Marketing Plan for Chick-fil-A Essay

Introduction Establishing a marketing plan to introduce a new service to an organization requires extensive analysis and reviews of its competitors. An organization needs to review the pros and the cons of any new service, especially when the organization is currently growing nationally. In this paper, Team A will provide a basic overview of Chick-Fil-A. Team A will introduce a delivery service for Chick-fil-A, including a SWOTT analysis, the importance of Marketing, and the marketing approach it should take to execute service. Chick-fil-A Overview Chick-fil-A is a company that was founded by S. Truett Cathy in 1946, which is privately held and family owned. The company services 39 states, 1,500 locations, including their headquarters stationed in Atlanta, GA (Chick-fil-A, 2012). Chick-fil-A mission statement is simple but strong; â€Å"To be Americas best swift-service food establishment at captivating and maintaining patrons (Chick-fil-A, 2012). Chick-fil-A has a huge variety of specialty chicken based products such as, a variety of chicken sandwiches, wraps, nuggets, salads, desserts, and now breakfast. Chick-fil-A has a few signature products that include their famous chicken sandwich, signature lemonade, as well as products with their different logos and characters for personal use such as clothing, cold and hot beverage mugs, books, and home and office supplies. Description of New Product Chick-fil-A is more than a restaurant, it has become a cultural following similar to the Starbucks and Chipotle franchises’, which focuses on a healthier fast food options and boasts family friendly environments, it would be beneficial to offer a delivery service that focuses on families and organizations. Chick-fil-A’s new product offering should be a family sized meal which can include various selections of our current options. This new family meal approach opens up the types of services provided and places the company in another category when it comes to being fast food restaurant competitor. Not only would Chick-fil-A continue to show the importance of family but it represents a strong tie to the organizations values and opens up the competitive market for the culture based following that has been established. SWOTT Analysis Strengths Chick-fil-A size and strengths gave the company an opportunity to offer customers a expedited option to patronize the business in the workplace and busy sites. Chick-fil-A is family orientated and kid friendly restaurant. For fast service and delivery, Chick-fil-A offers online order and catering delivery service to their customers. In 2010, Chick-fil-A system sales reached a $3.5 billion. The company’s product statement offers a variety of delicious products that can fit a balanced and healthy diet. Weaknesses Chick-fil-A Incorporation had to voluntary removal 1.5 million of the â€Å"Planet Discovery† Kid’s Meal premium from its restaurants in 2011. The kid’s meal had the planet toy attached to bottom of the suction cup which a small child could easily remove the toy and put it their mouths and swollen casing injury, (â€Å"Chick-fil-A Recalls Kid’s Meal Premium,† 2012). The cause of the recall caused the corporation money, however, it earned consumers respect because it the safety of their family was put first. Chick-fil-A redesigned the product to be kid friendly by making the pieces larger and keeping within the same theme. Opportunities The opportunity for other restaurants to capitalize on the food industry is with introducing new products, like McDonald’s with the McRib and Wendy’s with the Spicy Chicken Salad. However, Chick-fil-A has stayed a head of the game with launching new products such as the new spicy Chick-fil- A sandwich and introducing the healthiest kids meal, the Grilled Chicken Nuggets. Threats The fast food chains such as McDonalds, Burger King, or Wendy’s are a major threat to Chick-fil-A. Many of these chains are currently introducing healthier menu options which can potentially cause Chick-fil-A the inability to grow in certain areas. Although, there are differences between Chick-fil-A and these fast food chains, there are other restaurants service consumers’ healthy meal options such as â€Å"Veggie Grill†. Even if Trends America’s current trend of a healthy eating lifestyle will allow introduce a fast-food franchise that offers delivery service for consumers with minimal time. Chick-Fil-A will devote more ways to position assets to improve the majority of their restaurants with the intentions to improve patron’s satisfaction and present a complete service that always will produce an abundance of revenue. The Importance of Marketing Marketing plays an important role in Chick-fil-A overall success as it affects the positioning of business strategy of the products to the consumers. While managers may have an eye on the existing products and sales, profits, and market share and how well Chick-fil-A growth it continues to meet the company’s goal and expectation by; developing the products that customers want, making products readily available to the consumers, and promoting products and service that will outlast its competitors. Marketing Research Approach Chick-fil-A already counts with a great number of customers nationwide. The purpose of the new service that will be offer by the company is to retain and attract even more customers to our restaurants. The positive results of the project will help the company to expand to more cities within the U.S. to reach more customers. Considering the already existing customers, that already like the food and service that is offered at Chic-fil-A, they eventually would want to see a change that takes that food and that service to a different level of quality. Those changes in product and operations make things more convenient and accessible for consumers. At Chick-fil-A, we want to let the public know the new delivery service that will facilitate customers to eat food from Chick-fil-A without having to go to the restaurant. The group of consumers that the organization will target is those that usually are in need of fast food or that their busy schedules do not really have the time to go pick their lunch. Most working professionals are groups that are likely to have their food deliver to their work place or office, especially in places like Los Angeles and other big cities where heavy traffic, busy streets, and congested freeways is an issue. Also, for those who do not have the time to cook, like walking, or driving at night, a delivery service is a solution to their problem. In smaller cities delivery service is an attractive service for customers, specially, if shopping centers or restaurants are far away from the populated areas. In comparison to most fast food restaurants, which do not offer a delivery service, Chick-fil-A will be taking a step forward from its direct competitors. Finally, we will complete a competitor analysis. We will research the kinds of services our competitor offer and whether or not they charge for their delivery services. We will explore their online ordering and time frames between the orders being placed and delivered and will the order be free if it is not delivered within a specified time frame. Conclusion As a staple in the fast food industry for years now, we strongly believe in the marketing techniques and branding that Chick-fil-A has been known for; however, the company is not against change and recognize room for growth. The choice, as outlined above, to establish a delivery service should prove to be profitable and increase customers in all our markets. Our marketing plan provides complete coverage on how we plan to execute and introduce the change to all of our stores. We are confident that the delivery service will yield the expected results for Chick-fil-A for years to come. Reference Chick-fil-A. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Company/Highlights-Fact-Sheets Chick-fil-A Recalls Kid’s Meal Premium. (2012, February). QSR Magazine . Retrieved from http://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/chick-fil-recalls-kids-meal-premium

Mgt 510

People Management, the Mantra for Success: The Case of Singhania and Partner Jameelah Richardson Dr. Finn MGT 510 September 10, 2012 In this paper we will discuss the case of Singhania and Partner. We would examine the case of Singhania and Partners and evaluate the organization’s strategy. Next we would evaluate each of the five IHRM practices with respect to recruitment and selection, training for cross-cultural adaptation, management development, evaluation, and compensation. Later we will discuss which of the five practices can be approved.Afterwards, we would make recommendations to management to successfully improve the current IHRM strategy. Finally, we would explain how the recommended changes impact the organization in the industry. Examine the Case of Singhania and Partners and Evaluate the Organization’s Strategy Singhania & Partners is known as a full service national law firm. This firm is known for being successful with international corporate and comm ercial, litigation, and arbitration and intellectual property in law. The company was founded by Ravi Singhania and Manju Mohorta.Ravi Singhania was the founder and managing partner while Mohorta was the Chief Executive. Both Ravi and Manu were concerned about the HR practices currently used by the firm and if the company faces human resource risks. It seemed that the firm is facing a high attrition rate in the Indian legal services industry and this is causing an alarming problem. There has been a shift between legal firms and partners. It seems the entry of foreign law firms into India could create more competition between law firms.They should focus more on gaining trust of their employees. Gaining the respect of your employees will create positive work environments and relationships within the firm. It would also deflate stress and uncertainty while being in that work environment. Evaluate Each of the Five IHRM Practices with Respect to Recruitment and Selection, Training for Cr oss-Cultural Adaptation, Management Development, Evaluation, and Compensation Recruitment of staff should be sought after a complete analysis of the job to be done.An analytical study would focus on the tasks that need to be performed to determine valuable factors. A written job description would be beneficial so the employer would know what physical and mental characteristics one should possess and what qualities and attitudes are desirable. The  Recruitment and Selection Process  is one of the basic HR Processes. Recruitment and Selection is very sensitive as many managers have a need to hire a new employee and this process is always under a strict monitoring from their side.The  Recruitment and Selection Process  must be simple and must be robust enough to operate excellently in the moment of the insufficient number of candidates on the job market and the process must be also able to process a large number of candidates within given time limit (Richards, 2008). Cross-cult ural training encompasses a combination of translation, instructional design and cultural adaptation, each of which is required to convey new concepts to a target audience in another country.Simply translating training material will not work, as it fails to take into account the cultural factors that influence the trainees' perceptions (Smith, 2004). With Management development, you must look at the strategy of the organization and address that there are well trained managers in play to ensure the organization is on the right path of completing their goals. Basically an evaluation / appraisal scheme is a formalization of what is done in a more casual manner anyway (e. g. if there is a vacancy, discussion about internal moves and internal attempts to put square pegs into ‘squarer holes' are both the results of casual evaluation).Most managers approve merit payment and that too calls for evaluation, made a standard routine task, it aids the development of talent, warns the ineff icient or uncaring and can be an effective form of motivation (Richards, 2008). Compensation Strategy  is one of the most important strategies in the HRM function as it influences the costs of the organization and potential bad decision can lead to very serious damages to the organization (Richards, 2008). Discuss which of the Five Practices can be improved In my opinion, both recruitment and selection and compensation could be improved.Today, a lot of people are chosen for a job on how they look or because they know someone which isn’t fair to the person who actually has the experience to complete the job. Even if you don’t have that much experience for the job but your educational background introduces you to what the job entails you should still be giving a chance to perform at your best. Most college students are not giving a chance to start a job in their major because you’re expected to have 5 to 7 years’ experience early on but how do you obtain that if you’re learning the basics of what is expected in that particular field?I feel if you were introduce to what the field entails then you should be given a chance to perform the task either way you will be trained to do that job right? Compensation is the most important factor in HR yet employees work hard and get compensated less. It seems that organizations put so many stipulations into play to get compensated that once you receive it you’re like I did all of this for that what was the point?If you expect your employees to perform at their best level and keep that same drive every month, compensation should be both a reachable and achievable goal so in the end everybody wins the employer, employee, and the organization as a whole. Make Recommendations to Management to Successfully Improve the Current IHRM Strategy International Human Resource Management Strategy (IHRM) is the recruitment, selection, training and development, performance appraisal, compensation, and labor relations (Cullen, 2011).Management needs to be cautious of who they’re choosing to complete the task at hand. Education and experience should play in major part in the recruitment and selection process. With college students, they are aware of what the job is and what it entails but in order for the individual to complete the job the way you want it you must train them. Afterwards, then evaluate them on their performance to determine if they’re a right fit for the organization. Compensation must improve and employees should be acknowledge for the hard work that is put in day in and day out.If employees feel their being treated with the upmost respect, receiving job recognition and compensation for what they’re doing production would be meeting or exceeding the organization’s expectation and everyone wins. Explain how the Recommended Changes Impact the Organization in the Industry Managers can build trust by demonstrating that they are guided b y ethical standards and beliefs and then by exhibiting behaviors that are consistent with those standards and beliefs. A variety of conditions and factors can enhance employee trust.Four of the most important are credibility, integrity, reliability, and commitment (Smith, 2004). In conclusion, employee trust is generally something that is earned over time. Building trust can be difficult but it is much easier to lost it through inconsistent behavior and lack of commitment. By enhancing employee trust Singhania ;amp; Partners will become the most consistent firm. References Cullen, John B. ;amp; Parboteeah, Praveen (2011) Multinational Management Richards, Sam (2008) HRM Advice Smith, Jeanine (2006) V ;amp; L International

