A Brief Look at Niccolo Machiavelli - 1698 Words

Niccolo Machiavelli was born on Florence and died in Florence (1459-1527). He was a man of many talents and diversity. He was a historian, diplomat, politician, humanist, writer and philosopher. In many people’s eyes he was the founding father of modern political science and of political ethics. His influence even today in the world of politics and power cannot be over-estimated even in today’s world. His most important book The Prince was published in 1517 after Machiavelli had lost his power base of influence and power with the return to power of the Medici. It is today regarded by many as a masterpiece in terms of a philosophy of power and politics. His name is in today’s world as meaning a scheming, powerful and decisive advisor/ruler. In some way this is true but in other ways it is not entirely accurate as Machiavelli had very firm and straight-forward views on the concept of power and politics. It is necessary to examine his views in terms of power, the Pr ince/Sovereign/government and the people. Firstly in terms of power. Machiavelli was quite clear in his mind that any system of government was based upon the state being strong and stable and these words strike at the heart of his political philosophy. Machiavelli’s aim was to separate the concept of power from morals. Such views were to alienate him from both the Roman Catholic Church and the emerging Protestant Churches for centuries after his death. He was at heart a humanist who had a very low opinion ofShow MoreRelatedRealist Analysis : The Russian Crimean Crisis2260 Words   |  10 Pages Modern philosophy considers realism as a fully broad term which consists of several movements all showing a unity when it comes to Political realism. On top of the realism founding thinkers overlies the famous names of Thucydides, Hobbes and Machiavelli. 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A Review of Cadburys Supply Chain Free Essays

