Saturday, August 31, 2019

The Crucible- Compare and Contrast Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris

Taylor Orr Mrs. Blakley AP English III-3 16 November 2012 Reverend Hale vs Reverend Parris Arthur Miller’s play The Crucible is a compelling look at the witch hunts in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. In the play, Reverend Hale and Reverend Parris play major roles in the town and influence a shrewd of characters. They both have a number of job duties and responsibilities in common. As well as have a variation in personality, attitude, changes in the play and different roles at the end of the play.In the beginning of the play Reverend Parris is struggling with his daughter Betty – which has become â€Å"inert†. When asked if the cause of her behavior is due to witchery with Abigail in the forest, Parris refuses to have it as though it will stain his clean reputation, â€Å"But if you trafficked with spirits in the forest I must know now, for surely my enemies will, and they will ruin me with it. †(1038).Reverend Parris’s personality is too overcome with the thoughts of others, to be a leader of the town he acts more like a puppet , â€Å"I cannot go before the congregation when I know you have not opened with me. †(1038). Proctor says of Parris: â€Å". . . the last meeting I were at you spoke so long on deeds and mortgages I thought it were an auction† (841). Reverend Hale, on the other hand, is more of a strong leader. Hale is more compelled to find the truth and accept it, no matter positive or negative, â€Å"We shall need hard study if it comes to tracking down the Old Boy[Devil]. †

Friday, August 30, 2019

Case Study †Mandalay Shweyi Co., Ltd.

I wish to express my sincere appreciation to U Aye Kyaw, Managing Director – Cum Principal of Myanmar Human Resources Co., Ltd. (MHR). I would like to express my heartfelt thanks and deepest gratitude to my course instructors, Dr. Ohnmar Myint for providing invaluable guidance, encouragement and supervision throughout the process of this assignment. I am also deeply thankful to Mandalay Shweyi Company Limited for the kind permission to study and analyze their operations. I also would like to express my special thanks to ABE for the opportunity to study for the Post Graduate Diploma through which I have gained a thorough understands of business concepts, idea and knowledge. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their love and support throughout my life. I would also like to thank all my friends for their help in the task of developing this assignment.Executive SummaryThis assignment focuses â€Å"A Research on Improving Customer Satisfaction and Retention† of Man dalay Shweyi Co., Ltd which is a major manufacturer of alcohol industry and also a nationwide foods & beverages marketer in Myanmar. Customer satisfaction may be identified as external and internal customer satisfaction of an organisation.The main objectives of this study were focused on external customer satisfaction, to explore the main influences of customer satisfaction and to determine their relationships with customer satisfaction. This paper also intends to present the research methods reflection of customer satisfaction lead to maximize customer satisfaction benefits and minimize the customer dissatisfaction which were caused by customer service and product quality factors of Herbal Tea Product from Mandalay Shweyi Co., Ltd.Personal StatementI am a candidate of Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management (ABE). I have been trying to complete post-graduate diploma in business management as a bridge to further study for MBA because my aim is to manage either my own business or to be able to successfully manage other businesses. This assignment is requirement for â€Å"Research Methods and their Applications to Marketing† course.Firstly I learnt the business operations and activities of Mandalay Shweyi by interviewing, observation, surveying and studying documents. I learned of the vision, mission, business strategies and challenges by interviewing the management team and identified business practice and activities through dialogs with technicians and staff. By preparing this assignment, I can apply the marketing research concepts and marketing concepts which are covered in ABE courses.This paper displays â€Å"A Research on Improving Customer Satisfaction and Retention† profile of Mandalay Shweyi Company. I have tried my best not only reflection on the subjects and experiences but also to meet the assignment goals and constraints. I hereby declare that this assignment is a bonafide work carried out by myself. It has not been submitted to an y other university or institution for the award of any degree, certified or published any time before.Corporate ProfileAlthough started as a small scale business in 1992, Mandalay Shweyi Co., Ltd. Shweyi has grown into one of Myanmar's largest alcoholic beverages manufacturers with two distilleries one in Yangon and one in Mandalay. The full product portfolio includes 20 products in six different groups. Superior quality is obtained through Shweyi’s strict quality standards which are applied advanced manufacturing process. The company was formed with the well experienced distillers, knowledgeable technical experts and engineers from Yangon Institute of Technology. Shweyi is a major manufacturer of alcohol industry and also a nationwide foods & beverages marketer in Myanmar.There are nine branch offices in order to cope the whole national market (see Appendix-A). The vision of the company is â€Å"to provides healthy foods & beverages to consumers†, they produce healthy liquors series includes HERBAL RUM and SOBASHOCHU (Buckwheat Liquors). And the company also  manufactures various kinds of healthy food including Buckwheat products, Honey products and Herbal Tea products.Background of the studyNowadays, bombing of global market effect, it becomes more and more competitions in business environment and then customer satisfaction is becoming crucial role to the survival of any business organization. The competitors who will be successful recognize that customer satisfaction is a critical strategic weapon that can bring increased market share and increased profits. Therefore most of the companies all over the world are beginning to realize that customers’ satisfaction has a direct impact on the bottom line.And then they are trying to develop the unique strategies and new changes to satisfy their customer needs and wants and strive to exceed their expectations. Measuring customer satisfaction is the most important in differentiating the compan y. As markets shrink, companies are scrambling to boost customer satisfaction and keep their current customers rather than devoting additional resources to chase potential new customers. The key to customer retention is customer satisfaction.Therefore â€Å"A Research on Improving Customer Satisfaction and Retention† is essential for all business organisations. The need for customer satisfaction measurement is well documented and it can increase revenue and profit due to higher customer retention.MethodologyThis paper is a case study of Mandalay Shweyi Co., Ltd. from an inside-out perspective. It attempts to explore the benefits of Customer Satisfaction Survey and how it can provide the company with insight for development and support for future strategic decision making processes.This research was completed to identify what key components affect customer satisfaction at Mandalay Shweyi product. In this research methodology which included research design, questionnaires, samp ling process, data collection method, research timeframe and method of analysis.Research Design Exploratory: After getting the permission from company’s board of director, I  started to discuss what factors of Herbal Tea product contribute to customer satisfaction with marketing team. Because of time and budget constraints, I was unable to conduct focus groups or in depth interviews. By doing brainstorming with marketing team, I developed the research design.Descriptive: To gain a better understanding of the problem, and to clarify the research questions, I conducted secondary research to discover what experts found customer satisfaction to be at other food and beverage products. This research allowed me to gain a solid understanding of the business.QuestionnairesAfter developing what factors may lead to customer satisfaction at Herbal Tea product, I began to design a questionnaire to collect primary data from wholesalers and consumers. The type of instrument used in this r esearch was a five-point likert scale questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into three sections. The initial portion of wholesaler questionnaire included customer service factors, the second section tested the product quality and the last section tested the pricing and reliability (reliability means that it has no side effect on customer) of Herbal Tea product.In the first portion of consumer questionnaire included demographic factors, the second section was asked the product quality and the last section measured the pricing and reliability of Herbal Tea product. The five-point likert scale assigned points 1,2,3,4 and 5. The questionnaire was pre-tested among a group of 25 potential respondents but no major problems were detected. Several minor modifications were made to ensure clarity of the items in the final version of the questionnaire (see Appendix-B).Sampling process Data were collected through survey using a structured questionnaires administered to wholesalers and con sumers (end-users). The total number of respondents (samples) who participated in this research was 149. The sample was separated into two groups. One is wholesalers group (wholesalers, N=58) and the next is consumers group (consumers, N=91). In this research the type of sampling that I used was convenient sampling.Data Collection MethodI collected the primary data by using marketing team and distributing the questionnaires to wholesalers and consumers. After collecting the data, I coded the questionnaire and entered the data into the SPSS software system to run statistical tests to analyze the data I collected. I collected the secondary research by finding professional articles and past research.Research Time FrameI compiled a research report that addresses how to improve customer satisfaction and retention at Mandalay Shweyi. I began my research in October 2010 and started to develop constructs and research hypotheses to answer the research question of what factors influence custo mer satisfaction at Mandalay Shweyi. In early November I developed my survey by putting the constructs I had previously created into likert scales. In last week of November I surveyed customers in the market, using questionnaire to measure satisfaction, and at early December I ran tests on the data using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 15.0. Method of AnalysisIn this research diagrammatic representations are used to represent the information which included frequencies and correlation tables, and bar charts (see Appendix-C). Appropriate statistical techniques like descriptive data analysis and Pearson correlation analysis were used to analyse and interpret the data.A Literature ReviewMarketing Concept Philip Kotler who is the world's foremost marketing guru. In his first book, â€Å"Marketing Management (1967)†, marketing has been defined as â€Å"A function of management with scientific rigour, models and statistical analysis†. The à ¢â‚¬Ëœmarketing concept' in the words of Kotler is â€Å"Holds that achieving organisational goals depends on determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and more efficiently than competitors do.†Marketing is only one factor in attracting and keeping customers but it cannot fulfill its managerial role unless customer needs and wants are understood and satisfied. The organisation must try to understand the target market’s needs and wants.  Needs describe the basic requirements of human, people need food, air, water, clothing, and shelter to survive. People also have strong needs for recreation, education, and entertainment. These needs become wants when they are directed to specific objects that might satisfy the need (Philip Kotler, 2006). Marketing StrategyThe aim of any business organisation is to make profit. This can only be achieved by forming an effective marketing strategy which can actually incre ase double or triple of organisational sales. Marketing Strategy is the set of helps to guidelines and policies used for effectively matching marketing programmes with target market opportunities in order to achieve organisational objectives. Developing marketing strategy includes deciding which customers to target and how to position products and etc. When forming a marketing strategy, customer satisfaction is really the main goal. And a strategy that does not address the needs of the customers cannot be classified as a good marketing strategy.Marketing MixThe major marketing management decisions can be classified into four categories as follow: Product: The product is the physical product or service offered to the consumer. Price: Pricing decisions should take into account profit margins and the probable pricing response of competitors. Place (distribution): Place decisions are those associated with channels of distribution that serve as the means for getting the product to the ta rget customers. Promotion: Promotion decisions are those related to communicating and selling to potential consumers. It is useful to know the value of a customer in order to determine whether additional customers are worth the cost of acquiring them.These variables are known as the marketing mix and also referred to as the â€Å"Four ‘P's. The marketing mix is the combination of marketing activities that an organisation engages in so as to best meet the needs of its targeted market. The service marketing mix involves analysing the 7’p of marketing, involving Product, Price, Place, Promotion, Physical Evidence, Process and People. Most of the firm attempts to generate a positive response in the target market by blending these four marketing mix variables in an optimal manner.External and uncontrollable environmental factors are very important elements of the marketing strategy  Programs. Therefore Marketing Mix should include customers, environmental variables, and c ompetitive variables (Kotler, 1984). Marketing ResearchMarketing research is a systematic process which may include these steps: data – gathering, analysis, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information and finally to aid decision making. The main reasons of doing research are to reduce risks, to help in planning and forecasting results, to aid marketing mix-decisions and to improve decision making capabilities (ABE, Strategic Marketing Management, Study manual). Effective communicating research result on marketing mix is an essential component of the research process. Clear, concise, and cogent reports enable informed effective decision making. For this reason marketing research is necessary to measure and track customer satisfaction.Customer SatisfactionCustomer satisfaction is regarded as customers can get more benefits than their cost (Liu and Yen, 2010). In comparison with other traditional performance measures, customer satisfaction is probably less sensitive to s easonal fluctuations, changes in costs or changes in accounting practices (Kotler, 2006). Therefore, many researchers consider customer satisfaction to be the best indicator of a company’s future profit. Keeping existing customers is as important as acquiring new ones.The approach towards existing customers must be active, based on a separate marketing mix for customer retention (Rozenberg and Czepiel, 1992). Interaction between the one delivering the service and the customer is very important and has direct effect on the service quality and quality perception (Heuvel, 1993). Sales are the most important goal of any commercial enterprise; it becomes necessary to satisfy customers. For customer satisfaction it is necessary to establish and maintain certain important characteristics like:Quality Fair prices Good customer handling skills Efficient delivery Serious consideration of consumer complaintsAccording to the Michael Porter (2006), today, more and more companies are recog nizing the importance of satisfying and retaining current customers.  Major advantage of customer retention is â€Å"Acquiring new customers can cost five times more than the costs involved in satisfying and retaining current customers.It requires a great deal of effort to induce satisfied customers to switch away from their current suppliers.† Customer satisfaction levels can be measured using survey techniques and questionnaires. Getting high levels of customer satisfaction is very important to a business because satisfied customers are most likely to be loyal and to make repeated orders and to use a wide range of services offered by a business.Analysis, Findings and DiscussionTo begin analyzing the Herbal Tea Product data, SPSS version 15.0 was used for statistical testing. In this research descriptive data analysis, frequencies and inferential statistic (Pearson correlation analysis) were used. From the analysis of Descriptive, Frequencies and Pearson correlation, the m ain findings and discussion can be found as follow.Demography of CustomersThe total number of respondents who participated in this research was 91 consumers and 58 wholesalers. Table 1 illustrates the demographic data of consumer respondents. Table 1: Demographic data of Customers (Consumers, N=91)Items n %Gender Male 38 41.8Female 53 58.2Age 20 to 40 41 to 60 61 and above 39 43 9 42.9 47.3 9.8Monthly Income (Myanmar Kyat) 10,000 to 4,00,000 4,10,000 to 8,00,000 8,10,000 and above 50 33 8 55.0 46.2 9.8As shown in table (1), the respondents consisted of 41.8% male and 58.2% female. Most of the respondents (47.3%) were in the age range of 41 to 60 years old. 42.9% of the respondents were 20 to 40 years old and only 9.8% of respondents were 61 years old and above. With regard to personal monthly income level, over half of the respondents i.e (55%) had the level of (10,000 to 4,00,000) Kyats, whereas another 46.2% of respondents earned (4,10,000 to 8,00,000) Kyats and only 9.8% of respo ndents had the range of above 8,10,000 Kyats.Frequencies of Consumers SatisfactionFrom the result of descriptive analysis on customer satisfaction (illustrated in Table 2), 29.7% of the consumers were satisfied with Good condition,  25.3% were satisfied with Fair condition, 17.6% of consumers were satisfied, 16.5% were satisfied with Very Good condition and only 11% were dissatisfied with Poor condition in quality of products.Table 2Customer satisfaction on product quality, taste of product and quality of packing (Consumers, N=91) Item Poor Fair Good Very Good ExcellentProduct Quality (%) 11.0 25.3 29.7 16.5 17.6Taste of Product (%) 18.7 24.2 25.3 23.1 8.8Quality of Packing (%) 16.5 25.3 34.1 12.1 12.1The result of finding on taste of products and quality of packing were displayed in Table 2. According to this research we can see most of the consumers are satisfied with 24.2%, 25.3% and 23.1% for fair, good and very good respectively on the taste of products. But 18.7% of consumer s were dislike the taste and only 8.8 % of the consumers were completely satisfied for taste. We can also see the frequencies of customer satisfaction on Table 2. Therefore we can conclude that majority consumers are satisfied with quality, taste and packing of the products. Table 3 shows the result of customer satisfaction on price, reliability of product and recommend to other for products.Even though (30.8%) of the respondents perceived that the price of the product were fair, another 33% were no comment (neither agree nor disagree) on price. However it was found that a significant total of 36.3% did not perceived price as fair. We can draw a conclusion that the price is not fair for most of respondents and we need to adjust the pricing strategy because pricing is one of the most important elements of the marketing mix and pricing a product too high or too low could mean a loss of sales for the organisation.For reliability (cannot side effect to consumer) of product, (38.5%) of c onsumers were neither agree nor disagree and a total of (34.1%) of the consumers were strongly reliable on product. But (27.5%) of consumers were not reliable on product. According to this result, we need to develop the product to get more reliable from customers.Table 3Customer satisfaction on price, reliability of product and recommend to other (Consumers, N=91) Item Strongly Disagree Disagree Neither Agree nor Disagree Agree Strongly AgreeFair Price (%) 16.5 19.8 33.0 14.3 16.5Reliability of Product (%) 12.1 15.4 38.5 24.2 9.9Recommend to other (%) 5.5 20.9 26.4 30.8 16.5Frequencies of Wholesalers SatisfactionTable 4 shows the result of wholesalers’ satisfaction on service quality. From this result most of the respondents of (20.7%, 39.7% and 12.1%) were felt neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, somewhat satisfied, completely satisfied respectively for on time delivery. According to this analysis we found that most of the respondents were satisfied for on time delivery. But 15.5% of respondents were felt completely dissatisfied and 12.1% of respondents were also felt somewhat dissatisfied for on time delivery. If we want to maintain our customer satisfaction and retention we should care dissatisfied customers by doing effective service recovery which can improve their satisfaction level.Half of the customers were felt neither satisfied nor dissatisfied on sale management. Completely dissatisfied was not found at sale management. For sale person’s dealing, we found most of the customers were satisfied and only 1.7% of respondents were completely dissatisfied. The result of non-defect performance revealed that only 1.7% was defected. Mostly they were performed without defect.Table 4Customer satisfaction on Service Quality (Wholesalers, N=58) Item Completely Dissatisfied Somewhat Dissatisfied Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied Somewhat Satisfied Completely SatisfiedOn Time Delivery (%) 15.5 12.1 20.7 39.7 12.1Sale Management (%) 0 17.2 51.7 24.1 6 .9Sale Person’s Dealing (%) 1.7 13.8 32.8 41.4 10.3Non-Defect Performance (%) 1.7 20.7 44.8 27.6 5.2Hypothesis Testing and Results Table 5 Hypothesis 1: There is relationship between product quality and customer satisfaction Variable Pearson Correlation, r Significant, p Mean Standard Deviation Product Quality .276(**) .008 3.04 1.255 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)

