English lit, fiction short story Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English lit, fiction short story - Assignment Example That is why short stories are appealing to the audience and people appreciate reading it. The text under consideration is â€Å"A Sound of Thunder†, written by Ray Bradbury. Story depicts a strange adventure of wealthy businessmen who intend to accomplish a time travel to the past for hunting dinosaurs. The theme of the story states the idea that everything is interconnected in this world, and even the smallest changes in the past may lead to unpredictable implications in the future. The author succeeds in elucidating the central message curiously and figuratively. The plot of the story reveals events chronologically, as the heroes’ adventure shown logically from its beginning to the end in the story. The story occurs in 2055 year, but it contains time travel to the past. Ray Bradbury provides a play with the time continuum in this fiction work. He writes â€Å"First a day and then a night and then a day and then a night, then it was day-night-day-night. A week, a month, a year, a decade! A.D. 2055. A.D. 2019. 1999! 1957! Gone...The Machine howled. Time was a film run backward. Suns fled and ten million moons fled after them† (Bradbury, n.p.). Such game with the temporal dimensions makes a story interesting and catches the reader’s attention. What is more, the plot of the story is rather unpredictable as we start to read and cannot predict what is going to happen next. As for the characters we may view them as a usual people in an unusual environment. The protagonist of the story, Eckels, considers himself a stubborn hunter and wants to shoot a dinosaur. He is confident, successful man with significant perspectives and skeptically relates to the directing rules of the maintainers and hardly believes that one small move can fundamentally transform the future. And the time when Travis tells him about the accidental killing of one mouse he replies: â€Å"So theyre dead†¦So what?† (Bradbury, n.p.). Still, his opinion

Performance Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Performance Management - Research Paper Example The key behaviors that are important for the better job performance are: Effective communication: For retail sales associates, it is necessary to convey complete information and express facts and thoughts in a clear manner. Listen and understand actively to every situation in order to respond creatively. It is essential to adjust communication style according to customers and situations. Create good relationships with customers so that they do not feel reluctant to repeat the store anytime. Inclusiveness: Interact suitably with team, business partners, employees, community and customers without considering individual traits. Make a personal commitment to build an ever welcoming and friendly environment in the store. Ethical and tidy appearance: To gain the customers’ trust, create an environment that respects an individual and their perceptions. Treat and welcome customers with respect and dignity and demonstrate the importance of customers’ need by resolving their issues related to product or store. Tidy appearance is as importance as ethics. Untidiness in representatives’ appearance or store can cause customers to avoid enter in the store. Behaviorally-Anchored Rating Scales (BARS): This evaluation scale appraises the employees on various performance dimensions. BARS involve six or seven performance measurements that are anchored by a multi-point scale. For example, rating specific job performance with different employees’ behavior like poor, normal, or outstanding behaviors, that are relevant to specific job (Kane, Bernardin and Wiatrowski, 2013). Behavior Observation Scale (BOS): This scale enlists the behaviors that are required to perform a specific job successfully. These behaviors are measured based on the rate of recurrences of behaviors. It relates the job performance with the behavior by identifying frequency of employee engagement in

Dark Tourism And Ethical Issues Tourism Essay

Dark Tourism And Ethical Issues Tourism Essay Abstract The research project aimed to do a critical analysis of the ethical issues of dark tourism. Six research objectives were set out to help achieve this aim. In the process of gathering relevant information on this topic, an analysis of dark tourism throughout the years will be done, followed by the commitment of different authors. Furthermore, by examine in depth both the consumers and providers point of views to further understand the ethical dilemma of dark tourism, the research project will highlight the main problems that occur within this sector of tourism. Secondary research has been chosen as a main research method. A wide variety of literature was gathered on the concept of culture and tourism by using a snowball sampling of secondary literature. This type of sampling was carried out by using the authors list of references to highlight other articles that might be of relevance. The findings indicated that, it may be possible to state that ethical issues will always continue to exist around dark tourism, as long dark tourism itself exists too. Recommendation has been given on the importance of the consideration of the ethicalities of dark tourism. As conclusion indicated, ethical issues cannot be understated, and both consumers and providers may want to work together, if in the future, we still would like to know about our history through the form of tourism instead through textbooks and education. Introduction Hall (1998) states that tourism is the worlds largest industry, and it is expected to continue to grow, develop and maintain. The tourist industry is a major economic, environmental and socio-cultural force, and it becomes a lifestyle for millions of people on our planet. Its beneficial effect on the development of political, social, cultural relations and international relations on a global scale has become an obvious fact to all countries around the world. (Meethan, 