A Review of Cadbury’s Supply Chain: Literature Review: ‘Man of Dairy Milk and Money’. Elaine Watson Article Summary: * This article begins by highlighting how Cadbury’s have had their fair share of problems: * Salmonella outbreak in 2006 * Decision to close Somerdale factory and switch production to Poland. * Factory issues in Sheffield: river quite literally flowing through the factory. We will write a custom essay sample on A Review of Cadburys Supply Chain or any similar topic only for you Order Now * But as the article highlights, the firm has a strong and strategically placed supply chain. Areas of Competitive Advantage: * Factory Network: They recently built a new factory in Poland. They have an established network with two other factories there, and a gum plant. * Cost effective Supply Chain: By strategically placing the factories in Poland they were able to achieved cost savings in two key areas: * Cheaper wages (despite the fact that they are increasing). * A reduction in labour by 15%, which resulted in boosting operating margins from 10% to the mid-teens. * Alignment of Supply Chain: Cadbury’s treat the supply chain as a whole; â€Å"It is very easy to think in terms of manufacturing, logistics, sales, purchasing and so on. But their objective must all be aligned†. They ensure that work groups are formed compiling of resources from across the different functional teams. This ensures that every project/group is focused on achieving their main goal of customer satisfaction, and are able to consider this from every part of the manufacturing process. * Global Benchmarking: â€Å"We’ve got lots of key performance indicators in terms of quality, safety, service level, and the environment, but for manufacturing we use OEE†. Cadbury’s highlight the importance of waste management owing to the fact that raw materials have dramatically increased in prices over recent years (Cocoa for example has increased from ? ,000/t to ? 1,600/t. * Environmental responsibilities: Cadbury’s aim to reduce their carbon footprint by 50% by 2020. * Manufacturing Ownership: Manufacturing is a core competency for Cadbury’s. There are arguments in favour of keeping this in house in terms of economic and intellectual ones. Bournville is the co re plant; here they have 1,000-1,200 staff as well as sophisticated machinery producing 100,000t of chocolate products a year. This factory further produces 1m creme eggs a day. * Outsourcing: Cadbury’s outsource two of their products: * Snaps: this involves unusual technology. * Green amp; Blacks. Literature Review: ‘Ethical Supply Chains – ‘The New Black’? ’ Lisa Brown. Article Summary: * This article highlights the importance of sustainable supply chain management, and likens the rate of take up to ‘The New Black’. Therefore this article is centered around how Cadbury’s manage a sustainable supply chain in order to gain a competitive advantage. * Cadbury’s are an example of a firm who have successfully implemented such ethical considerations into their supply chain. In 2009 they announced that the cocoa drinks and dairy milk chocolate would be fair-trade certified in British and Irish markets. This mark ensures that the farmers are paid a fair price, and that crops are farmed under sustainable conditions (putting a halt to child labour). * Advantages of Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM): * Changing consumer attitudes: The article paints a picture of a consumer who is no longer concerned by product quality and other tangible aspects, but rather is concerned with the integrity of supply chains (and will often spend more money on those products that appeal to their moral code). This view is personified through Brown’s comment that â€Å"†¦pressure to donate, volunteer, buy green†¦ by organic, recycle, reduce carbon emissions†. Brown further states, â€Å"Customers often feel a sense of intrinsic commitment and emotional attachment to the products they purchase * The price of not acting sustainably: the article compares Cadbury’s success to a clothing retailer who has received criticism for their use of sweatshops in Asia. * Competitive Advantage: â€Å"Supply chains have become the new black, a trendy way of connecting with the consciousness of consumers (particularly generation Y) and achieving differentiation from those companies/products not willing or able to keep up†. * How is this hanging consumer attitude affecting the industry? * Competitive Advantage: Transparency of supply chains: in a society where publicly accessible information is just a click away and a good reputation is priceless, ensuring integrity of supply chains is on way to create a competitive advantage. * Product differentiation: Products are no longer differentiated by rudimentary characteristics such as colour and pr ice. Values are a key part of the customer decision. * Declaration of interests: Companies must ensure that companies they are partnering with are also keeping within the guidelines. Ethics ahead of profits: Customers nowadays will pay more money for items that appeal to their moral consciousness. Thus, firms need to walk the walk rather than just talking the walk. Literature Review: ‘Reconfiguring Three Companies Under one Umbrella’. Alan Robinson. Article Summary: * This article identifies how the Cadbury’s supply chain ensures that network benefits are realized and capitals costs are reduced. In essence it portrays how Cadbury’s creates a competitive advantage through three of their products: Schweppes, Motts and Snapple. Competitive Advantages: Integrated Supply Chain: The three companies have an integrated supply chain, which provides the following benefits: * Continual realignment and readjustment of products means that they never duplicate efforts. * Owing to constant changes in product lines (with them acquiring other lines and products), they continually review their locations and distribution channels. They ensure that they are always maximizing efficiency (hence their move from Somerdale to join their other factories in Poland). * Synergies between brands: Brands work together. For example a group with a mature manufacturing knowledge, Motts, was paired with a new manufacturing company, Snapple. Mott’s ran the Snapple manufacturing activities. * Analytical Tools: They use advanced supply chain analytical tools such as VA-basis Insight and its SAILS. This is supply chain network modeling software (similar to those shown in the picture below). Source: Ernst amp; Young Power and utilities Network Modeling Overview. This provides them with the following benefits: * Ability to strategically set up plants and locations (network modeling). They are able to constantly reevaluate their market in order to reduce duplication and reduce carbon emissions (which saves costs and promotes their sustainable supply chain management image). * Ability to analyse demand seasonality to ensure that their brans have the capacity to meet customer demand throughout the year (their products are highly seasonal – e. g. Cadbury’s creme eggs). * Mature stock and inv entory level management systems gives an idea as to where they should invest additional capabilities. * Reduces capital costs Products are sold to market at varying stages in supply chain: * Motts and Snapple sell ready to go products that can be sold to the end customer. * Whilst Dr. pepper and Carbonated drinks just sell the ingredients. * Range of outlets: Cadbury’ sell their products in a range of outlets in order to meet their customer base. For example, Convenience stores, supermarkets and drug chains etc. * Variety of Production Methods: * Outsourcing: Cadbury’s Schweppes brand is outsourced to Hershey’s in America. * Franchise: Cadbury’s franchise Dr Pepper and 7Up. Those who buy the franchise get rights to the product, the concentration and the packaging. * Use of distributors: Snapples Beverages use distributors to reach their market. Synthesis: The assimilation of each of the articles that I have researched demonstrate that Cadbury’s see their Supply Chain as being a key area in which they can create a competitive advantage. Their main advantages are achieved in the following areas: * Make-buy/Outsourcing Decision: Cadbury’s assess the market and their areas of strength to ensure that what they are producing satisfies the customers needs. This is both cost effective and logical in terms of fulfilling the customer requirements. * Factory/Distribution Outlets Networking: Intelligent network software is used to ensure the network that supports their supply chain is cost efficient and reduces duplication. This can be seen from their move to Poland, thus creating synergies. This also increased their operating margin. * Integrated Supply Chain: Owing to the number of product lines that Cadbury’s own (often through Mamp;S activities), the Cadbury’s supply chain is configured to enhance brand cooperation and coordination. This can be seen through a number of examples listed in the examples above: * E. g. 1. For example a group with a mature manufacturing knowledge, Motts, was paired with a new manufacturing company, Snapple. Mott’s ran the Snapple manufacturing activities. * E. g. 2. Different departments are bought together a matrix manner in order to ensure that projects and work takes into account the view of the whole manufacturing process. This ensures that their objective is always in the forefront of projects and is accounted for through all different functions views. Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM): They are able to differ from competitors in a number of ways. The benefits achieved through their morally appealing supply chain activities are: * Competitive Advantage * Product differentiation * Declaration of interests * Ethics ahead of profits * Manufacturing Ownership: Manufacturing is a core competency for Cadbury’s. There are arguments in favour of keeping this in ho use in terms of economic and intellectual ones. Bournville is the core plant; here they have 1,000-1,200 staff as well as sophisticated machinery producing 100,000t of chocolate products a year. This factory further produces 1m creme eggs a day. * Global Benchmarking: â€Å"We’ve got lots of key performance indicators in terms of quality, safety, service level, and the environment, but for manufacturing we use OEE†. Cadbury’s highlight the importance of waste management owing to the fact that raw materials have dramatically increased in prices over recent years (Cocoa for example has increased from ? 1,000/t to ? 1,600/t. How to cite A Review of Cadburys Supply Chain, Papers