Research Proposal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

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Wal-Mart Employee Relations Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Wal-Mart Employee Relations - Research Paper Example Wal-Mart will, therefore, have to consider hiring an external consulting firm to help in settling this issue once and for good. Wal-Mart should start arrangements to hire a consulting firm which is well versed with labor issues in order to help it look for a solution which will bring its issues with its employees to a halt. The internal management will be tasked to procure these services by analyzing the available consulting services in order to choose at the best consulting services. Since the issue at hand is a human resource issue, Wal-Mart will have to look for a consulting firm which is experienced or which specializes in human resource and labor issues. The employees through their representatives should also be involved in the process of hiring the consulting firm so that they do not feel that they have been left out of the process. This will be important since the issue at hand is one that affects the employees, and therefore, the need to involve them in the process of solving the issue. According to Mendy, the success of organizational change starts with the managers', as well as the employees', understanding the need for change. This is why it is necessary for managers to be able to inform their employees of the issues the firm is facing. Failing to involve the employees in the process of developing the solution will only lead to them rejecting whatever solution will be provided to them and, it is, therefore, necessary to make sure that they are involved so that they will own the solution at the end of the process.... As Bruce, Cheryl and Coskun (1994) say, information systems help an organisation to be ahead of the competitors in the industry. Wal-Mart has, however, failed to use this opportunity to reform its workforce and has only concentrated on using technology for other uses such as streamlining its supply chain systems. According to Kharbanda (2002), organisations are supposed to continually change in order to be able to overcome the many issues which they face in the market. As such, well-designed information systems can and do help the organisation in gaining the kind of information and knowledge which will be useful in the strategic decision-making process, thus helping it to deal with the issues it may be facing (Jamieson & Szeto, 1989). Wal-Mart has, however, seemingly ignored this and has failed to look at the issue of employee dissatisfaction. While it is very imminent that Wal-Mart needs organisation change to be able to deal with the human resource it is facing today, it continues to ignore the issues. This lack of organisational change continues to be eminent in Wal-Mart, where the need for change is always disregarded, even in cases where it is very obvious that change is needed. One of the major instances where Wal-Mart has been seen to fail to change was in the 1980s during the Buy-American euphoria era. While Wal-Mart’s competitors refused to fall for this euphoria but rather continued to buy from across the international borders in order to access cheaper goods for their stores, Wal-Mart refused to use this and continued to buy stock from local manufacturers, which were more expensive. This adamant refusal to change regardless of the fact that this was causing the firm to lose its strategic edge in the market can

Examining the life of Abraham Lincoln Research Paper

Examining the life of Abraham Lincoln - Research Paper Example Tutor Signature: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 The Events of His Time 6 Slavery Issue 6 Election to the Presidential Position 7 The Civil War 9 Lincoln  was regarded  as commander in chief and  was noted  for the energetic measures. He  was also regarded  as the odds at the  constitution  of military commanders. Lincoln’s  preoccupancy  at the presidency at the time of war  was regarded  as the political vied.  During the war, there is a need for the deployment of a large number of me at war and also  several  quantities of  material  related to the administrative assistance.  This led Lincoln to  turn  towards to the only  organization  that can be used i.e. the Republican Party. Lincoln during the  war  period tried thoroughly that the Republican Party must consistently  favoured  with the other parties. The  total  military  appointments  were  highly  divided  into the Democrats and the Republi cans. This led the Democrats to accuse Lincoln being a dictator because of his decisions of proscribed civil liberties. Lincoln during this  period  has suspended the  injunction  of habeas corpus in some of the areas; this led to the arrest of 13000 arbitrary.  During this  period  Lincoln also tolerated several criticisms from  several  politicians and  press, due to his decisions for the overzealous arrests, and this has led to show him his tendencies of not becoming the  dictator. 9 At the  time  of Civil war, Lincoln appropriated powers no other  previous  President has wielded. Lincoln used his war powers for proclaiming the  blockade, spends the money without any congressional authorization, suspended the writ of habeas corpus, and even imprisoned the 18000 suspected Confederate without provided them any  trail. At the time of Civil War Abraham Lincoln faced conflicting politicians and pressure over the issue of slavery, but the  movement  towards the black Americans was unalterable 9 As the president of United States of America, Lincoln has to  manage  both the military and political dimensions of the conflicts that arose at the  time  of civil war, and that has the  leadership  record  that depends over the  ability  for coordinating with the two aspects of war efforts.  Lincoln never lost the  control  from the revolution of the war due to its testimony for the  great  leadership  ability  of leading the  nation  towards the  victory  and succeeding in preserving the union without destroying the  democracy  that assured his ever lasting place in the history of America.  Success never came to him  very  easily. 10 At the time of his  early  political career, the setbacks and defeats outweighed the achievements and victories. Throughout the time of Civil war  period, his  basic  character  was shone  through: his basic decency, good will, and  remark able  self-confidence  encapsulated into his genuine humility,  immunity  to passions,  hatred  the spawned war, spirit generosity, and  extraordinary  patience. Even in the war darkest days, Lincoln never faltered into his  commitment  for preserving until the union  was restored. The political and personal qualities of Abraham Lincoln brought him to  face  the challenge of waging the civil war. After the Civil war, the  lesson  and experiences of  life  made the Lincoln rethink about the  early  teachings and even restored his faith in Bible and God. Specially, public and personal losses endured at the time of the presidency that leads him towards reassessing

Title is Open Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Title is Open - Essay Example Much emphasis will however be given to his noteworthy accomplishments and their importance or influence in the current century. Gauss had a lot of influence in the field of mathematics. He was the first mathematician to prove the theorem of algebra, a concept that is used to solve many mathematical problems even today. Writing of the book by the name Disquisitines Arithmeticae is another great achievement of Gauss. Another significant achievement is the discovery of the Law of Quadratic Reciprocity. This is an incredibly fundamental concept in today’s world. It allows individuals to establish whether there can be a solution to quadratic equations. Gauss also made a lot of contributions to science. For instance, he made it easy to understand the concepts of the nature of electricity and magnetism (West, 2008). Algebra is widely utilized today. Companies use it to project annual budgets. It is also combined with statistics to predict companies’ annual turnover. Algebra is also used in learning institutions to prepare annual reports of students as well as in predicting usage of the different materials used in examinations. It is also used in the calculation of payable income tax, bank interest as well as annual table income. We also use algebra unconsciously in our day to day lives, for example, in comparing of various products with respect to quantities while doing shopping. These are just some of this century’s applications of algebra, a concept attributed to Gauss. The other achievement is the publication of the book; Disquisitines Arithmeticae, at the age of 24years. Although written long ago, it is considered as one of the most significant books in the mathematics field today. This book has made the understanding of various mathematical concepts easier. This is because Gauss brought together the isolated theorems and conjectures from works of other mathematicians thus filling the gaps that