2001) Over the last half century it is seeing that tourists have long been attracted to places or events associated in one way or another with death, disaster and suffering. (Stone, 2009a) All these sites and many more which are similar, are what are called sites for dark tourism according to main theorists John Lennon and Malcolm Foley, also known as Thanatourism (Seaton, 1996 cited in Ryan et al, 2005) and Black Spots (Rojek, 1997). This form of tourism is what Seaton (1999) defines is about travelling to sites associated with death, suffering and other tragic events that have become significant tourist destinations. In fact, the act of touristic travel to places of death, war, genocide, assassination and disasters is becoming the most developing branch of tourism during the past years and cultural activity within contemporary society. At the same time, there is evidence of a greater willingness or desire on the part of tourists to visit dark attractions and the sites of dark events. (Stone, 2009a) For example, thousands of tourists come to Pont de lAlma Road Tunnel in Paris, to lay flowers and light candles in unofficial memorial of Princess Diana of Wales, where she died in car accident. With the growing popularity of this kind of tourism within the dark tourism market (Tunbridge and Ashworth, 1996), the ethical issues surrounding it will need to be enquired. Ethics plays a role in nearly every business related decision. (Hartman, 1998) With the consumers and providers participating in this growth of phenomenon of dark tourism, as they potentially contrasting ethical perspectives towards dark tourism may be different. Whereas a providers means of preserving history is to charge people to maintain its upkeep, the consumers may see it as money making scheme in the expense of the deceased lives of the site. Whereas the providers means of letting people know its history is through interpretation of vulgar images, may seem unethically unpleasant for consumers. The dissertation will focus on the question of ethics in dark tourism, thereby advancing knowledge and understanding of dark tourism itself. Aim The aim of the project is a critical analysis of the ethical issue of dark tourism. Whether the death could be sold and consumed throw dark attractions and national tragedies. Objectives To define Dark Tourism To define the concept of ethics To examine in depth both the consumers and providers point of views to further understand the ethical dilemma of dark tourism. To use Stone (2006)s shades of darkness spectrum as a tool for measuring different levels of dark tourism sites To establish a conceptual ethical framework for the study of selling provocative narratives of national tragedy in heritage situations To suggest recommendations on the ethical issues Rationale Despite the long history of dark tourism and evidence of travel to sites associated with death, the academic attention on this phenomenon has recently appeared. As a result, a number of fundamental questions with respect to dark tourism remain unanswered. (Stone, 2009a) This topic has been chosen due to a lack of research carried out on ethical and moral issues of dark tourism. The project can be useful to gain more knowledge into the topic of dark tourism. The study of dark tourism is important for a number of reasons. It can be used for educational purposes of wider social interest or for means of enjoyment. In relation to this Stone.R (2009, p.7) states: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Dark tourism provides the opportunity for tourists to experience playful houses of horror, discover places of pilgrimage such as the graves or death sites of famous people or visit sites of major disasters or atrocities Nevertheless, all these attractions require a deep understanding within cultural, social, historical and political context, effective interpretation and development. Otherwise the nature of dark tourism, in particular, the debates and conflicts it represent, will point to a number of issues that demand examination and understanding, such as ethics and morality. Whether people visit these sites for remembrance, education or entertainment purposes, there will be one dilemma relating to many dark attractions: if it is ethical and moral to sell, promote or offer death for touristic consumption. For example, millions of tourists stop alongside with those, who mourning the loss of loved ones, to see where the World Trade Center once stood in New York. In order to research the dilemma of the ethics and morality of dark tourism, it is necessary to realise that dark tourism is fascinating, emotive and provocative and it is important to explore many features of dark tourism, which may be perceived unethical by some people. Stone (2009a) states: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Consequently, the ethics of dark tourism  are perhaps part of the broader research agenda. Ultimately, from this research a fuller understanding of dark tourism  shall be made, and thus knowledge of the phenomenon advanced. Naturally, anyone researching dark tourism should consider the ethics of their research, in particular how data is both gathered and presented Furthermore a case study will be conducted in order to have a closer look at the situation and the major problems occurring regarding ethical issues of dark tourism. In addition, the researcher is originally interested in dark tourism phenomenon. For the past 2 years the researcher has visited the numerous places of death and disaster such as Chernobyl, and has noticed that it is becoming increasingly popular. The researcher also found out that, for 2 years there are numerous quantity of debates on particular dilemma, which will be analysed in the dissertation. It is hoped that this study will have an impact on understanding dark tourism. In addition, it is also hoped that this project will draw more attention to ethical issues and provide a new point of view for those, who does not accept truth and reality of dark sites or attractions. Literature Review