Underoaths 777 free essay sample

Underoath’s 777 The time of 777 is from 2004- 2005. 777 has a great entertainment value. If you like shows like â€Å"The Real World†, then you’ll like this dvd because it is a look in their lives. You meet their friends and you get a good feel for who Underoath is. This movie has a great music value and a lot of energy. It makes you feel like you are at their concerts. Everyone in the band gives an interview of themselves. The purpose of 777 is to show you their life on tour. This movie is a great documentary for all ages I would give this movie 3.5 stars out of 5 stars. The stars of Underoath are Dallas TaliaFerro Taylor(Vocals), Octavio Lafayette Fernandez (Guitars), Timothy Francis Mctague (Guitars), Christopher Allen Dudley (Keyboards), William Edwin Nottke (Bass) and Aaron Roderick Gillespie (Drums Bvg’s). 777 features the Hot Topic signing at Countryside Mall, the Myspace secret show â€Å"Behind The Scenes† footage, The European Tour, shows in France, Paris, New Zealand and Australia, London, Japan, MTV, NYC, Bamboozle, The U. We will write a custom essay sample on Underoaths 777 or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page S tour with Poison The Well, and Cities Burn, Somewhere in Canada, Allentown, Pa and Sweden. The Myspace tour has the songs: I Don’t Feel Very Respective Today, It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Door, In Regards To Myself, To Whom It May Concern, Writing On The Walls, and Everyone Looks So Good From Here. The Music Videos include: Writing On The Walls, In Regards To Myself, and You’re Ever So Inviting. Gabriel Wiede