Thursday, August 29, 2019

The Role of Sports in Popular Culture

The Role of Sports in Popular Culture In 1972, President Richard Nixon signed Title XI of the Education Amendments (1972). This law simple states, â€Å"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation, in be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. † (United States Department of Justice, Section 1681, 2013).In this assignment, Team B will address the issues of gender equality in sports. First, we will provide a brief history and its current state. Next, we will construct an argument about the influence the issue has on sports, its fans, athletes, and imagined communities. Following this, the team will make recommendations about how to consume and participate in sports responsibly, whether watching or playing. Gender Equality in Sports Gender equality in sports has a long and bittersweet history.This history is riddled with discrimination an d division of female athletes from elementary schools, high schools, collegiate, and the professional level. Nevertheless, there have been major accomplishments by female athletes. For example, in 1932 an American, Helene Madison was the first woman in the Olympics to swim 100 yards under a minute. In 1958, the Italian, Maria-Teresa became the first woman to compete in the European Grand Prix.A Moroccan woman named Nawal El Moutawakel became the first woman to win an Olympic medal in the 400-meter hurdles in the 1984 Olympics. Finally, Tegla Loroupe was the first Kenyan to win a marathon in 1994. Today, gender equality in sports has more to do with equal pay, media coverage, and promoting a female athlete as a part time model. The discrimination still exists because it denies the female athlete’s ability, talent, and skills and focuses on them as a sexy object.Case in point, Danica Patrick the first woman to win an IndyCar Series is often depicted as a swimsuit model rather t han a professional racecar driver. Nevertheless, the history of woman in sports will continue to thrived and achieve major accomplishments. Reference Title XI of the Education Amendments of 1972. (2013). Title XI of the Education Amendments of 1972. Retrieved from http://www. justice. gov/crt/about/cor/coord/ixlegal. php#I. Overview of Title IX: Interplay with Title VI, Section 504, Title VII, and the Fourteenth Amendment

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Community Poling Through Neighborhood Watch Essay

Community Poling Through Neighborhood Watch - Essay Example Neighborhood watches have long been argued as an effective way to empower the community where its members actively participate in crime prevention. Neighborhood watches are also perceived as â€Å"easy to start† as the members would only act the role of â€Å"eyes and ears† of the police force (Williamson, 2008, p. 98). Lastly, this paper supports the hypothesis that there are many ways to gain support for a neighborhood watch if only communication, cooperation, education, and forums are to be highlighted. Neighborhood Watch Not all people may know the concept of neighborhood watch or even its basic forms and processes. Neighborhood watch works toward the concept of crime prevention and reducing fear of crime (Stephens, 2000, p. 19). It is one of the basic forms of homeland security where community members are empowered through active participation in crime monitoring and reporting and feel safe due to the perception that community members will help one another against the threat of burglary and other projected crimes. For the last two decades, neighborhood watch has been so popular because of its dynamics. ... 270–273). There is no need for a neighborhood watch to risk their lives by going out to the suspected crime area. A simple alarm and notification system would serve the purpose of crime prevention. How do we initiate a neighborhood watch in the community? The process of neighborhood watch starts with recruitment or enlistment. First, one will enlist local members of the neighborhood to assist crime prevention officials. Members should voluntarily agree and participate in a neighborhood watch, and coercion is prohibited. Second, they will need to contact their local law enforcement agency to schedule a meeting. Third, members will discuss community concerns and will develop a community action plan about the identified concerns. Fourth, members conduct regular meetings and trainings to develop relevant skills. Lastly, a neighborhood watch member will implement a phone tree and action steps so that a systematic and fast notification could be done regularly. A neighborhood watch m ember must remember and implement these steps carefully to foster a successful neighborhood watch program which will lead to effective reduction of crime rates. The local crime prevention officer holds the most important role in a neighborhood watch including his regular attendance in the meetings. As the local crime prevention officer, he is responsible for explaining the duties of each member of the neighborhood watch. He also sets the time and place of meetings which could be held in a home or local community house. In the said meeting, a leader of the neighborhood watch team is established, who could gather facts about the crime, check police reports, do victimization surveys, learn