How important were Hadrians trips around the Empire in establishing Essay

How important were Hadrians trips around the Empire in establishing his policies of consolidation - Essay Example pulations and territories in it, Hadrian’s trips became the turning point and the crucial element of the successful consolidation: Hadrian’s trips did not simply bring the territories and populations back to the political and social order, but under Hadrian’s leadership, the territories that had been separated before became one, cohesive and increasingly effective mechanism of the imperial domination. That the years of Hadrian’s political ruling were not easy is difficult to deny: Hadrian was met with the utmost displeasure on the side of other political leaders and the public itself. Hadrian had to abandon many territories and provinces won by Trajan and destroyed the theatre which Trajan had created in the Campus Martius (Anonymous 1921, P29). As the time passed, Hadrian was no longer capable of enduring the pressure of his political opponents and had to devise a strategy that would consolidate the empire and would, simultaneously, strengthen his political position. In the situation Hadrian was in, he did not see the way to consolidate the empire other than to set out on a trip across the imperial possessions. The fact is that Hadrian led his people not by violence but by dignity (Cassius Dio 1925, P437). Although â€Å"the Alexandrians had been rioting, and nothing would make them stop until they received a letter from Hadrian rebuking them, so true is it that an emper or’s word will have more force than arms† (Cassius Dio 1925, P441). Hadrian’s trips highlighted the turning point in the political and territorial development of the Empire: they put an end to the existing conflicts and began the new era of consolidation under Hadrian. Campania was the first on Hadrian’s way to consolidation. There, Hadrian aided the region by giving them gifts and benefactions (Anonymous 1921, P31). The role of Hadrian’s traveling to Campania is difficult to underestimate. He was able to choose and attach the most prominent men to his train of friends (Anonymous

Measuring The Heat of Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide Lab Report

Measuring The Heat of Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide - Lab Report Example The objectives are threefold: to measure the temperature change of a HÂ ­2O2 solution as it decomposes, to measure the amount of heat absorbed by the calorimeter and finally to calculate the calorimeter constant and then use it to determine the enthalpy of decomposition. The Lab Quest unit was turned on and the temperature probe plugged in. A 150-mL beaker was wrapped in towel paper and then placed inside a 250-mL beaker. A piece of aluminium foil big enough to cover the top of the two beakers was cut. 25 mL of cold water was measured using a graduated cylinder and poured onto the 150-mL beaker.. 25 mL of hot water was measured into the graduated cylinder and the temperature measured. The temperature probe was placed into the cold water solution in the 150-mL beaker. The Lab Quest unit was then set up to begin recording the temperature by pressing the green button. 25 mL of the hot water was poured into the 150-mL beaker containing the cold water. The cup was then quickly covered with the aluminium foil. The cups were periodically swirled to ensure the contents mixed. Temperature recording was stopped once the temperature began to decline for several minutes. The used water was then poured into the sink. The recorded temperature and time data were entered into an Excel spreadsheet. The steps above were repeated twice and the average value calculated. 250 mL of HÂ ­2O2 was obtained. The temperature of the HÂ ­2O2 Â ­was measured and recorded as the initial temperature of the solution and calorimeter. The concentration of the HÂ ­2O2 was also recorded. 60 mL of 0.5M KI solution was obtained. 40 mL of the HÂ ­2O2 solution was measured into a graduated cylinder and the temperature probe plugged in. 10 mL of KI was measured into another graduated cylinder and then poured into the calorimeter and then quickly covered with an aluminium foil lid. The temperature probe was immediately inserted into the probe through a hole in the foil lid. The temperature recording

World Health Organization Ebola and Leishmaniasis Essay - 1

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Art and the Afterlife Across Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Art and the Afterlife Across Cultures - Essay Example In each culture, arts and better understandings of what is told to do to the believers, evolved side by side. It is found that people portrayed their religious beliefs, especially life after death, through pictorial art in all cultures. Artists tried to build a relation between humans and the divine. At times it became more liberal and somewhat offensive when artists tried to express the details on its own way. However, religious clergy understands the need of the liberal art in order to make the follower conceptualize the promised destination. Egyptians perhaps left the most artistic concept of life after death. They used both sculpture and painting forms of art to represent the exact details of that time. They believed that these paintings will accompany the deceased in the life after that is the eternal life. They took a great deal of care in its preservation. Egyptians also drew on a form of paper, came from a ‘Papyrus’ plant. Different types of pottery were used to hold the deceased body parts, removed earlier, so it could be carried to the life after this. Some pots were engraved with personal details of the person. Huge sculptures were built to give eternal life to the most famous pharaohs, kings and queens. Ancient Egyptians painted to introduce the deceased with gods and make the journey to the after life more pleasant. Buddhism is one of the oldest mythologies. Buddhists believe in the afterlife too. They view death as a continuation of another life. The departed spirit may reappear in another form; that may be a human being again or an animal, but it never ends. The new form of life inherits the good or bad deeds of the previous life. This cycle of life goes on until one achieves the ultimate goal of life, the only way to break this cycle, and get rid of the ‘sufferings’ in each life. Most of the artifacts related to Buddhism are the sculptures of ‘Buddha’ himself. It depicts serenity after attaining complete li berty from sufferings of life and highlights the impermanence of it. The sculptures show calmness on the face through long and arduous self-meditation. Recently, a number of Buddha artifacts were displayed at Rubin Museum of Arts. ‘Bardo’ from the â€Å"Tibetan Book of the Dead† was one of them that show different paths that one may take after death. Judaism believes on life after death but there is no distinct picture of what happens after death. Most of the Jews believe that the dead will be raised again on The Day of the Judgment. It is also believed that the soul maintains relationship with the body for a year, at least for the sinners. Then, pious people are granted to enter to ‘Heaven’. On the other hand the wicked people are thrown in to ‘Hell’ or ‘Gahanna’. There are conflicts about the resurrection when Messiah comes. Many argue that it will be physical resurrection while the others believe in ‘soul sleep†™. Jewish are involved in all different forms of arts. It is ironic that there is no bookshop that has a separate Jewish painting and sculpture section. Most of the Judaic items are falsely associated with Jewish art. Bible prohibits portraying of any living creature, like Islam, but people do not have a problem showing Moses with his snake. Islam is the second largest religion in the world. Muslims believe that it is the continuation, in fact the final version of Judaism and Christianity. They believe that the time in this world is a test. Those

Trade Barriers Essay Example for Free

Trade Barriers Essay Management across cultures Culture refers to the values and expectations of a group of people.* It is important for managers to ascertain the culture of the host country and adapt the organization. One way to manage the organisation in one country may not be appropriate in another. When managing the operations in a particular subsidiary an approach needs to be developed in line with cultural values to ensure greater cooperation and participation of employees as well as ease of dealings with local firms and national institutions. *Gooderham Nordhaug (2003, p. 131). Globalisation of production The globalization of production refers to the sourcing of goods and services from locations around the globe to take advantage of national differences in the cost and quality of factors of production (such as labor, energy, land, and capital). By doing this, companies hope to lower their overall cost structure or improve the quality or functionality of their product offering, thereby allowing them to compete more effectively. (Hill, 2011) Global Consumer Preferences Consumer tastes and preferences are converging, even though some national differences persist. Part of the reason for the development of worldwide tastes and preferences is the presence of the mass media, exposure to goods from various countries, and marketing strategies of multinational firms that tend to offer standardized products worldwide, because doing so costs less than customizing goods to local conditions. Luis R. Gomez-Mejia. Management. P.41 Integrated economic markets The objective of economic integration is to reduce or eliminate barriers to the free flow of goods, services, labor, capital, and other inputs of production between member nations. Two major regional economic groups are present in Asia. The oldest is the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, formed in 1967. It includes Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The second is the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group, founded in 1990. This group of countries has the potential to become highly influential if it were to turn itself into a free trade area. Doing so would make it the world’s largest trade bloc, because the 18 member states account for more than half of the world’s GNP. Luis R. Gomez-Mejia. Management. P.41