Roberts (2004, p.73) defines a literature review as, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦locating, analysing, synthesising and interpreting previous researchà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ This section will be used to establish theoretical framework, identify models and studies and define key terminology in relation to dark tourism and ethics. All research that has been conducted will be presented within this section. An in-depth review of the literature has been done in order to gather relevant information on dark tourism itself and ethical issues throughout the years. The literature matrix illustrates the main areas which are perceived to be the most important in relation to the topic of dark tourism ethical issues. By creating a literature review matrix, it would help the researcher contrast and compare the authors work easily. As a result by carrying out a detailed review of the literature it could possibly identify important questions, key issues and noticeable gaps within the current knowledge on the topic. Dark Tourism: Definitions Only in recent years that it has been together referred to as dark tourism, travel to places associated with death, disaster and destruction has occurred as long as people have been able to travel. In many cases there is no clear definition of this tourism niche. Although, the term dark tourism was firstly created by Foley and Lennon (1996a,b). For Foley and Lennon, the term dark tourism relates primarily to the presentation and consumption (by visitors) of real and commodi ¬Ã‚ ed death and disaster sites (1996a:198); a broad de ¬Ã‚ nition later re ¬Ã‚ ned by their assertion that dark tourism is an intimation of post-modernity (Lennon and Foley 2000:11). At the same time, another terminology has been applied to the phenomenon. Seaton (1996) refers to death-related tourist activity as thanatourism, while other labels include morbid tourism (Blom, 2000), Rojek (1993) offered a Black Spot tourism definition, grief tourism and milking the macabre (Dann, 1994:61). Nevertheless, there is a factor, which is common to all these terms of tourism. It is all about association, in one form or another, between a tourism site, attraction or experience and death, disaster of suffering. As a result, definitions of dark tourism focus on connection between tourism and death. Tarlow (2005:48), for example, gives identification for dark tourism as visitations to places where tragedies or historically noteworthy death has occurred and that continue to impact our lives, a definition that aligns dark tourism somewhat barely to certain sites and hints at particular motives. Miles (2002) states that, however it excludes many dark sited and attractions related to, while not necessarily the site of, death and disaster. Therefore, for the purposes of this research project, the author will define dark tourism, according to Stone (2006, a) simply and generally as the act of travel to sites associated with death, suffering and the seemingly macabre. Ethics Stone (2006,a) states that ethics and the morality of selling provocative and sensitive narrative through heritage to the touring and visiting community is more established and documented problem of dark tourism. Ethics have been conceptualised as a set of rules and principles, concerning rightful conduct based on our most deeply held values, the things we most cherish and the things we most despise.(Lieberman, 2000). The term can also refer to the systematic study of way of thinking about how we ought to behave and finding a rational way of how we ought to live. Ethics and morality suggest a set of duties that require subordination of natural desires in order to obey the moral law (Singer, 1994). The 20th century saw philosophers approaching the problem of the origin of ethics as something unreachable. Among the most publicised conceptual thinkers in the field of ethics have been (Singer, 1994:18): Thrasymachus ( 4th century) and the thesis that ethics are imposed on the weak by the strong; Socrates (4th century) and the thesis that the ruler is not concerned with his own interests, but with that of the subject; Hobbes (17th century) and his statement that ethics give the ruler a right to to command and to be complied; Nietzsche (19th century) who proposed morality is the creation of the herd'(led more fear than hope) Ethics and Moralisation in Tourism There are numerous schools of thoughts and opinions, and literature on the board subject of ethics is prevalent. What is more significant in the situation of the dark tourism is suggesting a conceptual ethical framework for the analysis of providing and selling provocative narratives of nationwide tragedy in heritage settings. This study is concerned with two main and obvious parts of ethics and morality as follows: Business ethics and the extent to which businesses within the heritage industry which communicate a dark narrative to the visiting public consider their practices to be ethical( Stone, 2006,a) Personal morality and the extent to which these often provocative narratives are received and are passable according to the moral principles of visitors from widely varying cultural backgrounds. ( Stone, 2006,a) According to Stone (2006,a) the term business ethics has been described at the extreme as an oxymoron in the corporate world since some argue that morality, as Butcher ( 2003) states, is intrinsically absent in capitalist entrepreneurial ventures. At the moment the issue of business ethics is a conspicuous subject attracting attention from a number of communities of interest, such as consumers, pressure groups and the media (Strange and Kempa, 2003). According to Crane Matten (2007), corporate social responsibility is a dominant strand of the converse of business ethics and has been contrived to refer to the implicit process of communicating a legal and institutional corporate framework within which a duty of care (to people, the environment and employees among others) is implied. For dark tourism, it has not been fully