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Motivation Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Motivation Plan - Essay Example A team becomes one because of the diversity exhibited by the numerous members. However, in order to achieve success, the members must use their diverse features to unify and improve the performance of the group towards the attainment of the goals and objectives of the group. To achieve such, the group requires an effective leader. One who does not only motivate but also compels the members to commit to the activities of the group. Team C has just such a perfect leader. Elected democratically by all the group members, the group leader thus exhibits the diversity portrayed by members in the democratic process. The group leader unifies the group owing to his democratic election. Additionally, he enjoys the authority to summon members thus improve the accountability required by the group members. With such, the leader becomes a directional and unifying force capable of centering the group’s energy towards the attainment of specific goals. While the leader enjoys great autonomy and control to the group, the members influence his actions and decisions. He consults great with the members a feature that improves a sense of belonging of the members into the group. The group members influence the decisions that run the group. They own the decision since they generate them. The leader thus simply unifies the energies of the group towards the completion of any one task before proceeding to the next. Such a feature earns the members trust and indulgence in the group’s activities owing to the fact that the members generate the ideas thus determines the nature of the completion of the works. As discussed earlier, for the group to function seamlessly and attain specific goals and objectives, the members require appropriate motivation. The group leader must therefore motivate the group members and ensure that he unifies them towards the attainment of specific objectives. The leader is the primary motivational factor in the group. He unifies all the group members b y determining their actions. Through his active and passionate involvement with the activities of the group, the leader motivates other members to work equally as hard. The leader must exhibit a quality of charisma capable of manipulating the strengths and weaknesses of the members. He must use such to commit members to the tasks of the group by establishing a way of earning the trust and commitment of each member into the group. The members possess diverse features that are both weaknesses and strengths in diverse measures. The leader must effortlessly find ways of suppressing the weaknesses in the members while fostering the strengths thus encouraging the active participation of the members into the team (Duck, 2006). The group members on the other hand have a moral obligation to participate in the activities of the group equally. This implies that their active participation is primary if the group is to succeed. They must exhibit the natural drive and motivation to participate by either helping the leader make decision or by implementing the decisions made by the leader. Their participation in the election of the leader earns the leader the authority over them. They therefore have the moral obligation to obey and implement the decisions made by their leader. Respect and submission to the leader is a prerogative to the success of the group’s activities. Teamwork dictates that each member suppresses their individual interests and prioritizes the interest of the group. This implies tha

Mergers and Acquisitions Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Mergers and Acquisitions Case Study - Essay Example The acquisition may generate monopoly gains whereby the purchasing a rival firm might minimize competition and enhance industry profits (Faulkner, Teerikangas and Joseph 2012, p.502). On August 17, 2010, SABMiller declared its intention to take its bid for Foster’s Group Ltd directly to the company’s shareholders. On December 16, 2011, SABMiller, one of leading brewers globally with more than 200 beer brands and over 70,000 workers in more than 75 countries, acquired Carlton and United Breweries (CUB) representing the Australian beverage business of Foster’s Group Limited. The court approval of the transaction preceded the entity's shareholders meeting, whereby the deal received the green light by 99.1% of current shareholders. The completion of the transaction scheme of arrangement can be regarded as a notable success given that SABMiller’s earlier proposal (June 2011) to acquire Foster’s Group for $4.90 per share became hostile in August 2011. In the approved transaction, Foster’s Group’s ordinary shareholders gained total cash consideration of A$5.40 per share, which represented an enterprise value of about Australia $11.7billion. In addition, to completing the acquisition of the firm, SABMiller also entered into a strategic alliance with Castle in Africa. Some of the means of gaining control of a public company entail a public offer (takeover bid) detailing gaining control of a listed public company. Recommended takeover can also be undertaken by: scheme and launching a dual listed company structure (Ahlstrom and Bruton 2010, p.190). A scheme demands a proposal to be tabled by the target to its shareholder and approved by the court. Court’s approval is critical as it... This paper stresses that the acquisition was not difficult to integrate, and it is improbable that SABMiller would dispose the acquired firm. The paper has established that the acquisition heralded benefits to the SABMiller’s shareholders given that the acquisition aligned with the firm’s strategic priorities, and handed the firm with a leading position in the stable and profitable Australia beer industry. SABMiller expects Foster’s to become a critical part of its business via the application of its commercial capabilities and global scale, as well as by building on the initiatives put in place by Foster’s management. The acquisition of Foster’s is anticipated to be EPS enhancing for SABMiller within the first full year of ownership, and herald economic returns that may exceed the project WACC by year 5. These results align with takeovers being highly motivated by maximization of shareholder wealth. Public mergers and acquisition within Australia a re guided by the overriding market activity and requires the regulation of recommended and hostile bids. The regulation encompasses undertaking of due diligence; procedures for announcing and launching an offer. This report makes a conclusion that the acquisition of Foster’s Group Limited by SABMiller appears to be propelled by the objective of leveraging the synergies within the acquisition process. In order to keep up with growth and changes within the globalized economy, any entity has to pursue the path of growth that contains diverse challenges and issues and overcome them to become a success story. SABMiller, through its indirectly wholly-owned Australian subsidiary, acquisition of Foster’s can be regarded as a case mirroring a company following the path of success.

Monday, August 26, 2019

The Relevance of EDI for e-Business today A critical Evaluation Essay

The Relevance of EDI for e-Business today A critical Evaluation - Essay Example When organizations implement EDI in payment of employees, especially in companies and banks, this institution uses the term FEDI (Financial Electronic Data Interchange) (Schneider 2013, p. 138). For business managers, with the current use of extranets, intranets, digital currency, and electronic catalogues, they should acknowledge EDI’s relevance for e-business today. However, implementation of EDI in business organization not only brings positive impacts, but it also has some negative impacts, which can cause negative effects to users who are using recent versions of documents instead of a business partner (McGrath 2010, p. 76). The aim of this report is to enlighten business owners the relevance of EDI in e-business today. EDI is the electronic communications or exchange of business transactions between business organizations. It entails computer-to-computer communications directly to order systems and vendor databases. In the year 1996, the NIST defined EDI as a computer-to-computer transaction of severely formatted information representing documents rather than financial instruments. It means exchange of a series of messages between two or more parties, whereby one serves as a sender and the one a receiver (Zainol 2009, p. 256). The originator transmits the formatted data that represent a document to the receiver through physical transportation on electronic media storage such as CDs or USB Flash disks or via telecommunication (Zekos 2008, p. 67). Despite the relative advantages of EDI, most business organizations still have challenges in implementing EDIs in their operations. However, the entire process of implementing EDI is complex and this is the reason why there is still a large group of organizations that uses the traditional mode of transmitting transactions (Zainol 2009, p. 259). In addition, the process of

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Fist Language Aquisition Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fist Language Aquisition - Essay Example The first step in language acquisition of small children is the determination of sounds. Children learn words by imitating the words they hear from the people around them (people.umass.edu 4). They may have difficulty at first to pronounce the words correctly, but as time goes by, they acquire the correct pronunciation of the words. O’Grady and Sook, however, argue that children do not just imitate, they make their own rules based on what they observe from adults (OGrady and Sook 327). This theory is proven by a common feature of small child’s language, which is the presence of grammatical mistakes. An example of this is when kids say â€Å"goed† instead of â€Å"went† or â€Å"gooder† instead of â€Å"better.† Children might not have heard these words but have concluded that they were the right words to say based on their observation of the speech of those who surround them. There are two patterns in the child word learning, namely the referential and the expressive (pandora.ci.wwu.edu). Referential are the names of objects such as â€Å"dog† or â€Å"toy,† while expressive are the personal desires and social interactions such as â€Å"hi† or â€Å"good.† This characteristic reflects how parents are very influential in the first language acquisition of children. It is essential that when kids make a grammatical error, they should be corrected. Another characteristic of the language of small children is the deletion of unstressed syllables and the retention of stressed syllables in their pronunciation (OGrady and Sook 332). This is because the stressed syllables are more noticeable than the unstressed ones. An example cited by O’Grady and Sook is â€Å"kangaroo† which is often pronounced as â€Å"wu† and â€Å"telephone† which may be pronounced by a child as â€Å"fow† (333). From this feature of a child’s language, it can be said that their â€Å"ability to perceive the phonemic contrasts of their language develops well in advance of their ability to

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Augmenting the Level of Production of Renewable Energy within the UK Coursework

Augmenting the Level of Production of Renewable Energy within the UK - Coursework Example The report discusses the various prospects and policies of the project along with its implication upon the stakeholders specifically the natural environment. Notably, the approach of the Department of Energy and Climate Change to initiate the Severn Tidal Power can be regarded as a positive attempt to ensure a better and sustainable position for the energy sector of the nation. It also attempts to depict the positive impact the project can have on the future generations in terms of environmental sustainability and abundance of natural power and resources. However, the analysis suggested that the approach might cause severe negative implication upon the natural environment and habitat that can further endanger the lives of the aquatic animals. Contextually, several key recommendations have been made to mitigate the same in the long run. In the present day context, the climate change has become one of the sever issues in the global environment and likewise, authorities of each and ever y nation are emerging with approaches to deal with this particular environmental concern one-way or the other. There are numerous approaches that can be adapted to deal with the contemporary environmental issue. One such approach is the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gases to the natural environment. Contextually, this particular report will provide a brief overview of the approaches of the UK government to mitigate the environmental problems prevalent within the nation. The Committee on Climate Change has emphasized the production of renewable energy so that negative impact towards the environment could be mitigated. Likewise, this report will focus on providing a critical assessment of the proposal of the Department of Energy and Climate Change of UK to comprehend its probable effectiveness in a comprehensive manner.