Personal Illness Narratives: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Personal Illness Narratives: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Introduction This essay employs excerpts from the narrative of a 38 year old woman named Francesca, a lady who has been given a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), to illustrate key concepts form the sociological, and psychological literature. This approach will illustrate the writers ability to critically appraise the literature, its relevance to the narrative in question, and using narrative, places these concepts within a real life clinical situation. This in turn provides insight into the value of narrative as a methodological approach in the 21st Century and how it intertwines with the rich tapestry of sociological theories and concepts that are available to the researcher studying the current sociological evidence base. For the purpose of this assignment, peer reviewed articles and textbooks were searched within the past 10 years. The work introduces RA as a clinical entity (pivotal to understanding the comments of Francesca) and goes on to outline the use of narrative, particularly its utility in the study of chronic disease. The essay then goes on to cover some key important issues, namely: The biomedical versus the sociological approach of illness management The Study of Personal Illness Narratives Sociological perspectives on depression Chronic Illness and Disability Social construction of medical knowledge and the Politics of Disability Labelling Stigma. For each of the above, concepts are presented and mapped against selected statements from the narrative of Francesca (written in italics for clarity). These statements illustrate real world data gleaned from Francesca; valuable comments that are grounded in the experiences of a person living with a chronic disease. The work also contains an appendix comprising a reflective postscript which outlines the way that the work evolved from earliest outline, to the finished product. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects not only the synovial joints but multiple body systems (Goodacre 2008). The exact cause of RA remains unknown; it is a disease that affects more women than men, often of a young or middle age demographic unlike osteoarthritis which affects predominately older people. RA follows a somewhat unpredictable course of exacerbations and remissions. RA carries huge psychological problems in view of its unknown aetiology, uncertain prognosis, and loss of function. Additional symptoms include early morning stiffness, pain, limitation of activities of daily living, and socio- economic problems inasmuch as it may have a severe impact upon a persons ability to work and function in society (Kojima et al 2009). The discussion now begins with a section on models of illness. Biomedical and biopsychosocial models of disease The biomedical model of health takes the reductionist view that people are biological entities (Lewis 2009 p745). In the clinical management of RA there is some merit in this biomedical approach, for example the monitoring of inflammatory mediators in the blood as a marker of disease activity or responses to drug intervention is well established in the literature (Lee Kim 2009). This biomedical approach is reinforced by the GP comments from the narrative, i.e. That there was no cure and that the tablets were the key to preserving normal function. This approach may contribute to Francescas frustration, as it ignores the wider psychological and sociological ramifications of living with a chronic debilitating disease such as RA. It is unclear form the narrative whether the GP tempered his comments by adding that there are means by which the signs and symptoms of RA can be successfully managed. Critical appraisal of the literature reveals that biopsychosocial models advocate a more holistic view of illness, for example according to Smith (2002) the biopsychosocial model seeks to address not only the client and his or her illness but also their capacity to deal with being ill. The value of adopting the narrative approach as part of the biomedical model is effectively illustrated at the point where Francesca states I just burst into tears At the perceived effect that this illness will have upon her loss of function in the future. So whereas the biomedical model will operationalise function using objective outcome measures, here the use of narrative permits a biopsychosocial approach that provides rich client centred data on how it feels to be diagnosed with chronic and currently incurable disease. This in turn can help to inform our understanding of Rheumatoid arthritis as a disease thereby influencing the social construction of medical knowledge by giving voice to service users (Balen et al 2009). The Study of Personal Illness Narratives. Illness narratives concern a persons views and beliefs about their illnesses and the effect on their lives (HydÃÆ'Â ©n 2007). There is increasing acceptance and recognition of the valuable role that such grounded narratives play in understanding the journeys that people with chronic diseases such as RA have to embark upon if they are to manage their illness on a day to day basis. For example Haidet et al (2006) found in a narrative study of people with diabetes that people narrated four illness-management strategies whose story elements were in dynamic interplay, each with unique variations for each individual revealing a level of complexity that had not been previously described. As a method, narrative provides rich data (Furman Cavers 2005; Poindexter 2002) and in this case gives a voice to Francesca that would otherwise remain unheard (Grills 1998).Much can be gleaned from studying Francescas narrative, for example Francesca begins to paint a picture of her hopes and fears upon being given a diagnosis of RA combined with an insight into her past and thoughts about the future. Francescas narrative provides us valuable insight into her views of the self- a key component of narrative (Voilmer 2005), her relationships to others, and how these relationships have changed or may change in the future. In her narrative Francesca gives us some insight into the pain of living with rheumatoid arthritis, in her comments we can detect also a stark dichotomy in that she notes how healthy she had been in the past then uses the term Excruciating to describe her current pain, thus Francescas narrative hints at the loss of self in that she will no longer be a dancer or even a valid spouse as exemplified by the narrative quote. I wont be the woman he fell in love with Here she literally describes herself as becoming another person. Here Francesca is able to provide the reader or researcher with valuable information on the loss of the self, which resonates with other narrative research (Roe Davidson 2005; Doba et al 2007). Francesca goes further and also hints at the change in her illness self concept (ISC) that is to say the extent to which a person is defined or consumed by their disease or disability (Morea et al 2008). Francesca also hints at the concept of disease as a biographical disruption, described by Bury, this is said to occur when a persons planned future cannot unfold as planned. (Bury 1982); will he even want to marry me? Im too young to have this. What makes Francescas narrative particularly interesting is the fact that she is a twin; this may emphasise any change in self since she has in essence an unchanging control (her twin sibling) to against which to compare herself as her disease, her self identity (and possibly disability) progresses. The next section outlines sociological perspectives on depression. Sociological perspectives on depression. Francescas depression is likely to be multifactorial; for example there is evidence that the disease RA itself causes depression (Kojima et al 2009) as will living with pain. From a sociological perspective Francescas strained personal relationships may contribute to depression, for example her fear of being rejected as a potential spouse (Waite Gallagher 2001), see below. will he even want to marry me? This feeds in to the earlier section on biomedical versus biopsychosocial models of health and illness and the different paradigms or world views in which they are situated. A biomedical explanation of depression is likely to focus on the biochemical aspects of the person whilst a more sociological approach would acknowledge the impact of socio economics, personal relationships and so on (Covic et al 2003). Caution is needed however here since the short excerpt of narrative that we have provides no direct evidence that Francesca is in fact depressed, indeed a review of the literature suggests that there is a tendency to over diagnose depression (Parker 2007). Chronic Illness and Disability. A chronic incurable disease such as RA would require Francesca to make significant adjustments to her life over time. The sociological literature now provides increasingly refined conceptualisations of these adjustments, acknowledging that the experience of chronic disease necessitates adaptations in multiple domains of the persons life. This adjustment is often referred to as a trajectory (Stanton et al. 2007). This concept, introduced by the sociologist Strauss in an attempt to capture experiences and behaviours occurring in response to chronic illness (Strauss Corbin 1998), goes beyond depicting the physiologic unfolding of disease and encompasses the total organisation of work done over the course of the illness (Strauss et al 1984). Francescas narrative hints at this changing trajectory tracing the commencement of her life changes to a time six months ago when she was much more active and defined herself as a dancer. Furthermore Francesca looks to her future and wonders about h er ability to fulfil the stereotype of a perfect spouse. It is important to engage with how Francesca and her fiancÃÆ'Â © will make sense of the illness. The term illness cognition has been defined as a patients own implicit common sense beliefs about their illness (Leventhal and Nerernz 1985, p. 517). When people experience symptoms, they embark upon a cognitive search which enables them to interpret and make sense of the symptoms they are experiencing. Typically a critical review of the literature distils out into five categories: Identity, including the description of symptoms experienced and their meaning (e.g. pain, fatigue).In the narrative Francesca describes her pain as Excruciating for example. Belief about causes (e.g. accident, genetics or stress). People like to have a label for their symptoms for legitimisation although, once given, people are likely to interpret diverse symptoms as evidence of the label. Francesca has problems with causality and is likely to do so for the foreseeable future since there is no established medical cause for RA. Timeline (beliefs about duration and time for recovery), namely is it acute or chronic? These beliefs will be re-evaluated as time progresses. Consequences (e.g. loss of lifestyle, goals in life). These representations may only develop into more realistic beliefs over time. Francesca uses the narrative to discuss the change in her life from active dancer to unappealing spouse within the space of six months. Beliefs about controllability. (Furnham, 1989; Landrine and Klonoff 1992, 1994) These categories are pivotal to understanding how people make sense of, and decisions about managing a changeable chronic disease such as RA. Evidence of Francesca attempting to make sense of her symptoms by embarking upon a cognitive search may be seen in the example below: I couldnt understand it Im the healthiest person I know. Ive never had problems with my health never had a day off sick in my life. I never go to the doctor, no matter what, Ive always been fit as a flea. From the narrative provided we also have limited information concerning Francescas partners views, for example (although not from Dave himself) Dave wore me down, telling me Ive got to see a doctor This may be interpreted