elaborated upon in this context since there present different problems in communicating the social responsibility of these types of heritage sites, such as: The esotericism in the scope of what is morally acceptable to various communities of interest: is there a hierarchical order of care or responsibility that must be demonstrated? Stone (2006, a) provides example of Auschwitz as the most responsible way to admit visitors in compliance with the moral and ethical codes of the relatives of prisoners and victims, but also with the moral principles of other visitor types such as Polish visitors, young visitors. Conflicts of interest, according to Ryan et al (2005), are common in heritage but more morally charged where the narrative is provocative and contested Is it ethical to adopt another national tragedy and inculcate it with new national discourse? Cole (1999a) provides this in a context of the United States Holocaust memorial Museum which he disputes Americanises European Jewish tragedy, repacking Holocaust for American mass consumption in theatre, tourism and heritage. In general, these discourses of corporate social responsibility are present in language of many operations thus far defined as being in the dark tourism business Stone (2006a) states, that traditionally, tourism ethics are discussed in the context of tourism as a major economic engine that can wreak havoc on the environment and can negatively temper the influence host communities in destinations imagined as culturally sensitive Cheong and Miller (2000) discuss tourism ethics in terms of normalising what is acceptable or not acceptable, and an inspecting gaze influenced by the manipulation of imagery in tourism marketing. Tourism activity offers a rare, observable form of ethical behaviour. Tourists vote with their feet and demonstrate in visiting dark heritage sites that these are morally acceptable spaces to occupy. Ethical discourses linked to the production and consumption of contested heritage sites are shaped and maintained by many voices Stone (2006a). The issue of remembering tragedy and oppression in heritage sites and to whom memory is entrusted, is at the centre of academic debate surrounding truth and appropriate narratives broadcast by dark tourism sites. Summary of the literature review Issues in literature review has been addressed which stress the importance of the different definitions to cultural tourism suggested by different authors. The results of this literature review have enabled the author to complete the first objective of the study by demonstrating an understanding of the ethical issues of dark tourism, what dark tourism itself is and what ethical framework is. Using a wide range of modern academic perspectives has helped to illustrate meaning of dark tourism ethics academic perspective, which can be used in the following chapters in reviewing the main findings of the study undertaken. The matrix figure provides a summary of the main points generated by each academic paper and compares and contrasts the various authors views. The matrix figure illustrates the context of cultural tourism referred to in academic papers and books utilized in the literature review. It demonstrates that the opinions of the different authors are both different and similar. Methodology This section of dissertation is going to study the different research methods used within this project. In order to make this research project successful, it is important that appropriate research methods or techniques have to be chosen. The purpose of a methodology is to demonstrate, explain and justify the research methods used in this dissertation. According to Krippendorff (2004) the purpose of a methodology is to help the researcher effectively plan and examine the logic, composition and protocols of the research methods that have been used in research project. The researcher will present a summary of the sources of information gathered; a description of the procedure used to obtain information and the various research methods will be discussed. Furthermore, by completing the methodology it will demonstrate how a systematic investigation was applied into the topic of dark tourism. Choice of Research Design Secondary Data Sharp et al. (2002, p139) define two categories of data which are: primary data that the researcher collects through observations, interviews, questionnaires and etc.; and secondary data that have been collected by other previous researchers. As the author of this dissertation has already mentioned before, in order to perform this research project in successful way, two categories of data and different research methods should be investigated. This research project will be primarily based on secondary research because the primary research is not needed as all the information is already available through secondary research sources, such as books, journals and newspapers. What is more, in order to achieve the aim that has to be investigated, the best method of research would be secondary research. To enhance the existing but very little evidence of the posed topic, secondary research was gathered. Ghosh and Chopra (2003, p.33) define the term secondary research as: data which are already in existence and collected by others, not by the investigator and are available in published and unpublished forms Secondary research was chosen as the quickest and the easiest way to access and is the most cost effective approach to this research project as well. Veal (2006) confirms this by stating that secondary data often provides researchers with rapid answers to some questions at less cost than it would to undergo primary research. Furthermore, if there is enough secondary research to base the study on then it would be a waste of resources to collect new information for the same purposes (Veal, 2006).What is more, secondary research seemed more relevant than primary research. This was because there was wide variety of literature on the subject of dark tourism and ethical issues, sourced from University College