Friday, August 23, 2019

CRITIQUE OF QUANLATATIVE ARTICLE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

CRITIQUE OF QUANLATATIVE ARTICLE - Essay Example The authors convincingly states that culture and financial capacity were hindrances to the divergence in the delivery of healthcare services to the Hispanics and immigrants. The authors insist that focusing on the removal of the two hindrances should be prioritized (Im, Guevara & Chee, 2007). Further, the authors use secondary resources to back up the hypothesis. The secondary sources include the 2002 Andersen et al. findings that Hispanic patients had to endure more pain and lesser quality of life healthcare services compared to the white Americans and the African Americans. The authors use another secondary source, Cleeland et. al., showing the language barrier prevents the vivid transfer of healthcare information between the healthcare provider and the Hispanic cancer patients. The misinformation between the Hispanic patients and the English-speaking White and African Americans created a vague picture of the patient’s true medical condition. The miscommunication precipitate d to medical professionals prescribing less effective medicines or medical procedures (Im, Guevara & Chee, 2007). Critique of the methodological congruence of your article. Substantiating the research view, the authors’ research methodology is to conduct an online forum with 15 Hispanic patients (Im, Guevara & Chee, 2007). The authors used secondary resources to back up the thesis statement. The authors sought to find out the Hispanic cancer patients’ pain management status, compared to non-Hispanic cancer patients’ pain management status. The online forum was used to gather data to affirm or negate the authors’ hypothesis (Nowaczyk, 1988). Further, the authors chose 15 respondents from a total population of 105 Hispanic cancer patients. The 15 chosen respondents were 18 years old or older. The selected respondents were of Hispanic ethnicity. The average age of the respondents is 49 years of age. 80 percent of the total 15 respondents belonged to the fema le gender. Almost 50 percent of the respondents graduated from middle school. Additionally, more than 90 percent of the respondents were jobless. Lastly, 60 percent of the 15 respondents are Mexicans. The other respondents were a Chicano, a Cuban, a Guatemalan, two Hispanic Americans, and one of vague Hispanic origin. The authors explain that patient-based healthcare research includes studying their ethnic culture’s influence on healthcare delivery services (Im, Guevara & Chee, 2007). Critique of the analytical and interpretive preciseness. Substantiating the research view, the authors use impressive analytical and interpretative preciseness. Showing the statistical tools’ findings, the authors offer convincing evidence that hurdles to better cancer healthcare services should be removed, at all cost. To ensure the findings are accurate or realistic, the 15 respondents were given wide freedom to exchange information among the other respondents. One Hispanic culture that cropped up was that Hispanic women are culturally trained to prioritize filling the needs of her children and family over her own personal needs and wants. The respondents commented that they were not forced by the researcher to pick one or more prepared answers to the forum discussions. Consequently, the average female Hispanic respondent felt that her

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Later Greek Legacy Essay Example for Free

Later Greek Legacy Essay Athenian comedy, satyrs and tragedy were recorded as one of the earliest theater forms to appear in world. Greek theater and plays had great impact on western drama and culture. Almost every Greek and roman city which was noteworthy in those days had open-air theater, which had neatly arranged seats in tiers looking over the nearby lovely view of landscape. In these theaters, the ancient Greek could sit so as to watch plays of Euripides, Arostophanes, Aeschhylus, Menender and Sophocles. These theatres were developed through God Dionysus ceremonial worship and were naturally communal. Greek comedy flourished much from c. 600 to c. 200 BC as a tradition in the ancient Greek. Athens comedy are claimed to have evolved from several festivals related to cult of the Dionyos who was God of Greek in charge of wine and fertility. Athens comedy was conducted during Dionysia which was festival conducted annually in honor of Dionysus. The Athens comedy ridiculed members of the society who were prominent and also mythology. Autochthony myth was basic to imaginary of culture to democracy of the Athens. These comedies narrated about people shared origins for people of diverse statuses and origins. They provided theoretical justification crucial for exclusivity and democratic egalitarianism. The comedies were furnishing basis for every one in the society to be common and thus equality between them all. The myth provided a generation model that justified exclusion of all foreigners and all the women from power. Autochthony discourse of Athenians was inextricably tied on sexual reproduction. The comedy also was advocated to release slaves from slavery and also enfranchise foreigners and other disfranchised people. Pericles’ proposal claimed that the Athenians had passed law limiting their citizenship especially people who were born by two Athenians. Menander’s comedy also had little insight to the affairs of Athenians. This comedy also eschew politics as well as talked about how young Athenians in romance faced obstacles in selecting young women of their choice (Ehrenberg Victor, 1943). Menander comedy depicted on the traditional democratic ideology of the Athenian society and is also against the sexual harassment and mistreatment that women in that society under go. This comedy also advocated for breaking down the internal divisions which was based on economic classes and status. This comedy also played role of struggling for politics between the Greek cities and the Hellenistic kingdoms. It also played role in democratic status subversion and reproduction boundaries. The comedy provided stories which could enable Athenians to identify themselves as democratic citizens rather than referring themselves with the political regime in power since the wealth people tend to control the society. Menander comedy countervails the narrative trajectories so as to reproduce and also resist the social civic order. These comedies emphasize on citizenship law may be changed and deploy characteristic of naturalism in the Athenian society. The Menander comedy in general politicized on marriage, political silence and the state and also the genre laws. The comedy also advocates for social transformation to remove the marriage obstacles and free the society away from the initial illusions and injustice. The manander comedy plays role of transforming the society from the traditional laws and ideology governing marriages and citizenship and also the elimination of the social evils in the society. The society tolerated and supported this ideology since it was deeply rooted in their minds and they had to support what their fore-fathers considered good for the society. The wealthy person could not afford to free their slaves since it would mean losing their wealth or fame. The Athenians also wanted to restore the democracy which was put in place by Demetrius (Taylor Rabun, 1997). The practices and beliefs of the Athenian sustained their identity as citizens of Athenian and more specifically as democratic citizens so they had to continue practicing them. Each individual Athenian was entitled to democracy irrespective of the social and economical class he belonged to and thus the need of maintaining their culture. The Athenians also saw the rule of sexual reproduction as being important to them since it enabled them to exist and to be at their state. They had belief that the gender and marriage practices in their society enabled them to be democratic and that is why they never accepted intermarriages in their society. The Athenians saw democratic culture and the Athenian law as governing them well. Their traditional ritual cerebrations and events were very much entertaining and supporting their traditional cultures and also were making them to be united and proud of themselves and thus it was very hard to accept to lose their cultures (McCarthy Kathleen, 2000). The Athenians also had their own laws which were governing them and they considered these laws as uniting them and thus they never wanted the laws to be interfered with by anyone since it would mean losing their identity. The Athenians also never wanted their traditions to lose vitality and vigor and thus they supported them. They supported the reproduction belief since they never wanted their society to be mixed up as they saw it could result splitting of their tradition. In conclusion, the Athenian comedy is fighting for elimination of Athenian traditions and beliefs in the society as well as enlightening Athenians to transform and leave their traditions which seem to be like illusions. Work cited Ehrenberg Victor, 1943, The People of Aristophanes: A Sociology of Old Attic Comedy, B. Blackbell. Taylor Rabun, 1997, Two Pathic Subcultures in Ancient Rome, Journal of Sexuality, Vol. 7. McCarthy Kathleen, 2000, Slaves, Masters, and the Art of Authority in Plautine Comedy, Princeton University Press.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Why Academic Wring Is Different Fom Other Uses of English Essay Example for Free

Why Academic Wring Is Different Fom Other Uses of English Essay Academic writing is employed when writing text in school and other formal organizations. It requires a specific formal structure that makes it unique. It is also important to use standard english. It is concise, simple and straight to the point. It usually focuses on an idea which can then be expanded to or explained in more detail. Academic writing should be independent, objective, comprehensive, and critical. It is very important to note punctuation marks and insert them appropriately. Whereas other styles of writing do not require any of such rules above, they are flexible and can be written in a form the author sees fit. Writing academically is usually intended for literate and informed audience. The information written is based on careful research and deductive reasoning on the topic so that there is evidence supporting your claim. The ideas should be comprehensible and easy to decipher. Unlike other forms of english, which is written for everybody, is structured and written carefully. Formal standard english is the only language allowed to be used in the academic style of writing. Informal aspects of english must be avoided to fully differentiate between academic standards and other forms of english. Academic writers are encouraged to write everything in its full form, avoid unnecessary abbreviations and the use of personal language. Grammar is also very important when writing academically. Academic writing basically requires a person to write complete sentences, starting each one with a capital letter and not using slangs. The writer should also be able to use complete homophones which are often confused example is their and there. Being able to write correctly the commonly misspelled words using standard english. Writers must also be able to create a paragraph starting with a topic sentence.  In conclusion, other forms of english are usually informal and grammar rules do not apply to them.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Roles Of Investment Banks In Mergers And Acquisitions Finance Essay

