This form of innovation aims at taking advantage of new technology, thus, creating new opportunities. On the other hand, incremental innovation is involves a day to day change in an organization in order to make sure that there is a continuous improvement in the productivity and quality of products and services through innovation. There are four types of innovation that includes the process

An investigation in to a link between emotional intelligence and Dissertation

An investigation in to a link between emotional intelligence and leadership stylea study in the public sector of South Africa - Dissertation Example However, in the advent of â€Å"emotional intelligence†, the element of human emotions and its effect on self and other people have been seriously considered as an essential factor in leadership. It has brought about a trend in the academic, corporate and political world, bringing a new dimension in the way things are run in organisations affecting company philosophy, policy, mission and vision. In the public sector, with leaders being targeted with scandals about corruption and greediness, good governance needs to be reinstated. Mokgolo et al. (2012) contend that relevant studies on leadership add knowledge that can elevate public service practices with the implementation of effective leadership, retention of valuable staff and quality of service delivery. Such relevant studies include the possession of emotional intelligence in good leadership. Statement of the Problem This study will investigate the possible links between emotional intelligence and effective leadership styl es that may be applicable in the public sector. Specifically, it will explore how it can be applied to the public sector of South Africa. Aims and Objectives The research purports to establish strong links between emotional intelligence and leaders who may be identified as effective and efficient by their subordinates. It will gather sufficient evidence from available literature as well as get first-hand information from subordinates and constituents of public sector leaders in South Africa. It aims to seek a clearer perspective on the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership. It hopes to be a useful resource to future leaders to guide them in the right path in leading the organizations they will be tasked to lead to success. Methodology This qualitative study investigates the importance of emotional intelligence in successful leadership and management in the public sector. Going beyond the surface in the review of literature, this study will probe beneath the issue of lea dership in organisations and delve into the emotional intelligence of leaders or the lack of it. Primary sources will be respondents’ answers to open ended questions in a questionnaire about the leadership styles of the leaders in their respective departments, further elaborated on in a focus group interview conducted on a later date. Secondary sources will be information culled from the literature review. Both sources shall be cross-referenced in a quantitative analysis of the themes that may surface from the questionnaires and focus group discussion. Literature Review Much research has been devoted to the topic of leadership. Yukl (2006) presents a comprehensive collection of studies on leadership, identifying various approaches to leadership. The behavior approach studies the leader’s typical pattern of behaviour to manage and lead. The power-influence approach takes on a more leader-centered perspective in that power is used not only to manage subordinates but also to influence peers, superiors, and even people outside the organization. The situational approach sees leadership as affected by contextual factors such as characteristics of followers, nature of the work performed, the type of organization and the nature of the external environment. Finally, the integrative approach involves more than one type of leadership variable and incorporates other perspectives of leadership (Yukl, 2006). In most of

Diversity Hiring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Diversity Hiring - Essay Example " It is irrefutable that current business operations have evolved over time, confounding managers with new issues. The evolution of new business strategies is in response to the changes in the external environment of business organizations. It should be noted that the developments in the market mentioned were beyond the effects of neither the current economic turmoil nor the technological revolution which radically altered the way business is done. The present mode of business is strongly influenced by the emergence of hypercompetitive markets that resulted from the rapid integration of markets brought about by globalization. As businesses are faced with new challenges and opportunities, it is imperative that they also employ a new approach in doing business. They do this by strengthening their core competencies by aligning their respective resources to their various objectives. It is irrefutable that human resource is the indispensable, if not the most important, asset in a business institution. The contribution of human resource in the success and mere survival of a company cannot be overstated. As such, companies are seen to align their workforce in order to fully reap the opportunities present in the market. Diversity hiring is the new trend in choosing the employees to work for an organization. As more and more companies are embracing this new system, more reports and empirical evidences are also reported which support direct hiring. This report will look at direct hiring as an ethical issue in business organizations. The first part will briefly look at the scope of direct hiring in the United States. Discussions on its advantages and ethical considerations will also be set forth. The paper will conclude with the key points tackled. Scope of Diversity Hiring The first step toward creating a more diversified workforce was taken by the President John F. Kennedy with the establishment of The President's Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity. This effort gave way in the formation of workforce which is comprised of people with different nationality. It should be noted that during this period there is a lack of appreciation of the value of diverse teams. In contrast, the program was enacted to create equal opportunity for prospective employees regardless of their ethnicity. However, the present day situation is now different. The importance of having a diverse team working for a business organization is not only done in order to comply with this requirement but due to the perceived value of inclusivity. In fact, a leading proponent of diversity recognized the importance of hiring employees with diverse backgrounds in order to boost the performance of a business organization. Gloria Johnson Goins, the vice president of diversity and inclusiveness for the Home Depot asserted American businesses should willing embrace this new trend in order for them to adapt to the nation's business demographics. According to ASME, workplace diversity is "the variety among people related to such factors as age, culture, education, employee status, family status, function, gender, national origin, physical appearance, race, regional origin, religion, sexual orientation, and thinking style." Thus, diversity embraces the differences among individuals and utilizes them for the utmost benefit of the business organization. As companies come to recognize the contribution of workplace