Birmingham library, with many books containing relevant information, which will be discussed later. Primary Data The Oxford English Dictionary (2002) defines primary research which is collected for a specific and immediate research need There are many different ways in which to carry out primary research. In order of this research topic, the author found that many of the theories couldnt be backed up with primary data and with a suitable sample. For the purpose of this research project, primary research could be used to gather relevant data and access a large population of students at University College Birmingham and other universities situated in Birmingham. One of the core methods of carrying out primary research is through questionnaires. Mainly, there are two forms of questionnaires: open ended and closed ended. Open ended questionnaires are likely to have unlimited answers to a set of alternatives and likely to receive long answers. However, the difficulty is that they are difficult to analyse and as they seem to hand the baton of control over to the other person. Closed ended questions impose a direct risk to the validity of findings and can be answered with either a single word or a short phrase. Another form of primary research, which was considered were interviews. The Oxford English Dictionary (2002) defines interview as formal discussion between two parties in which information is exchanged. It is possible to say, that it is all about asking questions and receiving the answers. Therefore in this research project, due to difficulties in collecting the required data and access a large population for testing along the facilities required to carry out, a primary research would not be useful in gathering relevant data and the researcher will benefit further from analysing secondary data from literature. Obtaining Research The majority of secondary research for this dissertation was gathered from books, academically reviewed journals, on-line factual reports, newspapers and the internet. All this sources can justify the point of view of an author and provide relevant information about the research project. The most easily accessible secondary research method that the author of dissertation found was the usage text books. Text books were primarily used to gain background knowledge and obtain a wider understanding of specific topics. The advantage of using books is because it gives a clear understanding and academic information. As it was already mentioned before, this method was the easiest, because the researcher could get them not just from the University College Birmingham library, but also to the online library supplied by the University and other on-line organisations such as Amazon, EBay and Google. Key words had to be entered to find appropriate books from the on-line organisations and the library catalogue, the following key words were entered, dark tourism, dark tourism ethics, dark tourism and morality. There were some books which contained many different theories from the past to the present day. The researched decided that the most relevant authors for this research project were John Lennon and Malcolm Foley (2000) and Richard Sharpley and Phillip R.Stone (2009,a). Books for the methodology were found by entering the key words; research methods and methodology. The journals are preferred because they are accurate and provide up to date data, they are also more relevant to the topic as the dissertation is concentrated on the topic of consumers and providers point of views of dark tourism. The journals were accessed through academic search engines like Athens for example and journal databases such as ScienceDirect, Emerald Management Xtra. But unfortunately, these databases were not useful as they did not give any information on particular question, except ScienceDirect. Journals relating to the research topic were accessed with comfort as the researcher can type in key words and the database will present pages of journals that are associated with the key words. The key words the researcher typed in to each journal database were Dark tourism, ethical issues of dark tourism, ethics and morality, Dark tourism forum. To get more information, the researcher travelled to universities to view their journals however access to relevant information, w ere not as successful as it was to find them via the internet. On-line factual reports were used to obtain raw facts and figures; some of these reports include Mintel. Similarly to accessing the journals, key words were entered in order to retrieve the data, the key words that were entered were Dark tourism ethics, Dark tourism. Moreover, on-line articles were read in order to gain a wider perspective of the posed subject area. The usage of newspaper and internet will also be included in order to provide a variety of information and because they are easy of access. Newspapers are useful because they are up to date, however the information can be too subjective, and as for this particular topic of dark tourism, the researcher found newspapers not really useful, because of the lack of information on dark tourism. Internet was useful source of information; however the reader need to check if the source is reliable and information is updated. Websites are easy to access and easy to research information on and are also updated regularly. This variety of sources gives a better understanding of the subject. Construction of Design Out of all the research that has been taken, text books and academic journals were the most reliable and valid to use to back up any point. This is due to the fact that dark tourism is comparatively new phenomenon in tourism industry, books and academic journals are often published frequently throughout the year so the information that is provided is up to date. Furthermore, academic journals and text books are intensely reviewed by academic professionals before publication to ensure its validity. The author of dissertation aimed to gather resources that were only published after the year 1999 as this is