Roles Of Investment Banks In Mergers And Acquisitions Finance Essay BACKGROUND: Â  Mergers and Acquisitions which can also be abbreviated as MA, relates to the corporate strategy, company finance and management of buying, selling and combining of different firms which can assist, finance or help a developing company in a particular sector develop more without generating a need to create different business entity. The history of MA has evolved in five stages. The process of MA is triggered by the economic factors such as growth in GDP, interest rates and monetary policies which brings the companies and organizations to emerge in the transactions of MAs. The first stage is known as the first mergers wave which was commenced from 1897 to 1904. During this phase merger occurred between the companies who are in the line of productions of heavy manufacturing products like railroads, electricity, etc. All the mergers that happened during these phase are of horizontal type. The companies and organizations that are merged had enjoyed monopoly in the market because of their same kind of manufacturing business of heavy machineries and industrial goods. At the end of the first merger wave those companies that are involved in mergers and acquisitions have tasted bitter failures because of non achievement of desired efficiency. These failures were highly fuelled by the economic slowdown and stock market crash in 1903 and 1904 respectively. Those companies were further more retaliated by the legal frameworks, which are even not in their favour. The Supreme Court had passed a mandate stating the possibility of halting of the anticompetitive companies using the Sherman Act an act which was passed in 1890 by the US government against the combination of companies who creates the potential harm to the competitive markets by their cartels and monopolies. (William L. Letwin, Congress and the Sherman Antitrust Law: 1887-1890, 23 U.Chi.L.Rev 221 (1956)) The second wave merger took place from 1916 to1929. During this period the mergers between oligopolies had taken place rather than monopolies. The economic boom after the World War I had given rise to these mergers. The technological advancement in railroads and transportations by motor vehicles had given a proper infrastructure to these mergers and acquisitions. The government encouraged the companies to work united and the policy was implemented in 1920s. The second mergers wave was mainly a horizontal or conglomerate type. Mergers happened during this phase were mainly between the companies producing petroleum, food products, metals, transportation equipments and chemicals. Investment banks had a vital role in facilitating mergers and acquisitions during this phase. The end of second wave mergers happened due to sudden crash in stock market in 1929. The tax relief provided by the government helped mergers to start again in 1940s. The third wave merger took place between 1965 and 1969 which was of conglomerate in nature. These mergers were inspired by the high interest rates, rise in stock markets and strict antitrust policies. The interesting fact about these mergers is, the bidder firms were smaller in size than the target firms. These mergers were financed from equities and investment banks have no more vital roles in those mergers. The third wave mergers ended by the plan of the Attorney General to split the conglomerates in 1968 and also due to a poor performance by the conglomerates. The fourth wave mergers took place between 1981 and 1989 which was a kind of acquisitions. These mergers were not big in size as compared to those in third wave mergers. Mergers were happened between the oil and gas companies, airline and banking companies and pharmaceuticals. This wave ended due to anti takeover laws, financial reforms and Gulf war. The fifth wave mergers took place between 1992 and 2000. During this period mergers were inspired by globalization and rise in stock market. Mergers were financed by the equity and not by the debt. The motives of mergers have changed from short term to long term profits. This merger wave ended with the burst of stock market bubble. To sum up, the process of mergers and acquisitions is coming from all the way long and has passed through lots of economic and geographic barriers. It is being developed by the various economic factors. Many other factors have contributed in its growth and as long as these economic units of production exist, MA will continue to spread and develop. As this paper is all about the financing of MAs, firstly, we must know about the ways in which the transactions of MAs are financed. You can finance an acquisition by borrowing money based on assets you own yourself or you can borrow money based on the business value and assets of the company you wish to purchase. Mergers are also frequently financed by stock swaps or by issuing new stock in your company to use as payment to the target companys shareholders.( http://www.ehow.com/how_2119515_finance-buyout-merger.html) If a company takes on debt to make an acquisition and the deal goes sour, it runs into financial trouble and the executives are replaced. But if an equity-backed deal goes wrong, the stock price simply underperforms and nobody can be sure why. One thing is certain unwise acquisitions abound in this market. Michael H. Lubaktin and Peter J. Lane Acquisitions can be financed by cash purchase, an exchange of stocks of shares or a combination of both cash and shares. However, from all these stated mediums, cash is considered as a most preferred mode of financing. It has started taking pace during 1970s, when the percentage of takeovers grew from 20% in 1960s to over 50% during 1970s. (D. A. Blackmon, 1997. WorldComs massive bid shakes up little town. Wall Street Journal, October 13: Bl, B9; P. Elstrom, C. Yang, and S. Jackson, 1997. WorldCom + MCI: How it all adds up. Business Week, November 4: 44.) Whenever a company decides it wants to merge or acquire another firm, they use the services provided by the professionals outside the company. It may include the Investment banks, accountants and valuation experts. There is variety of services provided by the Investment banks like helping to select the target, target valuation, advising on strategy and raising the required finance to complete the transaction. We have seen the origin of Mergers and Acquisitions and even various ways of financing it. But in this paper we are going to talk more about the role of Investment banks in the entire procedure of MA. So, before we move on further, lets just see how these Investment banks came into existence. We will see their origin, a bit of services they offer and finally their extreme importance in the transaction of mergers and acquisitions. In the true sense, Investment Banking is investing in the securities of the issuing companies, i.e. buying their shares and then to resale them to the general public. (Fleuriet, Michel, 2008, p.1). Investment banking is originated in 1792 outside the Wall Street and under a Buttonwood tree. This is the only known origin of investment bank by number of investment bankers. However, there is no exact report of truth of its origin. Anyways as nobody knows where Investment banking came from; let alone what it actually is. There are various other services apart from reselling the securities that investment banks provide. But it is believed that most of them are much older than the Investment banks themselves. Lets begin with the financial products the Investment banks offer. Investment banks deal with the underwriting and trading government bonds. They trade in international bond syndications. They develop new instruments of structured finance; one of them is mortgage-based securities. The major functions of Investment banks are: Raising Capital Trading Securities Advising on Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions. In general terms Investment banks act as intermediaries between the sellers and the buyers of securities. Moreover, they do more than just that. The scope of investment banking include all major capital market activities such as underwriting, private placement, MA, venture capital, market making, proprietary trading, financial engineering, clearing and settlement, and financing and money management. K.T. Liaw, The Business of Investment Banking (New York: Wiley, 1999). Apart from the rest of the duties of Investment banks, we are going to see more about its duties towards advisory on deals of Mergers and Acquisitions. Investment banks are nowadays having become more focused on taking the deals of MAs which are of logically planned to think deeply and apply thoughtful logic in the whole merger transaction. If an Investment bank is on the buy side of the transaction, it will spend lot of time to analyze the situation, strategic setting of the acquirer and of the target. It will help them to identify potential strategic aims for the transaction. AIMS and OBJECTIVES: The main aim of this paper is getting a legitimate understanding of the entire process of MA as well as an extreme vital role of Investment banks in the entire process of MAs. Moreover, by doing this research work, I would try to find out various strategies and methods that the Investment banks use according to the companys situations. Furthermore, I would also try to find out the ways the Investment banks use their arbitragers in taking higher risks to get the maximum amount of profit out of the entire merger transactions. There are several other objectives and questions that are needed to be answered that I would try to find and present my best possible outcome of the research in this paper. In recent trend, the transaction of mergers and acquisition requires a strategic plan to create a successful merger. There are several ways that the companies involved are applying nowadays. Firstly, the acquirer company makes a tender offer which means, it makes a takeover bid in public like an open offer or an invitation to all the shareholders of the target company. It offers the stock for sale at a specific price during a stipulated time period. That offer may be for a minimum or maximum number of shares. And in this case the acquirer firm directly contact the shareholders through the medium of newspaper advertisements and the directors of the target firm may not have endorsed the proposal of the tender offer. The price which the acquirer firm offers to the target firms shareholders usually have included premium over the current market price of the target companys shares. Acquirer firm does so to induce the shareholders to sell their maximum number of shares to them. There is an extreme importance to study both the perspectives of the entire process of MA. It means the process consists of both the buyers perspective and the sellers perspective. Here, we are going to study these perspectives and try to conclude the outcomes of the entire research. First of all we will see the transaction from the buyers point of view. How a buyer of the firm gathers all required materials, assemble the team, recruit the internal team to go on for further details, getting things done by the outside teams, etc. Secondly, we will go for the sellers perspective of the deal. What made the seller to sell his business, preparations made to close the bid, keeping in mind the needs of prospective buyer, gathering the decisions of the sellers entire team, preparing financial terms, taking help from the outsiders, etc. Moreover, we will also focus on the importance of the advisory teams which plays a vital role in closing the deals. They may be accountants, attorneys, investment banks or other financial institutions. As this paper is made to get insight on workings of the Investment banks as an advisor to both the parties in the deal, we will see more on the entire work done in the past by various Investment banks from all over the world. We will also take some examples of the Investment banks and their financial advisory terms and structures to get exact and insight knowledge of the Investment banks as an advisor. Finally, we will conclude on the basis of ethics, the working of both sides of the merger deals and the ethics used by the Investment banks in its advisory role to the process of mergers and acquisitions. Methodology and Data: Research methods are the techniques for gathering data (Aldridge and Levine, 2001). It is a systematic and orderly approach for collecting and analyzing data and obtaining particular information from collected data (Jankowicz, 2000). The research I am doing on is a topic that can be discussed a lot. Because of its increasing importance, the data regarding my research can be available in ample quantity from number of sources like journals, articles, magazines and some research papers, electronic search engines from college, World Wide Web, documentary data, Survey based data etc which helps to develop a good literature and synthesize and analyze primary data. Secondary data analysis provides higher quality data than could be obtained by collecting on your own (Stewart and Kamins, 1993). Re-analyzing secondary data can lead to unforeseen or unexpected new discoveries (Saunders et al, 2003). These available secondary data can give me that information that is at least a basic idea giving and can be my first approach to initiate my research work. Because of the day to day financial news is available in Financial News Papers, lot of information regarding investment banks are available from it. Along with that the inter net is considered as the best source of getting information on almost every topic we wish to work on. So, my first move to start research would be secondary data available from above mentioned sources. Data collection through interviews has been the prime source of this research. An interview is a purposeful discussion between two or more people (Kahn and Cannell, 1957). It is a type of social interaction between a researcher and an interviewee, who serves as the potential source of information relevant to the research. The use of interviews helps the researcher to collect valid and reliable data that are significant so as to the research questions and objectives (Saunders et al, 2003). Bryman and Bell (2007) says that the research interview is an important data collection strategy in any type of research whether it is quantitative or qualitative. The major merit of interview to be used as a data collection tool is that it focuses predominantly on the researchers topic along with being more insightful. The objective behind conducting interview is to collect relevant information required to the respondents knowledge in particular field (Merriam, 1994, pp. 86 87). Structure of the Study: This study has been divided into five chapters: Chapter two describes empirical literature based on past studies conducted on single and panel countries and an overview of Investment banks working towards the finalizations of merger deals with description of recent trend and progress of MA deals. Chapter three explains the methodology and data used in this study together with the description of variables. Chapter four states the analysis of the collected data and findings. Finally, chapter five provides the results and conclusion derived from the given study. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction: An acquisition is a transaction where one company buys shares of another company, by issuing its own new shares, cash, debt or a mixture of these forms of consideration. A merger transaction is where both parties agree to combine their business, and for this purpose form a new company that issues shares which replace the shares of both businesses (Reuvid, Jonathan, 2007). Mergers and Acquisition activities have been circled from long time, which is based on various macro economic factors. The overall economic state of the nation and abroad. Stock prices of public listed companies. Liquidity levels in the financial markets. The level of pressure by antitrust on Mergers and Acquisitions. The level of regulation in accurate checking of certain industries, such as airlines, telecommunication, banking and other financial services. If the conglomerates or pure play companies are in favour of market experts and analysts. There are so many differences in aspects of the number of companies bought and sold, as well as prices paid for these deals, as time has passed. Firstly, we will see the examples of the merger transactions that had failed due to lack of proper preparations and over spending of money in transaction. Here is the case of Conseco Finance, which was trading near its highest level at $50 per share in June 1998. The CEO of the company, Stephen Hilbert, and the public market were very confident about the companys prospects. However, Hilbert announced the acquisition of Green Tree Financial, a subprime mortgage and consumer lending company, for a whopping $7.6 billion, that same month. The offered price was more than seven times the net worth of Green Tree, or a $6.6 billion premium to the tangible book value. Then the disaster had started to happen over the next two years. The stock price of the company dropped to $below $10 per share from $50 per share. The company was declared bankrupt in the spring 2003. Moreover, the analysts attributed the companys long and painful downfall to its overpayment for the Green Tree assets and the subsequent adverse impact of that purchase on Consecos operations. This disaster not only resulted in loss of job to Hilbert, but also drove a very successfu l company out of business. The popular