Free Essays on The Right To Be Free

The Right to be Free Freedom. Webster’s dictionary defines freedom as the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action as well as liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another. American history has been, in essence, a huge struggle for those very principles. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, â€Å"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind† (Qtd. In Sime and McCambridge, 225). The integrity of your own mind is the purpose for which nearly every social battle in this country, as well as abroad, has been fought. America has made a history of fighting for the right to have every principle of freedom a part of each person’s daily life, in fact, it was the idea of freedom that resulted in the founding of the nation. From the day that the religiously persecuted set sail for the new world from the â€Å"old† to escape religious oppression to the day of the passing of the Civil Rights Act, America’s past abounds with st ories of freedom both won and lost as people of every race and sex fought and continue to fight to obtain the right to act and think as individuals. It was King Henry VIII of England that inadvertently ignited the separatist-flame that would eventually lead to the population of America. He did this through his public and official break from Catholicism in the 1530s, which had previously been the religion most widely practiced in his kingdom. His marital problems however brought him to realize that the catholic religion was not the proper religious niche for him, and along with him came many who believed separation was the correct path. This separation however would have left Henry and his followers religion-less had he not elected to replace Catholicism with his own Church of England. His action powerfully stimulated some English reformers to undertake a total purification of English Christianity (qtd. In Bailey, Kennedy, and Cohen, 43). These reformers came... Free Essays on The Right To Be Free Free Essays on The Right To Be Free The Right to be Free Freedom. Webster’s dictionary defines freedom as the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action as well as liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another. American history has been, in essence, a huge struggle for those very principles. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, â€Å"Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind† (Qtd. In Sime and McCambridge, 225). The integrity of your own mind is the purpose for which nearly every social battle in this country, as well as abroad, has been fought. America has made a history of fighting for the right to have every principle of freedom a part of each person’s daily life, in fact, it was the idea of freedom that resulted in the founding of the nation. From the day that the religiously persecuted set sail for the new world from the â€Å"old† to escape religious oppression to the day of the passing of the Civil Rights Act, America’s past abounds with st ories of freedom both won and lost as people of every race and sex fought and continue to fight to obtain the right to act and think as individuals. It was King Henry VIII of England that inadvertently ignited the separatist-flame that would eventually lead to the population of America. He did this through his public and official break from Catholicism in the 1530s, which had previously been the religion most widely practiced in his kingdom. His marital problems however brought him to realize that the catholic religion was not the proper religious niche for him, and along with him came many who believed separation was the correct path. This separation however would have left Henry and his followers religion-less had he not elected to replace Catholicism with his own Church of England. His action powerfully stimulated some English reformers to undertake a total purification of English Christianity (qtd. In Bailey, Kennedy, and Cohen, 43). These reformers came...