relatively recent; however certain books have been used from a much earlier date due to their relevance to the research question. However, journals or books dated in the 80s or 90s will not consider as outdated. The selection of secondary data gathered has been published in a variety of places; it was thought that as the topic in question is ethical issue of dark tourism, then perhaps research published in a variety of countries would be useful to get a wide range of views from across the globe. Advantages and Disadvantages of Research Methods Although secondary research was the ideal research method to use for this research project, it does hold some disadvantages. There is always the risk that the author could include their own opinions, so they can strongly sway towards one point and books can be not updated on a regular basis. Also, with academic journals, there are many accurate topics and findings, however a fee is charged for many of them, some of which are only available to a certain group of people making them hard or even impossible to access, this could put a strain on the researchers findings. As for Mintel, some of reports were helpful, but not published yet for audience. Furthermore, Ghosh and Chopra (2003) mention that although it is more cost effective and less time consuming, the secondary research may not be as accurate as the researcher had hoped. Besides this, secondary research still remained ideal for the dissertation as the quality of data obtained can be better than the quality of primary research, as information gained through secondary sources could have been obtained using better and more advanced resources. Moreover, because of the lack of time and financial situation, secondary research was primarily used as being cost effective and less time consuming, it is also easy to access as it does not require any additional resources. Primary research was considered due to the fact that it is useful to gather relevant data and access a large population of students tailored to the researchers needs. However, it was rejected due to the lack of experience, funds and resources which could give a limit to the quality of the data gathered and as a result, being unsuccessful (Kumar, 2005). The researcher does not have any experience in carrying out primary research so in order to make the research project successful, it would be inappropriate for primary research to be undergone for this dissertation, and it would make more sense for the researcher to analyse findings from previous and more experienced researchers and academic professionals. Plan for Data Analysis As there is a variety of secondary information gathered, it is necessary for the researcher to analyse them carefully. This variety of sources gives a better understanding of the subject. Once it has all been collected, it will be thoroughly analysed to determine its validity and reliability, and those that are not pertinent will be rejected from being used for the dissertation. It is important that validity is measured carefully as Kirk and Miller (1986, p.71) mentions that perfect validity entails perfect reliability. In order to evaluate the collected research, the researcher will read over it and make their own judgments based on a number of factors surrounding it for example, the sources in which the information was collected from and the method in which the sources were collected. When applying the frame work, the researcher will use it to assess different aspects of the dark tourism ethics to conclude by providing final results to the aim. Summary This methodology has evaluated and justified the choice of research design for this dissertation. As secondary research is being used, the researcher has analysed this type of research by describing the advantages and disadvantages of it. After the collected research has been evaluated, the findings will be analysed and discussed in the following section. Analysis and Evaluation This section is essential as the researcher will be analysing and evaluating the findings of the research project. The main aspects of the results which were found in the data discussed in the literature review will be approached carefully in order to weigh up the arguments effectively. Dark tourism and ethical issues Among the more established dilemmas of dark tourism is ethics and morality. Dark tourism has often raised ethical debates and discussions about the ways in which leisure time and pleasure are mixed with tragedy (Kempa and Strange, 2003), as many people think some sites of dark tourism are too sensitive to present it for the world to see. In addition, management of dark tourism attraction is a sensitive issue which is difficult to undertake, and Tunbridge and Ashworth (1996) observed the misuse and abuse of sacred values for market benefit and entertainment purposes are more likely to occur at atrocity site than at other heritage sites. Moreover, as Stone (2009,a) states, the rights of those whose death is commoditised or commercialised through dark tourism represent an important ethical and moral dimension, which deserves depth consideration. However, although this may be the case, it actually varies depending on the sh

Florida’s Literacy Problem Essay -- Teaching Education Essays

Florida’s Literacy Problem Despite numerous literacy-promoting programs all over the state of Florida, literacy still remains a problem for this state. People just don’t seem to want to waste their precious free time staring at words on a piece of paper, but would rather stare at moving pictures on a screen. Obviously this is a problem, as Florida’s FCAT scores are less then perfect when compared to the scores of the rest of the nation. Something needs to be done to get Florida reading. It may be unfair to attribute all of Florida’s reading problems to television. Not everyone in Florida has cable or even owns a TV. Many poor children have no permanent home and therefore do not have the necessary conditions to learn to read as well as their middle-class counterparts. There are also...