Motivational Theories :: essays research papers

At the Squishy Tushy Designer Diaper Company, our motto is â€Å"Fashion isn’t just for big people anymore† We carry the latest designs in disposable diaper fashion. Our diapers make a statement with a variety of stylish colors and fashionable fits. We carry low rise, tight fit, hip hugger and our best selling baggy fit. These days we understand that fashion can change in a second and we want you to be prepared. When you show up to that play date and see that you are out of fashion, simply use our patented quick release system to rip that diaper off and throw on the latest design. And for those long trips our five gallon capacity model is guaranteed to get you there. Our organization understands the importance of efficiency and teamwork. We recently hired a corporate psychologist that has infiltrated our departments one by one and returned with suggestions. Each group of employees was examined for ways that the company could motivate them to be more efficient and productive. We will discuss the theories that we feel apply to each department and explain why we think we have a plan for success. We have formulated our plan for the sales team based upon Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory. In his theory, there are a few key factors to achieve our desirable out come. He believes a person is motivated to a degree in which he or she believes with effort they can achieve their performance. This is known as the expectancy factor of the theory. Then if they will achieve this level of performance, they will be rewarded. This factor of the theory is called, Motivational Theories 3 Instrumentality. Finally, in the theory the value of the reward must meet the needs and expectation of the individual. Valence is the value attached to this reward. The task that we have assigned to our trained, talented sales team is to promote the designer diaper not just to the local grocery stores but to department stores such as baby gap. They will call and find locations where they can promote our designer diaper. Our sales team will constantly find new vendors to sell our product. They will also establish and maintain relationships with the vendors to ensure quality customer service is given. They will handle all complaints and give quick and easy solutions to these issues. They will visit various store to  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   enhance our display of the designer diapers.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Peculiar Institutions Reconfiguring Notions of Political Participation Through the Narratives of Hannah Crafts and Harriet Jacobs :: Essays on Politics

Peculiar Institutions Reconfiguring Notions of Political Participation Through the Narratives of Hannah Crafts and Harriet Jacobs In her narrative Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs says, â€Å"If the secret memoirs of many members of Congress should be published, curious details would be unfolded† (142). Jacobs here, and throughout her narrative, reveals herself as a political outsider in all possible senses. She does not, herself, know what stories are told in the so-called â€Å"secret memoirs† of white, male, empowered politicians. She can only surmise what frightful and disturbing events and attitudes they must describe. In sharp contrast, Hannah Crafts, author of The Bondwoman’s Narrative, is and presents herself as the most intimate kind of political insider. She is for all intents and purposes – throughout her own story – writing the diary, the secret memoir, of her master, Mr. John Hill Wheeler. A focus on this point of intersection between the two women’s texts takes on a new and uncanny significance when one considers that the actual diary kept by the historical Congressman John Wheeler has been a major tool used in the authentication of the Crafts narrative. This important political figure kept a written record of virtually every day of his adult life. Records reveal, among other things, that at age twenty-one Wheeler became the youngest member ever elected to the North Carolina House of Commons. By his early forties, he would become a permanent presence on Capitol Hill, serving as close counselor and friend to Presidents Pierce, Jackson, Van Buren, Buchanan, and Johnson. He would also later serve as the American Minister to Nicaragua, then a Central American stronghold, where he would try to single-handedly claim the land and institute slavery, inadvertently ruining his political career in the process. That Hannah Crafts lives in and reproduces for the readers’ eyes the most intricate details of those secret political records and relationships ultimately has an enormous impact upon the connections she perceiv es herself as having to other slave women, to white Northern women, and to men of either race. Crafts’ recognition and narration of her unique personal position also subtly but profoundly alters the opportunities for political participation that she conceives as possible. The Bondwoman’s Narrative, written by Hannah Crafts, self-described as â€Å"a fugitive slave, recently escaped from North Carolina,† was uncovered in 2001 and published in 2002 under the auspices of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Deon Sanders :: essays research papers

Deion Sanders is an American professional football and baseball player. He is one of the few athletes in history to succeed in two professional sports. Deion Luwynn Sanders was born on August 9, 1967 in Fort Meyers, Florida, where he grew up with his mother and stepfather. His parents got divorced when he was really young. Deion loved almost all sports and he was good at all of them. When he was 8 years old he started playing football and even though he was very young, he still was a star. He was even playing teams with kids older than him and still did very well. Another sport he played was baseball and he played that just as well as football. You might think that Deion didn’t have any religion in his past life, but he did. He grew up going to church with his mother. He has never drank or smoked. Since both of his fathers were addicted to those things, he made a commitment to stay away from that. One day he was with some friends in a car and they were smoking pot. He told them that he didn’t do that stuff and they left him alone. Throughout his high school years he played all different kinds of sports. He played football, baseball, basketball and ran track. He was one of the best in all those sports. When he played for his high school basketball team he was the leading scorer, and earned the name â€Å"Prime Time.† After his four years playing for his high school team, it was time to start looking for a college. Since he wanted his mother to come see him play, his first pick of colleges was Florida State. He had great careers in all the sports he played in. Before his senior year at Florida State University (FSU), the Yankees took him, so he played professional baseball while in college. While he was in college he decided he would stay away from cursing. So every time he cursed he would pay someone 5 bucks. In 1989 he was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the first round. In 1996 when he was playing for the Cowboys and Reds he felt miserable, he said, †After scoring touchdowns and dancing in the end zone, after a stadium full of cheering fans had finally gone home, I was still empty inside.† Nothing was making him happy, he tried money, women, and just about everything.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Evaluating the Research Process/ Childhood Obesity Essay

Ji Li, PhD and Neal Hooker, PhD conducted a study on the links of childhood obesity and children who are enrolled in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), School Breakfast Program (SBP), clubs such as sports and others, and different living and household factors. This study utilized the conceptual framework of the literature review from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) during 2003 and 2004, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study utilized the common quantitative research method called a survey which is a form of questionnaire. The survey was a telephone survey which was conducted on children 6-17 years old and surrounded questions about the physical and psychological lives. In the study there were 62,880 children studied and questioned. The study was conducted following ethical guidelines as it was not biased and took information from households, which were selected randomly, and had one child between the ages of 6-17. Also, the study was conducted by asking the families a series of questions that remained the same no matter the household or children’s age. The rights of the subjected were protected by random selection process however I do question the use of a telephone survey because the identities of the individuals can be identified based on the telephone numbers. The study does not indicate whether the telephone numbers of the respondents were recorded so it is difficult to determine whether this is a factor. In my opinion ensuring the anonymity of the subjects is particularly important when dealing with the group focused on by this study because they are children. That being said the study did not attempt to encourage, promote, or interfere in the lives of the subjects so I would say their rights were reasonably protected. The questions that were asked of the children were as follows: age, gender, highest level of child’s parents (high school), highest level of child’s parents (college), primary language in the home, current school child is enrolled (public or private), was child on a sports team in the past 12 months, in the past 12 months did the child participate in a club, average hour the child spent on the computer per chool day, average hour the child spent watching television on a school day, during the past month did either parent spend any time exercising enough to bring heart rate or breathing up, does anyone in the household smoke, is the household income more than 300% of the poverty limit, is the household income less than 300% of the poverty limit, during the past 12 months did anyone in the household receive free or reduced lunches or breakfast, and finally what is the body mass index (BMI) of the selected child in the household. Each question was given a point value of 0 or 1 and the totals were calculated by each household (Li, J. , & Hooker, N. , 2010). In terms of statistical analysis the data is telling the interpreter what households have a child who is over the recommended BMI or under the recommended BMI and how their lifestyle or social practices come into play influencing the BMI. The data was analyzed by grouping the selected children into groups of children who attend public school versus private school, their household’s income range, if they qualify for the school lunch or breakfast programs, and their BMI. The data was also analyzed in reference to all of the other questions asked such as parent’s education, and if anyone in the household smokes. All of these household and social situations can be used for analysis and to see if there is a trend that certain children in certain life situations may be more likely to suffer from childhood obesity. I think that the data is definitely statistically significant; however, I do think the numbers could be flawed in reference to the person being surveyed by telephone being truthful. The conclusions do match the results of the study that was conducted. The conclusion was that children who attend public schools have a slightly higher BMI than those who do not, and children who qualify for free or reduced lunch or breakfast programs have an even higher BMI and are at a higher risk of being overweight (Li, J. , & Hooker, N. , 2010). The conclusions also answers the research questions that were defined in the problem including the socioeconomic issues play a role in childhood obesity? Do the public or private school systems play a role in childhood obesity? Do the school lunch and breakfast programs play a part in childhood obesity? The survey results appeared to answer yes to all of these questions. I do think that the results off of the data, is accurate and appropriate. However, like I stated earlier in the paper, I do think that the numbers could be skewed due to inaccurate answers by the person being surveyed. The study found that â€Å"children attending public school had a mean BMI value of 0. 401 higher than those children who attended private school. Also, if the child surveyed attended public school and received free or reduced lunch or breakfast in the public school then their BMI value was 0. 25 higher than the child who attended private school. The study concluded that children in public school who took part in the lunch and breakfast programs posed a 4. 5% higher risk of being overweight† (Li, J. , & Hooker, N. , 2010). When the numbers are reviewed it is easy to conclude that there is a link between obesity and the public school system as well as the free and reduced meal programs. This link was also not altered due to socioeconomic status of the household. The study also found that â€Å"children with active parents who play sports or other activities have a BMI mean value of 0. 99 less than children of parents who are not active. Also, children who took part in sports activities after school or on the weekends had a BMI mean value of 0. 751 lower than children who did not participate in an activity (Li, J. , & Hooker, N. , 2010)†. There is a clear link between lower BMI values and active parents and active children. Education levels of the parents also appear to play a role in a child’s chances of being obese. The study concluded that â€Å"children with parents who finished high school have a BMI of 0. 17 less than those who have less than a high school education. Also, in the households where the parents completed a college education the BMI is reduced by 1. 279 in value. In households where Spanish is the primary language, the BMI was found to be 0. 680 higher than households where English was the primary language† ( Li, J. , & Hooker, N. , 2010). After review of the data in regards to the conclusion the analysis is found to be appropriate as school meal programs and household influence do in fact influence childhood obesity. There is a lot of information about the study and the data that was collected and its effectiveness. I think that the data collected can be used to link childhood obesity and school meal programs. However, I also think that the data can be disputed by the way in which the data was collected, by telephone survey. The person conducting the survey cannot verify or prove that the person being surveyed is being truthful. Also, it is unknown how the people being surveyed were asked to take part, other than by random phone number selection. If the person asked to do the survey is having issued with their school or the school meal programs their answered might be different if they knew the data could influence the thoughts on school and their meal programs. I think that this survey is very beneficial; however, I would think that a different survey method other than telephone methods would help to make the data more concrete and effective. In the end, the study does give valid data that can be evaluated to help decide the links to schools and childhood obesity. I think that the data collected can mean great change in the meal programs and the need for such change. I do not believe though that the results obtained from the study are statistically significant as the differences in most of the categories were not extraordinary one way or the other. The possible flaws in the way the information was obtained would in my opinion devalue the validity of the study. Without having actual medical knowledge regarding the child’s BMI the information is based on the opinions of the respondents.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Modern Political Thought