History and Background of the Kashmir Conflict

History and Background of the Kashmir Conflict Kashmir, officially referred to as Jammu and Kashmir, is an 86,000-square-mile region (about the size of Idaho) in northwest India and northeast Pakistan so breathtaking in physical beauty that Mugal ​(or Moghul) emperors in the 16th and 17th century considered it an earthly paradise. The region has been violently disputed by India and Pakistan since their 1947 partition, which created Pakistan as the Muslim counterpart to Hindu-majority India. History of Kashmir After centuries of Hindu and Buddhist rule, Muslim Moghul emperors took control of Kashmir in the 15th century, converted the population to Islam and incorporated it into the Moghul empire. Islamic Moghul rule should not be confused with modern forms of authoritarian Islamic regimes. The Moghul empire, characterized by the likes of Akbar the Great (1542-1605) embodied Enlightenment ideals of tolerance and pluralism a century before the rise of the European Enlightenment. (Moghuls left their mark on the subsequent Sufi-inspired form of Islam that dominated the subcontinent in India and Pakistan, before the rise of more jihadist-inspired Islamist mullahs.) Afghan invaders followed the Moghuls in the 18th century, who were themselves driven out by Sikhs from Punjab. Britain invaded in the 19th century and sold the entire Kashmir Valley for half a million rupees (or three rupees per Kashmiri) to the brutal repressive ruler of Jammu, the Hindu Gulab Singh. It was under Singh that the Kashmir Valley became part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The 1947 India-Pakistan Partition and Kashmir India and Pakistan were partitioned in 1947. Kashmir was split as well, with two-thirds going to India and a third going to Pakistan, even though Indias share was predominantly Muslim, like Pakistan. Muslims rebelled. India repressed them. War broke out. It wasnt settled until a 1949 cease-fire brokered by the United Nations and a resolution calling for a referendum, or plebiscite, allowing Kashmiris to decide their future for themselves. India has never implemented the resolution. Instead, India has maintained what amounts to an occupying army in Kashmir, cultivating more resentment from the locals than fertile agricultural products. Modern Indias founders- Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi- both had Kashmiri roots, which partially explains Indias attachment to the region. To India, Kashmir for the Kashmiris means nothing. Indian leaders standard line is that Kashmir is an integral part of India. In 1965, India and Pakistan fought their second of three major wars since 1947 over Kashmir. The United States was largely to blame for setting the stage for war. The cease-fire three weeks later was not substantial beyond a demand that both sides put down their arms and a pledge to send international observers to Kashmir. Pakistan renewed its call for a referendum by Kashmirs mostly Muslim population of 5 million to decide the regions future, in accordance with a 1949 UN resolution. India continued to resist conducting such a plebiscite. The 1965 war, in sum, settled nothing and merely put off future conflicts. (Read more about the Second Kashmir War.) The Kashmir-Taliban Connection With the rise to power of Muhammad Zia ul Haq (the dictator was president of Pakistan from 1977 to 1988), Pakistan began its slump toward Islamism. Zia saw in Islamists a mean of consolidating and maintaining his power. By patronizing the cause of anti-Soviet Mujahideens in Afghanistan beginning in 1979, Zia curried and won Washingtons favorand tapped into massive quantities of cash and weaponry the United States channeled through Zia to feed the Afghan insurgency. Zia had insisted that he be the conduit of arms and weaponry. Washington conceded. Zia diverted large amounts of cash and weaponry to two pet projects: Pakistans nuclear-weapons program, and developing an Islamist fighting force that would subcontract the fight against India in Kashmir. Zia largely succeeded at both. He financed and protected armed camps in Afghanistan that trained militants whod be used in Kashmir. And he supported the rise of a hard-core Islamist corps in Pakistani Madrassas and in Pakistans tribal areas that would exert Pakistans influence in Afghanistan and Kashmir. The corps name: The Taliban. Thus, the political and militant ramifications of recent Kashmiri history are  intimately connected with the rise of Islamism in northern and western Pakistan, and in Afghanistan. Kashmir Today According to a Congressional Research Service report, Relations between Pakistan and India remain deadlocked on the issue of Kashmiri sovereignty, and a separatist rebellion has been underway in the region since 1989. Tensions were extremely high in the wake of the Kargil conflict of 1999 when an incursion by Pakistani soldiers led to a bloody six-week-long battle. Tensions over Kashmir rose dangerously in fall 2001, forcing then-Secretary of State Colin Powell to de-escalate tensions in person. When a bomb exploded in the Indian Jammu and Kashmir state assembly and an armed band assaulted the Indian Parliament in New Delhi later that year, India mobilized 700,000 troops, threatened war, and provoked Pakistan into mobilizing its forces. American intervention compelled then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who had been particularly instrumental in further militarizing Kashmir, provoking the Kargil war there in 1999, and facilitating Islamist terrorism subsequently, in January 2002 vowed to end the presence of terrorist entities on Pakistani soil. He promised to ban and eliminate terrorist organizations, including Jemaah Islamiyah, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Jaish-e-Mohammed. Musharrafs pledges, as always, proved empty. Violence in Kashmir continued. In May 2002, an attack on an Indian army base at Kaluchak killed 34, most of them women and children. The attack again brought Pakistan and India to the brink of war. Like the Arab-Israeli conflict, the conflict over Kashmir remains unresolved. And like the Arab-Israeli conflict, it is the source, and perhaps the key, to peace in regions far greater than the territory in dispute.