Global Orientation Essay

Global marketing has the potential to bring a company to its proverbial next level. In order to understand how to thrive in global marketing one must first understand the conditions leading to the development and sustainment of global market. The need and environment for a global market stemmed from a number of factors. One factor is the rapid technological advances in equipment, communications, and transportation, which are all major drivers of both the ability and the desire of companies to expand globally. Advances in production equipment allows companies to create larger volumes of product which, when paired with the expanded customer base of a global market, can generate greater profits which can be reinvested into research and development efforts. These increases in product volume and profit are aided by faster communication and transportation, which serve to shrink the global marketplace and provide less costly methods for companies to distribute products, information, and financial flows. Another factor is the international system, which includes the development of the International Monetary Framework, trading blocs, General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and other such formations of international agreements facilitated by the spread of global peace. One final factor is the spread of awareness in disparate markets of different products and processes. In the process of forming international infrastructures, global experiences have served to change attitudes and behaviors of entire segments of domestic markets. Being exposed to ideas from around the world has affected these market segments’ tastes and professed needs, eventually leading to a convergence of world markets to global markets sharing common tastes and needs across geographical boundaries. From a more conceptual angle, global markets derived from the Bretton Woods system of global free trade and are able to thrive under the policies of a hegemon, or dominant world power. The Bretton Woods Agreement established a method enabling currencies to be convertible for trade, by pegging currencies to gold, and formed the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The system established by the Bretton Woods Agreement was validated due to the United States’ economic dominance and manufacturing base. Through the uses of diplomacy, finance, and military force, the United States has ensured openness in the Bretton Woods system, a concept defined by the Greek word hegemony. It has been theorized that international systems are best able to maintain stability when managed by a single dominant world power. According to the theory of hegemonic stability, the downfall of the reigning hegemon causes the global market to suffer instability until another rises into power. Furthermore, the tastes and needs of global markets will change to reflect that of the hegemon, which explains the current spread of western culture. The convergence of world markets has created the need for companies to approach all country markets within their scope of operations as a single global market, identifying market segments with similar demands that can be satisfied with the same product, standardizing what components of the marketing mix that they can, and adapting the marketing mix to accommodate for significant cultural differences when necessary – an approach called global orientation. Factors that must be considered for a company to achieve global awareness and succeed in global orientation include objectivity, tolerance toward cultural differences, and a solid knowledge base. The first factor, objectivity, involves being objective in the assessment and handling of opportunities, risks, and issues associated with prospective investments. The second, tolerance, requires an understanding of and willingness to work with different cultures that exhibit behaviors unlike one’s own. The final factor to achieving global awareness is becoming knowledgeable about the changes occurring throughout the world, the global economy, social trends, world market potentials, world history, and individual cultures. A company’s success in the three aforementioned factors will determine the level of global awareness they will be able to achieve, their success in a transition to global orientation, and ultimately their success in the global marketing environment. Once a company has achieved global marketing success, it must establish a competitive advantage in order to thrive. Competitive advantages can be typified by a company’s competitive strategy coupled with their emphasis on new product-market growth. Table 1 depicts Mullins and Walker’s (2013) typologies of business level competitive strategies. An example of how a company may fit into this typology is that of Samsung. Samsung gauges whether they are on the right track in the global market through the use of data collection and studies including revenue measurements, profitability measurements, average price indices (API), brand attitude studies (BAS), and dealer attitude studies (DAS), which would place them in the position of analyzer using both competitive strategies of differentiation and cost leadership. Table 1: Combined Typology of Business-Level Competitive Strategies Emphasis on new product-market growth Heavy Emphasis No Emphasis prospectorAnalyzerDefenderReactor Competitive strategyDifferetiationUnits primarily concerned with attaining growth through aggressive pursuitof new product-market opportunitiesUnits with strong core business; actively seeking to expand into related product-markets with differentiated offeringsUnits primarily concerned with maintaining a differentiated position in mature marketsUnits with no clearly defined product-market development or competitive strategy Cost leadershipUnits with strong core business; actively seeking to expand into related product-markets with low-cost offeringsUnits primarily concerned with maintaining a low-cost position in mature markets In conclusion, global markets have evolved from increased international cooperation and interaction. In order for companies to continue to grow and thrive, they must become globally oriented in their operations and implement a competitive strategy for the global environment. Globalization has opened up many opportunities for worldwide development and is strengthened by the participation of companies in the global market and by strong leadership by a world power. References Cooper, R. N. , Eichengreen, B. , Holtham, G. , Putnam, R. D. , & Henning, C. R. (1989). Can Nations Agree? Issues in International Economic Cooperation. Washington D. C. : The Brookings Institution. pp. 255-298. Mazlish, B. (2012). Three Factors of Globalization: Multinational Corporations, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Global Consciousness. Globality Studies Journal. Retrieved from http://globality. cc. stonybrook. edu/? p=239 Mullins, J. W. , Walker, O. C. (2013). Business Strategies and Marketing Decisions. McGraw Hill Education. Retrieved from http://answers. mheducation. com/business/marketing/marketing-strategy/business-strategies-and-marketing-decisions