in various ways, not least that Dave was keen for Francesca to obtain a diagnosis and thereby a label to legitimise the illness, whether such labelling is disabling or enabling is not fully resolved in literature (Huibers Wessley 2006). Francescas comment does however open up the interesting issue of how partners cope with chronic disease, in RA in particular there is evidence that a strong marital relationship correlates with the couples psychological adjustment to the illness (Mann Zautra 1990). These authors go on to claim that in RA, partners are most affected by their perceived vulnerability to disease and coping ability, whereas the wives who have RA were more affected by pain itself and how they will cope with the effects of the disease- reflected in Francescas comments below; I started having excruciating pains in my feet when I woke in the morning To further corroborate the findings of Manne Zautra (1990) concerning male worries about coping at a more abstract level see the example below: Dave has been great but he has his own worries hes just been laid off from his job and hes worrying about paying for the wedding Mann Dieppe (2006) have also more recently acknowledged coping differences between males and females in RA, (n = eight women with RA ages 31-60 years and their partners, and 4 men with RA ages 43-75 years) although methodologically their sampling may be flawed in that those couples currently experiencing severe martial problems are unlikely to submit to the type of phenomenological interviews that they undertook. The social construction of medical knowledge and politics of disability It is not possible in an essay of this length to provide a full account of the politics of disability, primarily since the topic is multi-factorial, fluid and indeed is covered to an extent in the other sub sections of this work, furthermore we have insufficient data from the narrative to comment in depth. Kitchen and Wilton (2003) comment that our views of disability as a medical entity viewed in paternalistic terms have changed in favour or equality and empowerment. However Francesca can expect to experience a host of politically related issues, for example social exclusion and poverty (Foley Chowdhury 2007). Francesca has already stated in her narrative; Ive got to work- we need the money. In terms of medicines social construction, as far back as 1982, Wright Treacher (1982) claimed that medical knowledge inevitably contains a social component incorporating moral values and prejudices, and that diagnosis ascribes a certain meaning. We still see this thirty years later where the GP abruptly (allegedly) advocates of drugs to preserve normal function. This reinforces the paternalistic medical approach. RA in its early stages does not present with any obvious physical deformity and affects the young demographic, it is conceivable that she may experience disbelief from her peers; this may in turn make her life difficult in an era of financial unease, Government budgetary cuts and political uncertainty. Labelling. Labelling theory (social reaction theory) has its roots in the work of sociologist Howard Becker (Becker 1997). It centres on peoples tendency to negatively label those who are different from ourselves. As a person with chronic arthritis Francesca will not be immune to this labelling, for example being labelled as disabled or arthritic are all real possibilities. Arthritis organisations and acts such as the Disability Discrimination Act ( DDA) are at great pains to encourage activity and maintenance of full function and contribution to society, however all this may be negated by her GPs comments that there is; no cure and I had to take tablets everyday to be able to function normally. Labels can however be positive, Francesca describing herself as glamorous for example on two occasions in the narrative, and her previous label of salsa dance teacher is something that defines her in a positive way. Yes, Im a salsa dance teacher Stigma Stigma has recently been defined by Scambler (2009) as a social process, experienced or anticipated by exclusion, rejection, blame or devaluation that results from experience, perception or reasonable anticipation of an adverse social judgement about a person or group(p441) Francesca may feel stigmatised by all of the factors previously discussed, attitude of her GP, loss of self, worry about the future, inability to act out the role of spouse. Factors such as depression, the lack of a cause for her RA and her inability to teach salsa dancing may amplify her feelings of being stigmatised, it is also important form the wider perspective to acknowledge that stigma may affect Francescas partner. Struening et al (2001) for example reported that 43-92% of caregivers (to people with mental health problems) reported feeling stigmatised, again this suggests that living with this disease does not only affect Francesca but also her partner. Conclusion This essay has employed extracts from the narrative of a 38 year old lady with Rheumatoid arthritis, to illustrate some key sociological concepts. The essay has provided a valuable opportunity to map some key concepts from the literature onto a narrative excerpt. Whilst the essay has not been able to enter the field in great depth; It is a testament to the thick description provided by patient narratives that such a wealth of information can be generated form a relatively short piece of description. References Balen,R., Rhodes, C., Ward,L., (2009) The Power of Stories: Using Narrative for Interdisciplinary Learning in Health and Social CareSocial Work Education: The International Journal, pp1470-1227. Becker, H., (1997) Outsiders. New York, NY. Free Press. Covic, T., Adamson,B., Spencer,D., Howe,G., (2003) A biopsychosocial model of pain and depression in rheumatoid arthritis: a 12-month longitudinal study Rheumatology, Vol 42 1287-1294. Doba, K., Nandrino, J.L., Lesne, L., Humez, L., C.(2008) Organization of the narrative components in autobiographical speech of anorexic adolescents: A statistical and non-linear dynamical analysis New Ideas in Psycholog,y Vol 26 (2) pp 295-308. Foley,D .,Chowdhury, J., (2007) Poverty, Social Exclusion and the Politics of Disability: Care as a Social Good and the Expenditure of Social Capital in Chuadanga, Bangladesh Social Policy Administration, Vol 41 (4)pp372-385. Furman, R. ,Cavers, A., (2005) Narrative poem as a source of qualitative data The Arts in Psychotherapy Vol 32 (4) pp313-317. Furnham, A., (1989). Overcoming psychosomatic illness: lay attributions of cure for five possible psychosomatic illnesses. Social Science and Medicine, Vol 29 pp61-67. Goodacre,J., (2008) Common chronic inflammatory arthropathies. in Porter,S (eds) Tidys Physiotherapy 14th edition. Churchill Livinsgtone Elsevier. Grills, S..(1998). Doing ethnographic research; fieldwork settings Thousand Oaks. Sage Publishers. Hahn, H., (1985)Toward a Politics of Disability: Definitions, Disciplines, and Policies Social Science Journal, 1985 Vol. 22(4) pp87-105. Haidet, P., Kroll,T.L., Sharf, B.F., (2006) The complexity of patient participation: Lessons learned from patients illness narratives Patient Education and Counselling, Vol 62 (3) pp323-329. Huibers,M.J.H., Wessely ,S., (2006) The act of diagnosis: pros and cons of labelling chronic fatigue syndrome Psychological Medicine, Vol 36, pp895-900. Cambridge University Press. Kitchin, R. ,Wilton, R., (2003) Disability Activism and the Politics of Scale. The Canadian Geographer, Vol 47, 2003. Kojima ,M., Kojima, T., Ishiguro, N., Oguchi, T., Oba, M., Tsuchiya, H., Sugiura, F., Furukawa, T.A., Suzuki, S., (2009) Psychosocial factors, disease status, and quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. S.J Psychosom Res , Vol 67(5) pp425-31. Epub 2009 Mar 5. Lee, W.S. Kim, T.Y.,(2009) Measuring of ESR with test 1 is more useful than the Westergren method in rheumatoid arthritis. Am J Clin Pathol, 2009 Nov;Vol 132(5) pp805. Leventhal, H., Nerenz, D.R., Steele, D.J., (1984). Illness representations and coping with health threats. In: Baum A, Singer J, eds. Handbook of Psychology and Health, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. pp219-252. Morea, J.M., Friend, R., Bennett, R.M., (2008) Conceptualizing and measuring illness self-concept: A comparison with self-esteem and optimism in predicting fibromyalgia adjustment Research in Nursing Health, Vol 31 (6),pp563-575 Published Online: 21Jul2008. Mann,C., Dieppe, P.,(2006) Different patterns of illness-related interaction in couples coping with rheumatoid arthritis Arthritis Care Research, Vol 55, (2), pp 279-286. Mann, S. L., Zautra, A. J., (1990). Couples coping with chronic illness: Women with rheumatoid arthritis and their healthy husbands. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, Vol 13 pp327-342. Parker, G., (2007) Is depression overdiagnosed? Yes. BMJ. Vol 335 (7615), p328. Poindexter, C.C.,(2002) Meaning from methods; Re-presenting Narratives of an HIV affected caregiver Qualitative Social Work, Vol 1 pp 59. Roe,D., Davidson, J., (2005) Self and narrative in schizophrenia: time to author a new story Med Humanities,Vol 31 pp89-94. Scambler, G., (2009) Health-related stigma. Sociology of Health Illness, Vol 31 Issue 3 pp 441-455 Published Online: 1 Apr 2009. Smith, R., (2002) The biopsychosocial revolution. J Gen Intern Med, Vol 17(4) pp309-311. Stanton, A.L., Revenson, T.A., ÂÂ ­Tennen, H., (2007). Health Psychology: Psychological Adjustment to Chronic Disease. Annual Review of Psychology, Vol 58 pp565-592. Strauss, A.L., Corbin, J.M., Fagerhaugh, B.G., (1984). Chronic illness and the quality of life, 2 Ed. St. Louis: Mosby. Strauss, A., Corbin, J.M., (1998) Basics of Qualitative Research: Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded theory. Thousand Oaks, Sage Publishers. Struening, E.L., Perlick, D.A., Link, B.G., Hellman,F., Herman, D., Sirey, J.,(2001) Stigma as a Barrier to Recovery: The Extent to Which Caregivers Believe Most People Devalue Consumers and Their Families Psychiatr Serv,Vol 52 pp1633-1638, December 2001. Vollmer, F., (2005) The Narrative Self. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, Vol 35,(2), pp189-205(17) Blackwell Publishing. Waite L,J., Gallagher, M.,(2001).The case for marriage: why married people are happier, healthier, and better off financially. New York, NY: Broadway Books. Wehowsky, A., (2000) Diagnosis as care diagnosis as politics International Journal of Psychotherapy, Vol 5, (3), pages pp241 255. Wright, P., Treacher, A. eds., (1982) The Problem of Medical Knowledge: Examining the Social Construction of Medicine (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Appendix Reflective postscript This is written in the first person since it is a reflective piece of writing This was a challenging yet fascinating project to complete. I was unsure how to approach the topic and how much weight to attach to the various theories available and the comments of Francesca , once it became clear that I was actually trying to explain what was going on with Francesca by using academic theory to illustrate her comments the task became rather enjoyable. Tight word count restrictions as always meant that I had to do some brutal editing, but the positive side to this is that it makes one more selective in ones writing. For example my earliest version was heavy on sociological theory and light on mapping this theory to the comments of Francesca, whereas the final version makes more explicit links between what Francesca says and the theory behind why she says it. The fact that I had some real comments to sink my academic teeth into made the process of literature searching interesting and relevant since I was able to think about Francescas comments and her personal situation for each search that I undertook. The areas that gave me most difficulty were the political aspects of disability since they seemed so wide ranging and actually intertwined with everything that I was writing about. All in all I have learned a great deal about the usefulness of narrative form this project.