Loophole in the Legal System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Loophole in the Legal System - Essay Example More specific questions regarding the influence of race on jury decision-making have also emerged from this spate of well-publicised cases: How does a defendant's race influence juror's perception and judgement How does the racial composition of a jury affect its deliberations and final decision Is the influence of race on jurors the same in all trails What difference, if any, would it make if more of the lawyers representing criminal defendants were racial minorities Studies show that Justices of the courts who served from 1789-1962 were socially atypical of the average American background: they came from upper-class families, attended the best law schools, were white male and generally protestant (Abraham, 1962; Ulmer, 1973). This unrepresentative nature of the courts can challenge the legitimacy of an institution. A judicial system of white men can be seen as producing only white man's justice. Another reason one can posit for the desirability of minorities in the judiciary is assimilation. America's heterogeneous population is clustered in groups that thrive along racial, religious, and national-background harmonization (Gordon, 1964). With the Hispanic population growing at a rapid rate, with blacks, Native American Indians, Asians, Jews, and White Anglo-Saxons, America, as a nation, faces the problem of how these groups can exist alongside one another. The United States is a pluralistic society.

Interface Between Theory And Practice In Reflecting On Creative Essay

Interface Between Theory And Practice In Reflecting On Creative Teaching And Learning - Essay Example 12). Even so, there has been a call for a relaxation of the dominant prescriptive and policy saturated teaching and learning agenda (Jeffrey 2006, p. 399). Theory and experience both demonstrate that creativity in teaching and learning is becoming more significant for progress and congruence in the knowledge society of the 21st century (Ferrari, Cachia and Punie 2009, p. iii). Be that as it may, the interface between the theory and practice relative to creative teaching and learning covet an uneasy co-existence. Sawyer (2011) informs that although creativity or improvisation is a necessary criteria for effective teaching and learning, prescriptive teaching as dictated by a statutory directed curriculum and the focus on public testing outcomes has given way to a culture of â€Å"less creative teaching and learning† (p. 2). This essay examines the theoretical basis of creativity in teaching and learning and demonstrates how these theories can be put to practice. The first part of this essay critically analyses theories of creative teaching and learning and the second part will reflect on the experiences and observations of the author during creative week. Theoretical Perspectives on Creative Teaching and Learning Definition of Creative Teaching and Learning . ... 30). In this regard, creativity in teaching and learning is characterized by four factors. First it involves â€Å"thinking or behaving imaginatively† (NACCCE 1999, p. 30). Secondly, the imaginative thinking and behaving must have a purpose in that it must be directed at achieving goals or objectives. Thirdly, in thinking, acting and achieving, there must be some originality involved. Finally, the results must have some value to the goals or objectives (NACCCE 1999, p. 30). Creative teaching is thus defined as: Teachers using imaginative approaches to make learning more interesting, exciting and effective (NACCE 1990 p. 6). The emphasis appears to be on engagement in terms of making learning more interesting. Perceptions are that students who are engaged are more likely to retain what they are being taught (Willms 2003, p. 3). It is therefore possible to argue, that by definition, creativity in teaching and learning is method for engaging students and therefore improving outco mes for individual learners. Theories of Creative Teaching and Learning Theories of creative teaching and learning embrace the twin concepts of teaching for creativity and teaching creatively. Teaching for creativity focuses on the â€Å"learner orientation† of teaching and teaching creatively focuses on the â€Å"teacher orientation† of creativity teaching (Cremin 2009, p. 36). Cremin (2009) explains that creative teaching thus makes â€Å"learning more interesting and effective† (p. 36). Teachers also identify â€Å"children’s creative strengths† and foster â€Å"their creativity† (Cremin 2009, p. 36). Creative teaching practices are more effective when students find purpose in the lesson through practical exercises or through mental or personal