School of Politics and International Relations Modern Political Thought II POL206 2012-13 Module Convenor: Dr Madeleine Davis Email: m. j. [email  protected] ac. uk Office hours: Semester 1 Thursday 2-3pm, Friday 11-12am, Semester 2 Thursday 23pm, Friday 1-2pm. Office location: Arts One, Room 2. 28b Timetable: Lectures: Thursdays at 10 am Seminars: Thursdays (see QM+ and School notice board for details) 1 1. Welcome from the convenor This module handbook provides you with essential information. The handbook details the topics covered each week.You should use the reading lists provided to help you prepare for lectures and seminars. You should read the handbook carefully before you begin the module, and you should bring it with you every week to lectures and seminars. The first few pages give you some general information and advice on how the module will be taught and assessed, as well as guidelines on preparing and presenting your work. The rest of the handbook is a guide to module content, including a week by week guide to lecture and seminar themes, with essential and additional readings clearly indicated for each topic.Copies of this module outline and other handouts are available from the folders on the wall outside the School Office on the second floor of the Arts Building. The module outline for the spring semester will be available at the end of the autumn semester. Announcements relating to the module will be distributed via email to your QM email account or via QM+, and it is your responsibility if you miss any of these announcements. There will be a weekly lecture for the module at 10 am on Thursdays. Seminars also take place on Thursday and you will be assigned to one of these. . Module description This second year core module is compulsory for all Politics and Politics/History students, because we think an understanding of the history, structures and main concepts of political thinking is necessary for appreciating the institutions and arguments of modern political life, as you will study it in other modules. The skills you learn in dealing with more abstract and normative ideas, as well as in evaluating rational arguments, are also essential for studying all parts of the discipline.The module builds on the analysis of concepts and ideologies begun in POL100 Introduction to Politics, but it also offers an opportunity to read some of the classic texts, and to explore some of the founding ideas, of modern political theory. By studying the foundations and development of political thought, we can understand how contemporary ways of thinking about politics and the political emerged, as well as appreciating the historical and theoretical contexts in which they evolved.The emphasis in the module will be on a critical reading and analysis of primary texts. Part I of the course (MPT I) focused on the development of political thought prior to the French Revolution, emphasising in particular the social contract tradition; foundational i deas about rational individualism; the quest for a theory of political obligation which would grant legitimacy to the emerging modern state; the development of radical theories of democratic participation and popular sovereignty; and the critique of many of these developments in modern conservatism.It also raised questions about how we think of the political, by comparing the social contract tradition with that of Machiavelli and by considering politics in the context of the development of modernity. Concepts like consent, freedom, equality, rights and property were prominent. In Part II of the course, we will be considering the way in which political thought developed in the wake of the French and industrial revolutions. We will begin by focusing upon the continued rise of liberalism and secularism in the 18th and 19th centuries in the work of Jeremy 2Bentham, John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant. These figures represent the continued elaboration and sophistication of the modern foun dations of political society in concepts of rationalism, enlightenment, freedom and equality. As we will see, their conceptions of the role of the state, of right and of obligation continue to be immensely influential in both political thought and practice today. For the rest of the module we will turn our attention to Germany and three great German thinkers: Hegel, Marx and Nietzsche.This will allow you the opportunity to study three of the nineteenth-century’s central political thinkers, whose ideas have played a crucial role in the development of the 20th century. Hegel’s writings may not at first seem easy to understand as they are written in a style that is highly metaphysical and abstract. However, once we get beyond the philosophical jargon we discover one of the most compelling visions of the relationship between citizens and the state that has ever been offered.For Hegel, the state was ‘the actuality of the ethical idea’, and it was through the St ate that the individual acquires what he describes as ‘substantive freedom’. The critiques of liberalism developed by Marx and Nietzsche are the most influential we have. Attacking the very foundations of the emerging liberal capitalist order, they also dismissed its values and aspirations to justice as at best illusory and at worst, as masquerades for advancing sectional interests.For them, liberal democracy is about oppression and exploitation (Marx), nihilism and deathly mediocrity (Nietzsche), not justice and emancipation. They developed very different ideas from liberal ones, about human nature and what might be ‘good’ for it. They also developed grand historical accounts to explain what they saw as the miseries and degeneracy of modernity (capitalism; nihilism), alongside more visionary allusions as to how we might escape from them.Above all, Marx and Nietzsche sought to challenge the idea that politics is a rational practice undertaken by self-consci ous actors who make rational decisions and subscribe to general values of fairness. What they describe is a far more complex environment in which politics is an ongoing struggle between (structural, cultural, unconscious) forces of which we often have little understanding and even less control. This means that they pay less attention to the State than more conventional political theorists, since the power struggles that constitute political life are much more widespread.This clearly has significant implications for the practising of politics and through them, Marx and Nietzsche oblige us once more to take up the first semesters’ questions concerning the bases (or lack of them) for political authority, shared values or any common vision of justice or liberation. 3. Teaching and Learning Profile a) Teaching Arrangements Lecturers: Madeleine Davis (MD), Jeremy Jennings (JJ), Caroline Williams (CW) and Clare Woodford (CWd) Seminar teachers: Madeleine Davis, Caroline Williams and Clare Woodford The module has two components: a one hour weekly ecture and a one hour weekly seminar. Attendance at all lectures and seminars is compulsory. Persistent non-attendance can lead to 3 de-registration, which can affect your overall classification or prevent your studying further with Queen Mary. If you are absent due to ill health you should contact the module tutor and the office. If you are absent from Queen Mary for more than five days, you must supply a doctor’s note. Lectures: there will be twenty-two weekly lectures, as detailed in the module outline below. These will take place on Thursdays at 10 am. You should ensure that you attend all of these.Lectures are captured on audio and video, and you can find them on QM+. Seminars: these are held once a week and also last one hour. They are small group meetings based around specified texts and themes, and they are intended to supplement the lectures and provide an opportunity for deeper discussion of the module content. You MUST do the required preparatory reading in advance of the seminar. All participants are expected to demonstrate a careful reading for the week’s topic and a willingness and ability to contribute to class discussion on the basis of such reading.You can only demonstrate reading and thinking through making regular contributions to class discussions. The class tutors will endeavour to make sure that everybody says something in every seminar. Since seminars are designed to allow you to make an input into the module, attendance is compulsory. Please note that non-attendance at seminars can lead to deregistration from the module (see undergraduate handbook). Please let the seminar tutor know in advance if you are unable to attend a seminar, and please ensure that you speak to the module convenor or your personal tutor if you are experiencing problems.Because texts are open to various interpretations and criticisms, seminars in this module provide an especially importan t forum for trying out your ideas, testing them on other readers, and most importantly, raising difficulties that arose during your reading. You should never feel intimidated in these classes, in expressing your ideas: speculative thinking is an important part of political theorising and it is not a question of being ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. Above all, it is important that you should come to class with an enquiring mind and a willingness to share your questions, problems and opinions with other members of the tutorial.Class discussions are for your benefit and the more you put into them, the more stimulating and helpful you’ll find them. In fact, the best MPT sessions often arise from students identifying parts of texts they found the most difficult or controversial, rather than those parts which are more self-evident. Never feel inhibited about asking the meaning of words or passages – the chances are that other people are also struggling with the m! It is important that you should bring a copy of the week’s primary text with you, as we may want to analyse particular passages together.QM+ and email: it is important that you check the POL206 area on QM+ regularly. Not only will we post announcements and handouts there, but we will also involve QM+ in the teaching of the module. Smart students don’t come unprepared to class because they have forgotten to check QM+. You must also read your Queen Mary email daily for any communications about teaching. The School will not use any other email but that supplied by the Queen Mary. Failure to respond to email messages, particularly regarding non-attendance, may lead to deregistration. b) Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria The aims of the module are: To give students a broad overview of modern political thinking as it developed from the 16th century to the end of the 20th century; to encourage a capacity in analytical thinking and an ability to deal with abstract c oncepts and normative or speculative ideas; to introduce a critical perspective which encourages rigorous and creative thinking and to teach skills which are derived from a text-based module; and to introduce intensive and continuous writing assignments in order to develop students’ writing abilities and powers of written analysis.The learning objectives of the module are: The acquisition of a detailed knowledge of classic texts in political theory; an ability to explain and critically analyse the basic claims and normative ideas underlying modern political doctrines; a familiarity with the central concepts of modern political thought, such as rights, justice, human nature, liberty, equality, democracy, exploitation, as well as the idea of the political itself, as these have developed discursively and historically; and an appreciation of how political theory both understands, and responds to, the questions of odernity and the modern state. Skills: The module aims to teach the following skills: analytic skills in close readings of texts; skills of critical evaluation in considering arguments; speculative skills in thinking about the ‘big’ questions in politics; presentation skills in summarising complex theoretical arguments; and writing skills in presenting critical written accounts of ideas covered and reflecting on the student’s own work. c) Attendance Attendance at all Lectures and Seminars is compulsory.Persistent non attendance can lead to de-registration, which can affect your overall classification or prevent your studying further with Queen Mary. If you are absent due to ill health you should contact the module tutor and the office. If you are absent from Queen Mary for more than 5 days you must supply a doctor’s note. d) Participation/Preparation This handbook details the topics covered each week. You should use the reading lists provided to help you prepare for lectures and seminars. You can only demonstrate reading and thinking through making regular contributions to class discussions. e) Communication You must read your Queen Mary email for any communications about teaching daily. The School will not use any other email but that supplied by the Queen Mary. Failure to respond to email messages, particularly regarding non-attendance, may lead to deregistration. You must check this QM+ site for this module for any messages and associated learning material. 