Are Grades Distributed Fairly English Language Essay

Are Grades Distributed Fairly English Language Essay Elliott Miles, a retired educator and university president, discusses a disturbing trend on college campuses: grade inflation. Before you read, think of these questions: In the American education system, what does a grade of A mean? A grade of B, C, D? What about a grade of F? In your university courses, what grades do most students receive? Do you think the grades are distributed fairly (1) Most American universities today still use the traditional grading system of A-B-C-D-F, with A meaning excellent, B good, C satisfactory or average, D unsatisfactory but passing, and F of course failing. While some feel that this system has shortcomings (too inexact, too artificial, too subjective), it does represent the possible range of a students work, and most students and faculty members are comfortable or at least familiar with it. So far so good. However, American universities since the mid 1960s have increasingly been affected by the problem of grade inflation. This refers to the tendency of many faculty members to over-evaluate the quality of a students work and consequently to assign her/him a grade higher than the work deserves. The reason this practice is called inflation, a term borrowed from economics, is that it resembles paying too high a price for a given item, for example twenty dollars for a loaf of bread. The problem is common among American universities, in cluding even our most prestigious institutions, such as Harvard. As Craig Lambert reports in his article Desperately Seeking Summa, the grade of A there accounted for about twenty-two percent of all grades in 1966-67, whereas by 1991-92 it had come to account for forty-three percent almost double. (2) The trend toward inflated grades began in the mid-1960s probably because that was a time of great unrest on college campuses in the United States. There were widespread student protests against the Vietnam War and civil authority in general, frequently with the support and participation of the faculty. Under these circumstances, grading standards began to shift for the worse. Faculty members became more and more unwilling to give students a D, let alone an F; the grade of C came to denote a minimal pass, B to represent satisfactory, and A to mean better than a B. Today, students and faculty alike have this new, watered-down system in their heads, although their universitys official grading policy may be unchanged from previous times. (3) Why is this a problem? After all, a student is unlikely to feel put upon if his/her work is over-valued. However, when a faculty member records that a student has done excellent work, when in fact the work might only be pretty good or merely fair, that faculty member has committed two faults. First, he/she has told a lie about the students work, misrepresenting the students achievements. How would we react if the misrepresentation went the other way if the student had done excellent work, but the faculty member assigned a grade of B or even C? This would strike us all as dreadful, yet faculty members who assign falsely high grades are showing equally faulty judgment. Inaccurate grading is inaccurate grading, no matter which direction it takes. (4) The second fault is that the faculty member has broken faith with all those who will be harmed by the dishonesty. Most obvious among these are the students who really did do excellent or good work. It is grossly unfair to students who earned real As or Bs if their accomplishments are devalued by the lax standards applied to others. To illustrate with an example from the workplace: would it be fair for two employees to receive the same raise when one had done excellent work and the other only mediocre? (5) Grade inflation also harms anyone who must evaluate a students record, such as admissions officers at other universities and at professional schools. For instance, medical and law schools never have enough spaces for all applicants and hence must choose only the best qualified. When admissions officers evaluate the transcript of a student who received inflated grades as an under graduate, they get a false idea of that students past performance as well as his/her potential for future success in a rigorous professional curriculum. For a similar reason, potential employers are harmed when they are presented with an inflated academic transcript; faced with seemingly equal candidates, they may give a desirable position to a less deserving applicant because they had a false understanding of that persons actual abilities. (6) And finally, our society at large is harmed because grade inflation undermines the integrity of the universities, which is one of our greatest assets. If university faculty members cannot be trusted to give an honest evaluation of each students academic work, public disappointment will inevitably set in and rightly so. The solution to the problem, though difficult, is simple: each faculty member should make a conscious decision to assign grades based on the actual quality of a students work, realizing that not every student will be able to earn the highest, or even the second highest, grade. One of my former students made the point very concisely in an essay that she wrote on grade inflation: Lets put the excellence back in the A. Author of article Elliott Miles Title of article Lets Put the Excellence Back in the A Title of the book Refining Composition Skills: Rhetoric and Grammar Author of book Reginal L. Smally, Mark K. Reutten and Joann R. Kozyrev Publisher Heinle Heinle Date 2001 Place Australia Choose one or more of the following questions to inspire your reader response paragraph. 1. How do the impressions of the audience change (or do they) after the second reading? Does the audience think any differently? Is the topic one that would make readers want to learn more? Why or why not? What is it that a reader would want to research for additional information? 2. Sometimes articles touch their audience, reminding them of their own life, as part of the larger human experience. Are there connections between the article and the audiences own life? Or, does the article remind its audience of an event (or events) that happened to someone they know? Does the article have a connection to a previous book or article? 3. If you were the author, would you have changed anything in the article and ideas? Do you have a negative connotation associated with the idea? What would you chance? 4. Does the article leave the audience with questions they would like to ask? What are they? Would the audience like to direct their questions at a particular character or an idea? What questions would the audience like to ask the author of the article? Are they questions that the audience may be able to answer by reading more about the authors life and/or works? What are the questions and how would they be answered? 5. Is there an idea in the book that makes the audience stop and think, or prompts questions? Identify the idea and explain the responses. 6. Has the article changed the reader in any way? The way you look at this theme or behave if you were to talk about this theme? What did you learn that you never knew before? 7. Capture what it is about the book that stands out (or doesnt stand out).

Starbucks Corporation :: essays research papers

Starbucks Corporation CASE ANALYSIS FOR STARBUCKS CORPORATION I. Case Profile/ Company History Three Seattle entrepreneurs started the Starbucks Corporation in 1971. Their prime product was the selling of whole bean coffee in one Seattle store. By 1982, this business had grown tremendously into five stores selling the coffee beans, a roasting facility, and a wholesale business for local restaurants. Howard Schultz, a marketer, was recruited to be the manager of retail and marketing. He brought new ideas to the owners, but was turned down. Schultz in turn opened his own coffee bar in 1986 based on Italian coffee cafes, selling brewed Starbucks coffee. By 1987, Schultz had expanded to three coffee bars and bought Starbucks from the original owners for $4 million. He changed the name of his coffee bars from Il Giornale to Starbucks. His intention for the company was to grow slowly with a very solid foundation. He wanted to create a top-notch management by wooing top executives from other well-known corporations. For the first two years, Starbucks losses doubled as overhead and op erating expenses increased with Starbucks’ expansion. Schultz stood his ground and did not sacrifice long term integrity and values for short-term profit. By 1991, Starbucks’ sales increased by 84% and the company was out of debt. Starbucks grew to 26 stores by 1988. By 1996 it grew to 870 stores with plans to open 2000 stores by the year 2000. II. Situational Analysis Strategic Analysis Business Level-Strategy: The business strategy of Starbucks’ is identical to the corporate level strategy since the company is a single business company, focusing on only coffee-related products and retail stores. Corporate Level-Strategy: Starbucks corporate strategy has been to establish itself as the premier purveyor of the finest coffee in the world, while maintaining their uncompromised principles as the grow. The firm principles of the company are seen with its maintenance of a great and proven work environment for every staff member in its retail stores. It upholds diversity and promises the highest standards for its products. The company satisfies customers and gives back to the community and the environment. Also, Starbucks persists to be profitable and it is. They live by a strict, slow growth policy completely dominating a market before setting its sights further abroad. This strategy has gained them the advantage of being one of the fastest growing companies in the country. Structure and Control Systems: Starbucks believes that their employees are one of their important assets in that their only sustainable advantage is the quality of their workforce.

JFK: The Death of a Conspiracy Essay -- History

JFK: The Death of a Conspiracy There is a plethora of conspiracy theories regarding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. They range from the incumbent of the former Soviet Union to organized crime. Pro-conspiracy groups are in agreement with one theory; the United States government covered up the truth of the assassination. The premise of a government conspiracy to cover up of the assassination is laden with insufficient evidence and unproved theories. The truth of the matter is President Kennedy was assassinated by the lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. On November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m., President Kennedy was shot as his motorcade drove through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas. He was rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital and arrived at 12:35 p.m.. The awaiting medical team rushed the President into one of the trauma rooms. According to Artwohl, â€Å"the doctors were not aware of the massive head damage because the huge flap of frontal scalp that was loosened from the head was held in place by the clotting of the blood on the scalp. This concealed the degree of the wound. They were desperate to save the life of the President and examined him quickly without taking the time...to wash off the blood and debris† (1542). The doctors removed the President’s clothing to check the body for other wounds. While Dr. Perry began the tracheostomy, Dr. Jenkins recalled, that Mrs. Kennedy was circling the room with something â€Å"cupped† in her hands. As Mrs. Kennedy passed by, she nudged Jenkins with her elbow and handed him â€Å"a large chunk o!f her husband's brain.† Dr. Jenkins took the brain matter and handed it to a nurse (Breo 2806). The Parkland Hospital staff worked for twenty-five minutes on the President to no avail. Dr. Clark, who arrived in the trauma room at 12:50 p.m., pronounced the President dead at 1:00 p.m. (2804,6). The President’s body was then wrapped in sheets, placed in a casket, loaded onto a waiting hearse, and transported to the airport. The body was then placed on board Air Force One, the presidential plane, where Mrs. Kennedy and the newly sworn in President, Lyndon Baines Johnson, departed for Washington D.C. While the body of the President was on its way to Washington, Bethesda Naval Hospital made preparations to receive it. The three doctors chosen to do the autopsy were Commander James Humes, M.D., director of labs at the Naval ... ... condition. â€Å"...it was flattened towards its base† (1552). It is not unusual for this type of bullet to incur little or no damage when entering a body. One reason is, this high velocity, heavy-metal-jacket bullet loses very little velocity and does not, usually, tumble or deform when passing through a body (Artwohl 1542). Conspiracy theorists believe that the burning of Dr. Humes autopsy notes constitutes a cover-up by the government. This is not true. The reason he burned the notes was two-fold. One reason was he had stained the notes with the blood of the President, and two, the notes were to be submitted as part of the autopsy report. To have had blood on the notes, would have not been acceptable. Dr. Humes makes the point that he burned his notes only after he transcribed them â€Å"verbatim† to another autopsy form (Breo 2799). Many conspiracy theorists are unanimous in believing that the assassination was a cover-up concocted by the military, the Central Intelligence Agency (C.I.A.), the F.B.I., the Secret Service, and other government agencies to disguise medical evidence that the President was â€Å"publicly executed† in Dealey Plaza by more than one gunman (Artwohl 1540).