Paradigm Shifts of Church History Essay

As described by Bosch in his foreword he talks about the title as ambiguous. â€Å"Transforming† can be an adjective used to describe â€Å"mission†. Mission can be understood as not the enterprise that transforms reality, but something that is itself being transformed. Let’s now look at the first paradigm shift. 1. Primitive Christianity †¦. go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. â€Å"[2] The great commission has to be taken into account with the rest of Matthew’s gospel where we see the â€Å"road† of mission to the gentiles is open. The Mission of Jesus was to breakdown boundaries and to include all, even those who were seen as enemies. God invites all and it is those who respond that are accepted. Early Christian mission was focused only on the Jews. Mission to the gentiles came as a spin-off mission. Early Christian mission involved the person of Jesus and it was political and revolutionary. The revolutionary aspect was seen in the new relationships it brought among Jews, Greek, free, slave, rich, poor, women etc. The early church had to seal their witness (martyria) with their blood; â€Å"Martyrdom and Mission† says Hans von Campenhaussen â€Å"belonged together†. [3] 2. The Patristic Period (The Eastern Church) Mission in the Patristic (first fathers) period is thoroughly church centered which means that the church is the aim; the fulfillment of the Gospel, rather than the instrument or means of mission[4]. In Orthodox thinking, mission is the place of liturgy (public worship). A witnessing community is a community of worshippers. Also Orthodox mission is founded on the love of God as seen in John 3:16. The church began to progress too, the apostles and itinerant preachers were replaced by bishops and deacons and later too was the monastic movement (which was the practice of renouncing worldly pursuits to fully devote one’s self to spiritual work). Mission to the non-Roman Asia spread mainly by the Nestorian monastic orders (who emphasized the disunion between the human and divine natures of Jesus). In 1054 the great schism took place between the Eastern and Western church. This was the beginning of the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. Constantine moved the headquarters of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople and the church began to compromise with the state politically. The church became secularised and Salvation was a gradual progress that leads to the divine. 3. The Medieval Roman Catholic Period â€Å"Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full. [5] Where the early church took its missionary text from John 3:16 talking about the love of God, the Roman Catholic Church had the focus of ‘compelling them to come in’. They argued that there was no salvation outside the formal membership of the RC Church. The Roman Empire had become linked to the RC Church. The Catholic Church became extremely influential over the State and loyalty to the state meant being loyal to the church. Islam became increasingly popular in the East leading to the capture of Constantinople in 1453. Pope Alexander VI divided the colonized world into two for mission purposes. One was under the King of Spain and the other under the King of Portugal. The mission of the church was linked to the mission of the state. They sent Missionaries to the colonized territories. Europe was broadly seen as Christian and therefore no real need for evangelism. The monastic movement may have been the reason was so much authentic Christianity evolved in Europe’s ‘dark ages’. Reformation Period (the Protestant Paradigm) I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 6] Martin Luther had a realization that God’s righteousness did not mean God’s punishment and wrath, but his gift of grace and mercy in which anyone could be saved. Bosch noted that the Protestant missionary paradigm tended to vary from various extremes. Bosch shows that although the idea of mission was there among the Protestants, their involvement was limited. This was due to; (a) their primary task was to reform the church; (b) contact with non-Christians was little (c) they were struggling to survive; (d) denial of the monastic orders meant they denied themselves access to important services and (e) their own internal struggles. Luther’s reformation made little sense of this world, Calvinism in Holland (developed Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith) and Puritanism in England (the Protestant church regarded the Reformation of the Church of England as incomplete and sought to simplify and regulate forms of worship) did. Bosch then refers to Gisbertus Voetius’s threefold model of the theology of mission. He sees these dimensions as; (a) conversion of the Gentiles (b) planting of the church and (c) the glory and manifestation of divine grace (he saw the churches of old and new standing as equal)[7]. Enlightenment Period Mission during this period was diverse and multifaceted than ever before. The change from medieval to enlightenment thinking made the supernatural redundant and the natural attracted more attention. God, the church and the nobles were no longer revered, but nature was. This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. [8] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. 9] Then Jesus came to them and said, â€Å"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. â€Å"[10] During this period as you can see from the scriptures above, the main sense of mission was the urgency o f the coming of the new millennium. The modern missionary enterprise has been greatly influenced by the enlightenment’s concept of ecclesiastical and cultural expansion. These were in the church and state. Colonisation and Christianisation went together, and were two sides of the same coin. Later, during the enlightenment the two went onto separate paths, forces of renewal and the second awakening. 6. Ecumenical Period The church turned from being an institution to being the body of Christ with its outlook on mission being revitalized and seen afresh. Missionary conferences began to emerge as Bosch referring to Gunther; â€Å"ecclesiological reflections of missionary conferences from Edinburgh 1910 to Mexico City in 1963†[11]. The ‘Missio Dei† concept first surfaced in 1952 at the Willingen Conference[12]. The idea of God as a missionary God[13]. Mission as stated by Bosch is as follows; meditating salvation; the quest for justice; evangelism; contextualization, liberation, inculturation; common witness; ministry by the holy people of God, witness to people of other living faiths; and as action in hope. Bosch looks at the life of Jesus with what we can learn for mission today.