Dying to Babysit :: Creative Writing Essays

Dying to Babysit      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It all began one day when I was over my friend Susan's house.   Her parents had just left for vacation to Texas, leaving her home by herself.   I was allowed to stay that weekend while her parents were away.   Susan and I were sitting down eating when she got a call from the house where a new family just moved into.   The Smith's had asked her to babysit for them.   They said it was all right if I came too.   They wanted us to come over about six that evening.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When we got over there Mrs. Smith introduced her two year old daughter named Julie to us.   Mr. and Mrs. Smith didn't leave right away because they wanted Julie to get to know us better.   Mrs. Smith told Susan and I that Julie could stay up until 8:00 P.M.. She also told us she had been having problems with her telephone.   There must have been something wrong with the connection because when it rang there would be no one on the other end.   Someone was coming tomorrow to take a look at it.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Mr. and Mrs. Smith informed us that they would be a little late coming home because it was their anniversary and they had a long night planned.   We told them to have a nice time and they both grabbed their coats and left.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Julie started crying just as they closed the door. We gave her a bottle and put her down to watch some TV.   Then the phone rang and Susan and I looked at each other, seeing who was going to answer it.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I answered the phone but no one was there.   I said hello again, but still no answer. All I could hear was someone breathing heavily.   It was loud, gasping, and very frightening.   I said hello again and   heard a faint, masculine voice.   As I began to tremble, the voice   whispered, "I'm coming."      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All of a sudden the lights went out.   Susan, Julie and I let out a loud shriek.   I ran over to Susan and Julie and hid my head.   Susan started laughing and told me it was probably because of the storm outside.   We both looked out the window when a bolt of lighting struck across the sky.   Julie began to cry and we comforted her and told her it would be all right.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Susan was going to go down into the basement to find the fuse box so she could turn the lights back on.   It was time for Julie to go to bed so I grabbed

Female Genital Mutilation in the Middle East and North Africa Essay

Values and beliefs of a certain society can be illumined through the traditional cultural practices that often span from one generation to another. Globally, every social group has its own traditional cultural practices that are considered to be beneficial for the community. However, there are many instances that such practices may be harmful for some groups, most especially for women. Terrible traditional cultural practices are committed directly against females around the world. Despite the atrocities of such practices and its violation against human rights, many women-violent practices still exist and are prevalent in other countries. One of the most prevalent forms of harmful traditional practices is the Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) (Office of the High Commisioner of Human Rights-United Nations Organization [OHCR-UNOG]). The pervasiveness of FGM is attributed to people’s inability to question the morality of such action that should be addressed to those who practice female genital mutilation. As such, despite of the interventions of many international communities, in order to achieve gender equality, women are still violated and continue to be denied of various human rights. Hence, it can be perceived that many traditional cultural practices, including female genital mutilation is carried out for the benefit of the male populace (OHCR-UNOG). Historical Background of Female Genital Mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as ‘female circumcision’ or ‘female genital cutting’, involves procedures that are centered in the partial or overall removal of the female’s external genitalia, or the infliction of injury to the genital organs of female for non-medical reasons. More often than not, the practice is performed by traditional circumcisers who are believed to play a significant role in the community where they belong. However, records have indicated that FGM is also carried out by medically trained professionals (World Health Organization [WHO]). FGM is considered to be an age-old practice existent in various communities globally because it is known to be a custom (OHCR-UNOG). However, FGM’s origin has not been well established. Certain theories indicate that female genital mutilation predates male mutilation (Davis 158 qtd. in Lightfoot-Klein). In one study, it was shown that FGM occurred in areas that are considered to be restricted to the rest of the world which includes Islamic, Semitic and Christian nations. It was contemplated that â€Å"the more ancient a custom or belief, the more universally it is found† (Lightfoot-Kline). All throughout history, reports regarding female circumcision has been existent. The very first historical reference of FGM can be traced from the literature of Herotodus, who wrote that FGM already existed during 5th century BC in Ancient Egypt. He even pointed out that the practice had its beginnings in Egypt or Ethiopia because FGM has been performed by Ethiopians, Phoenicians, and Hitties (Taba qtd. in Lightfoot-Kline). One Greek papyrus dated 163 BC found in the British museum indicated that circumcisions were performed on girls by the time they received dowries. Different authors claimed that FGM was practiced by early Romans and Arabs (Kline). Methods employed in order to repress women’s sexuality has been well recorded in history. In ancient Rome, women slaves are required to wear metal rings which were passed through the labia minora in order to prevent procreation. During the absence of their husbands, women from medieval England wore chastity belts to avoid promiscuity. Tsarist Russia, as well as France, America, and France during the 19th century already practice clitoridectomy; while evidences from mummified bodies of ancient Egypt indicate that excision and infibulation has been performed, thereby giving rise to the existence of pharaonic circumcision (OHCR-UNOG). Types of Female Genital Mutilation Various types of female genital mutilation are performed depending on the cultural history and traditions of a certain community. Basically there are three common types of FGM: (1) Type one or Sunna circumcision. â€Å"Sunna† is an Arabic term which means tradition in English. This form of FGM is done by removing the prepuce or the clitoris’ tip. (2) Type two also called as clitoridectomy or excision is widely practiced in Egypt. This procedure involves the removal of the whole clitoris including the prepuce, glans and the adjacent labia. (3) Type three which is commonly referred to as infibulation or pharaonic circumcision is the procedure commonly applied in Sudan and Somalia. Considered as the most dramatic type of FGM, infibulation, which literally means â€Å"to fasten with a clip or buckle,† involves not only the removal of the clitoris and the nearby labia, but also include the sewing of remaining parts of vulva with the use of a catgut or thread. Such form of mutilation leaves only a tiny hole in the female genital that serves as a passage for the urine and menstrual blood. Women who are infibulated are cut open during their wedding night in order to perform sexual intercourse. However, right after the act, they are sewn again in order to avoid infidelity. More often than not, the groom is responsible for opening the bride’s sewn genitalia with the use of a double-edged dagger. There are some instances that women are cut open and are sewn back together during the time of their separation with their husbands. (4) The remaining type of FGM which is categorized as type four mutilation includes procedures that inflict damage to the female genitalia. Such form of mutilation may range from piercing, pricking, and stretching of labia or clitoris; burning of the clitoris and other tissues of the genitalia through cauterization; scraping of vaginal orifice; vaginal cutting; placing corrosive substances to cause vaginal bleeding, and the introduction of herbal substances to narrow or tighten the vagina (Rosenthal). The most common type of FGM is the clitoral and labia minora excision which constitutes about 80% of all FGM case. However, infibulation is considered as the most extreme form which accounts to 15% of all the mutilation procedures (Steiner, Alston, and Goodman,). The Cultural and Religious Tie: Middle East and African Areas Located Above the Equator The principle of female genital mutilation is prevalent in the societies of African territory. The extent of such phenomena can be seen in 25 countries of Africa. Infibulation is widely performed in areas including Djibouti, Mali, Somalia, selected parts of Ethiopia, Egypt and the northern region of Sudan. Meanwhile, excision and circumcision are evident in Benin, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Gambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Chad, Guinea, Guinnea-Bissau, Kenya, Mauritania, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Uganda, Togo and other areas in the United Republic of Tanzania (OHCR-UNOG). Currently, WHO estimated that annually about three million African girls are at risk for female genital mutilation and about 92 million of the female populace, age 10 years and above have already undergone mutilation. The prevalence of FGM in the said areas is associated primarily with myths and the ignorance of people towards biological, medical, and religious perspectives. As noted by Hanny Lighfoot-Klein: â€Å"The clitoris is perceived as repulsive, filthy, foul smelling, dangerous to the life of the emerging new born, and hazardous to the health and potency of the husband† (Lightfoot-Klein, n. p. ). Majority of African countries adhere to such beliefs that it has been well embraced and became a value, causing FGM to become a customary practice over time. In Sudan, the clitoris is believe to grow to the length of the neck of a goose; long enough to dangle between the legs which could rival the male penis if left uncut. Such concept influences the perception of males, thereby reinforcing them not to marry a woman who is uncircumcised or â€Å"unclean† (Lightfoot-Klein). Among the Bambara’s in Mali, it is widely viewed that once the clitoris touches the head of a child being born, automatically the child will die. As the clitoris is considered to be the male characteristic of females, its removal is seen as an action that would result in the enhancement of femininity. In Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Somalia, females are imposed to undergo mutilation in order to control their sexuality and ensure their virginity until marriage and their chastity right after (OHCR-UNOG). Because childbearing and marriage are the only options for most of African women, majority of them are forced to submit themselves to the practice genital mutilation which they also have to pass on to their daughters (Lightfoot-Klein). The institutionalization of patriarchal system within the society also plays a significant role in the perpetration of FGM. In ancient Mesopotamia, the code of Hammurabi embarked the presence of some features of patriarchy in public veiling and sexual repression of women. It was stated in the code that fathers were entitled to treat his daughter’s virginity as a ‘family property asset. Due to this system, women were categorized as â€Å"respectable,† meaning they were chaste and conforming, and â€Å"disreputable,† which translates to low class or slaves. As a result, women who bowed to the system benefited from it by securing their own safety as well as that of their children. However, they became the steadfast advocates of the system, thereby imposing it to their daughters. Present-day Africans follow the same patriarchal outlook. Female circumcision is then performed to the daughters of the women, who, during the time they were young, experienced mutilation. Although perceived by many as a violation against human rights, the practice is defended by the women themselves because they consider it as an essential part of their tradition that ensures the social standing of their family in the community they belong (Lighfoot-Klein). The existence of patriarchal society is attributed to economic reasons. Historically, fathers are known to be keen in identifying their â€Å"real† children, in order to know who is going to handle his property. Hence, it could be perceived that the establishment of systems including moral and religious values, as well as legal aspects became an imperative in order to protect the economic interests that uphold the society. In this regard, it is hard to abandon a custom that benefits the economic interest not only of the family but the whole society as well. The existence of such system guarantees profit for many, thereby catapulting â€Å"dayas† and medical practitioners to resist changes in the practice of female genital mutilation. Likewise, the family woman can gain considerable bride price if she is mutilated by the time of the marriage. Moreover, women continuously submit themselves to FGM for the fear that their husbands will divorce them for a second wife. This perspective serves as a threat for the women in the society who have no economic recourse and access to own properties and relies only on the â€Å"bride price gold that she wears on her body. † As such, it can be concluded that female genital mutilation is the result of the economic interest permeating within the society (Lightfoot-Klein). While many experts hold that female genital mutilation is an African custom, there are few reports regarding the existence of FGM in the Middle Eastern territory. This is understandable because it is difficult to study sexual relations in societies of Middle East. Almost everything regarding sexuality and personal matters are kept in private sphere. Likewise, books and research pertaining to Middle Eastern sexual habits are almost non-existent or at the most, heavily guarded by the comprehensive rules based from the Islamic law. However, recent finding from northern Iraq suggests that FGM is also practiced widely in societies outside of Africa. The case study of Iraqi Kurdistan served as an instructive case. In 2003, a German-Austrian NGO called WADI took the initiative to take medical and social support to the women in Kurdish areas. More than a year later, women who received support spoke about the practice of FGM. It was found out that Kurds used the sunna circumcision and were performed by midwives. Subsequent studies found out that of 1,544 women, 907 had undergone FGM, which further suggests that 60% of the population view mutilation as a normal practice. The discovery in Iraqi Kurdistan debunks the assumption that FGM is solely an African practice. As Fran Hosken quoted: â€Å"There is little doubt that similar practices—excision, child marriage, and putting rock salt into the vagina of women after childbirth—exist in other parts of the Arabian Peninsula and around the Persian Gulf (Hosken 278 qtd in Osten Sacken, and Uwer). The absence of medical records tackling FGM in the whole region does not necessarily mean that the Middle Eastern territories are free from female circumcision. Such issue is left undetected due to the lack of freedom to permit formal studies regarding the subject. Taboo also plays a significant role in the undercutting of researches in Arab nations. Many scholars and NGO in Arab countries prohibits the criticism predominant culture of Arabs and Muslims. Because of these findings many questions were raised by the critics of FGM, one of which is whether the said phenomena is a religious issue in the Middle East (Osten-Sacken and Uwer). Many Muslims and academics from the West claim that FGM is not based from religion rather it is a practice shaped by culture (Simonet qtd in Osten-Sacken and Uwer). However, in a village level, the people who are committed to the practice perceive the action as mandate by the religion. Although the law of Islam does not have any justifications regarding FGM, many Islamic clerics in the Northern part of Iraq advise women to undergo mutilation. If the women wish to abandon such practice, she must suffer the consequence of appearing disreputable in the eyes of the public (Mackie qtd ini Osten-Sacken and Uwer). Some Islamic scholars may disagree with FGM but others refer to the mention of FGM in the Hadith as a defense for the persistence of such practice in Middle East. The claim was further sufficed by the Islamic law specialist Sami Aldeeb Abu Salieh when he stated: The most often mentioned narration reports a debate between Muhammed and Um Habibah (or Um ‘Atiyyah). This woman, known as an exciser of female slaves, was one of a group of women who had immigrated with Muhammed. Having seen her, Muhammad asked her if she kept practicing her profession. She answered affirmatively, adding: â€Å"unless it is forbidden, and you order me to stop doing it. † Muhammed replied: â€Å"Yes, it is allowed. Come closer so I can teach you: if you cut, do not overdo it, because it brings more radiance to the face, and it is more pleasant for the husband. (Aldeeb Abu Sahlieh 575-622 qtd in Osten- Sacken and Uwen). Aldeeb Abu Sahlieh’s claim is further reinforced by other Islam scholars by stating that Islam condones sunna circumcision but not the pharaonic circumcision (Omer qtd in Osten-Sacken and Uwen), and that since the prophet Muhammad does not condemn the act, thereby making it permissible and cannot be outlawed (Aldeeb Abu Sahlieh qtd in Osten-Sacken). Ultimately, the practice of female genital mutilation in the Middle East may have its roots in the cultural scope of the region. However, its religious ties cannot be disregarded. Effects of Female Genital Mutilation The implications of FGM can be short-term and long term. The immediate consequences of the practice are hemorrhage, acute pain and infection. The infections are commonly acquired from the usage of unsterilized instruments performed in unhygienic areas and introduction of substances. The infections may range from tetanus, general septicamea, chronic pelvic infections, and recurrent urinary tract infections. Recently the transfer of HIV has also been a concern for the FGM researchers (OHCR-UNOG). Obstetric complications are also common among mutilated women. Pregnant mutilated woman put the life of her child in danger because the fetus is at risk of acquiring infectious disease. Likewise, the head of the child may be crushed during the delivery due to damaged birth canal. Furthermore, infibulated women are needed to be opened during child birth and are commonly reinfibulated after every delivery resulting to the scarring of the genitals. Cyst commonly referred to as epidermal clitoral inclusion cyst may also develop among women who undergo type 3 FGM (Rosenthal). Female Genital Mutilation has also psychological implications. These include sexual phobias, depression, and lack of libido which result in the premature ejaculation among women’s partners, personality disorders like rebellion which may eventually lead to psychiatric disorders (Rosenthal). Some evidences indicate that children who undergo FGM experience recurring nightmares (OHCR-UNOG). The socio-economic problems associated with FGM include higher divorce rate and drug abuse which are commonly associated with the males. It was found out that a male with mutilated wife has the tendency of using narcotics to give sexual pleasure to his wives (Rosenthal). Response to Female Genital Mutilation In 1997, World Health Organization (WHO) together with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) issued statements against the continuous practice of female genital mutilation. By 2008, a new statement was issued supporting the increased advocacy of totally condemning FGM which was backed heavily backed by more countries of the United Nation. The 2008 statement include data concerning the past and present practice of FGM. The statement also gave emphasis on the increased recognition of human rights and provided evidences regarding the extent of the issue. The damaging effects of FGM were also presented in order to affect changes in the public policy. From 1997, various government and non-government organizations both in the international and local levels ratified laws abandoning FGM (WHO). Conclusion Based on the study, it is apparent that female genital mutilation predominantly place women in a disadvantaged position. Immense cultural pressure is considered to be the root cause of FGM. However, based from several findings, religion also serves as an encouragement for the existence of such practice. The impact of FGM does not only affect women but also the society where it is widely recognized as a custom. Although, international interventions reduced the prevalence of FGM in African regions during the past years, its practice may not be totally eliminated if practicing communities will not abandon the act itself. Hence, organizations as well as government agencies should further promote awareness regarding the issue of FGM. Works Cited Lighfoot-Klein, Hanny. â€Å"Prisoners of ritual: Some contemporary developments in the history of female genital mutilation. † The Female Genital Mutilation Cutting Education And Networking Project. 30 April-03 May 1991. 10 December 2008 . Office of the High Commisioner of Human Rights-United Nations Organization. â€Å"Fact sheet no. 23, harmful traditional practices affecting the health of women and children. † Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 2008. 10 December 2008 . Osten-Sacken, Thomas and Uwer, Thomas. â€Å"Is female genital mutilation an Islamic problem? † The Middle East Quarterly. 2007. 10 December 2008 < http://www. meforum. org/article/1629#_ftn38>. Rosenthal, Sara. The Gynecological Sourcebook. Chicago, IL: McGraw-Hill Professional, 2003. Steiner, Henry, Alston, Philip and Goodman, Ryan. International Human Rights in Context: Law, Politics, Morals: Test And Materials. New York: Oxford University Press US, 2008 World Health Organization. â€Å"Female genital mutilation. † May 2008. 10 December 2008 .