4. Assessment Profile and Timetable for feedback (see also Appendix 1) a) Assessment In the spring semester, assessment for this module consists of the following two pieces of work: (i) an essay proposal of max. 00 words, plus working bibliography (weighting: 10% of the mark for the whole year); and (ii) a research essay of max. 5000 words (weighting: 50% of the mark for the whole year). The research essay is designed to allow you to demonstrate both depth and breadth in your understanding of the semester’s key themes and thinkers. It i s also intended to help develop your skills of research design and independent research, in order to prepare you for the final year dissertation you will undertake next year.You will be required to choose one from a selection of key themes, and to write an essay that compares and analyses the treatment of your chosen theme by at least three of the thinkers covered in this module. The choice of thinkers will depend on the theme chosen and your own interests, with one stipulation: at least two must be chosen from the Spring Semester (for Semester B associates all will be chosen from the Spring Semester). The themes from which to choose are: i) freedom, ii) human nature, iii) morality, iv) equality, v) political authority and legitimacy.The requirement to submit a plan and working bibliography is intended to ensure that your choice of themes and thinkers is appropriate, to help you in framing your arguments, and to give you the opportunity to receive feedback on your work in progress f rom your seminar tutor. Your tutors may also incorporate short writing exercises into classes to help you link themes and thinkers as we progress through the course. Deadlines Essay proposal: Thursday 7 March (Week 9) Feedback will be given in week 11. Research essay: Tuesday 23 April. Grades and feedback will be given after the exam period.Please refer to the Appendix for further information and guidance about the coursework. Exam There is no exam for this module. 6 Semester B associate students Those taking MPT II only will have 100% of their grade awarded on the basis of their spring semester course work. The coursework is as follows: (i) an essay proposal of max. 500 words, plus working bibliography (weighting: 15% of the mark); and (ii) a research essay of max. 5000 words (weighting: 85% of the mark). The coursework is due on the same dates as for nonassociate students.See Appendices for full details. b) Submission of coursework You must submit one electronic copy of all assign ments. Your electronic copy must be submitted via Queen Mary’s Virtual Learning environment (QMPlus) by 9am on the day of the stated deadline. The School has a policy of anonymous marking. Your name must not appear anywhere on your work. Therefore, you must ensure that you use the coursework coversheet as the first page of your assignment. Any coursework work submitted which does not have a coversheet attached will incur penalties for incorrect submission.Coversheets can be downloaded from the Undergraduate shared area of QMPlus and through individual QMPlus module areas Your electronic copy must be submitted by 9am on the deadline date, and will be retained and screened by anti-plagiarism software. REMEMBER: Save your assignment with coversheet and bibliography as a single document (preferably as a PDF) before uploading to QMPlus Complete the coversheet with your Student ID, Module Code, Assignment number and Seminar Tutor. Your assignments must be submitted by 9am on the de adline date Save back-up copies of all your work in case of computer failure.It is your responsibility to submit your assignments correctly. (Full details of submission policies can be found in the School’s Student Handbook. ) c) Extensions If you require an extension due to extenuating circumstances (EC), you must complete the relevant EC form and attach documentation to support your request. Completed forms and documentation should be handed into the Office. Full details can be found in the Student Handbook 7 Essays submitted 14 days after the deadline – including weekends – will not be assessed and will be given a mark of zero. d) Essay AdviceReferencing and bibliography There are different ways of referencing and making a bibliography. The important thing is that you use one, and that you use it consistently. Referencing and bibliography are essential parts of any essay and marks will be deducted if they are poor or absent. Your seminar teacher will be happy to answer questions about this. For details about how to reference and make a bibliography, please consult the Student Handbook. e) Past Exam Paper There is no exam for this course. 5. QM+ All module materials, including a copy of this module outline can be found on QMPlus.You should familiarise yourself with QMPlus as soon as possible as further information concerning this module and office hours will be posted there. To access QMPlus (on or off campus) go to http://qmplus. qmul. ac. uk/. You will require your QM computer access username and password. You should also use QMPlus to upload the electronic version your assignments. If you are having problems accessing/using QMPlus support and information can be found on the following website – http://qmplus. qmul. ac. uk/mod/page/view. php? id=85646 Equally you can contact the School Office who may be able to offer assistance.NOTE: If you have not completed your module registration properly your modules will not show on QMPlus. It is up to you to ensure you complete registration and check QMplus regularly. 6. Plagiarism QM defines plagiarism as presenting someone else’s work as one’s own irrespective of intention. Close paraphrasing, copying from the work of another person, including another student, using the ideas of another person, without proper acknowledgement or repeating work you have previously submitted without properly referencing yourself (known as ‘self plagiarism’) also constitute plagiarism. Regulations on Assessment Offences 8 Plagiarism is a serious offence and all students suspected of plagiarism will be subject to an investigation. If found guilty, penalties can include failure of the module to suspension or permanent withdrawal from Queen Mary. It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand plagiarism and how to avoid it. The recommendations below can help you in avoiding plagiarism. Be sure to record your sources when taking notes, and to cite these if you use ideas or, especially, quotations from the original source.Be particularly careful if you are cutting and pasting information between two documents, and ensure that references are not lost in the process. Be sensible in referencing ideas – commonly held views that are generally accepted do not always require acknowledgment to particular sources. However, it is best to be safe to avoid plagiarism. Be particularly careful with quotations and paraphrasing. Be aware that technology is now available at Queen Mary and elsewhere that can automatically detect plagiarism. Ensure that all works used are referenced appropriately in the text of your work and fully credited in your bibliography.If in doubt, ask for further guidance from your adviser or module tutor. See your student handbook for further advice. 9 7. LECTURE AND SEMINAR SCHEDULE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Lecture Bentham’s Utilitarianism (JJ) John Stuart Mill’s Liberalism (JJ) Kant’s Enlighte nment (CWd) Hegel: Philosophy, ethics and the state (CWd) The early Marx (MD) Marx’s historical materialism (MD) Reading week; no lectures or seminars The Analysis of Capitalism (MD) Introduction to Nietzsche and the Genealogy of Morality (CW) Nietzsche’s Genealogy and Bad Conscience (CW) Nietzsche’s Genealogy and Nihilism (CW) Conclusion and overview (MD)Seminar theme Bentham: principles of morals and legislation John Stuart Mill: liberty Kant: enlightenment and freedom Hegel and the state Marx: emancipation, alienation and speciesbeing Marx: history, class and revolution Marx: capitalism and exploitation Nietzsche’s challenge : what is morality? Nietzsche: guilt, bad conscience, discipline and will to power Nietzsche: nihilism and beyond Advice on preparing your research essay PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE A BRIEFING SESSION ON THE ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL STUDENTS ON THURSDAY 18 JANUARY AT 1PM IN ROOM FB113A 10 8. READING GUIDESEMESTER II TEXTS Core Texts Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation (in Wootton). John Stuart Mill, On Liberty (in Wootton). Kant, ‘An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? ’ (in Wootton). G. W. F. Hegel, Elements of the Philosophy of Right (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991). Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels: various texts, including excerpts from On the Jewish Question, The 1844 Manuscripts, The German Ideology, The Communist Manifesto and Capital , collected in Wootton or Robert C. Tucker, The Marx-Engels Reader, 2nd edition (New York: W.W. Norton, 1978). Friedrich Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality, ed. Keith Ansell-Pearson, trans. Carol Diethe (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007). As far as is possible, all of the first and second semester readings are collected in David Wootton (ed. ), Modern Political Thought. Readings from Machiavelli to Nietzsche (Cambridge: Hackett, 1996) (referred to below as Wootton; you may also use the second edition from 2008). Students are strongly advised to purchase this text. Where texts are not in Wootton they will be posted on the QM+ site for the course.Most of these texts can also be found on the internet, although the quality varies. Secondary texts: An important note on secondary reading: As last semester, the major emphasis of this course is on a close reading of primary texts. All the essential reading for seminars is from the core primary texts listed above. However you will need to consult secondary texts when planning and preparing your research essay (you can also, of course, use them for seminar preparation in addition to – never instead of! – the primary reading if you have time).The secondary material listed below is organised into various categories: general texts: useful companion texts aimed at students and usually covering several thinkers and one or more relevant themes. secondary texts on particular thinkers: more in depth and specialised treatments of each thinker. additional thematic sources: some suggestions for general reading on the themes for the research essay. 11 Your working bibliography for the research essay will probably contain material from each of these categories. We have provided a fairly extensive range of sources here.All should be available in the QM library (some are still on order at the time of compiling this list). Useful secondary texts (* indicates particularly recommended) General secondary texts: Barry, N. , Modern Political Theory (4th ed, 2000) (chapters on authority, freedom and equality) Boucher, D. and P. Kelly (eds. ), Political Thinkers (London: Routledge, 2003). *Edwards, A. and J. Townsend (eds. ), Interpreting Modern Political Philosophy. From Machiavelli to Marx (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2002). (useful chapters on Kant, Hegel, Mill and Marx) *Hampsher-Monk, I. A History of Modern Political Thought (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992) (chapters on Bentham, Mill, Hegel and Marx) Ma cpherson, C. B. , The Political Theory of Possessive Individualism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1964). ( a critique of liberalism) Matravers, D. et al. , Reading Political Philosophy. Machiavelli to Mill (London: Routledge, 2001). *Pateman, C. , The Problem of Political Obligation (Cambridge: Polity, 1985). Plamenatz, J. , Man and Society: Political and Social Theories from Machiavelli to Marx (New York: Longman, 1991). Ramsay, M. ,What’s Wrong with liberalism? (1997) Rorty, R. et al. (eds. ), Philosophy in History: Essays in the Historiography of Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984). *Rosen, M. , and Wolff, J. , Political Thought (OPU, 1999) – (a very useful reader of primary texts organised by themes including human nature, justification of political rule, and liberty, with short introductions to each theme) Wolff, J. , An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996). By thinker: Bentham, Mill and Utilitarianis m David Bromwich and George Kateb (eds), John Stuart Mill On Liberty (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003).Wendy Donner, The Liberal Self: John Stuart Mill’s Moral and Political Philosophy (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1991). Michael B. Gill, The British Moralists on Human Nature and the Birth of Secular Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006). *John Gray, Mill on Liberty: A Defence, 2nd edition (London: Routledge, 1996). Joseph Hamburger, John Stuart Mill on Liberty and Control (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999). *Ian Hampsher-Monk, A History of Modern Political Thought (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992), chapters 7 and 8.Will Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction, 2nd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), chapter 2. 12 John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1971),  §Ã‚ §5, 26-30. Nancy Rosenblum, Bentham’s Theory of the Modern State (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978). Alan Rya n, The Philosophy of John Stuart Mill, 2nd edition (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1978). Geoffrey Scarre, Utilitarianism (London: Routledge, 1996). Philip Schofield, Utility and Democracy: The Political Thought of Jeremy Bentham (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)..John Skorupski, John Stuart Mill (London: Routledge, 1989). John Skorupski (ed. ), The Cambridge Companion to John Stuart Mill (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998). J. J. C. Smart and Bernhard Williams, Utilitarianism for and against (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973). John Stuart Mill, ‘Utilitarianism’, in On Liberty and Other Essays, ed. John Gray (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), pp. 131-201. Kant Useful Introductions Scruton, R. (2001) ‘Kant A Very Short Introduction’, Oxford: Oxford University Press Filkshuh, K. A. (2003 [2nd ed. 2009]) ‘Kant’ in Boucher, D. and Kelly, P. eds) Political Thinkers From Socrates to the Present, Oxford: Oxford University Pre ss, pp. 422-36 P. Guyer, The Cambridge companion to Kant P. Guyer The Cambridge Companion to Kant and modern philosophy (2006) H. Williams, Kant’s Political philosophy S. M. Shell, The Rights of reason: A study of Kant’s Philosophy and Politics R. Beiner (ed), Kant and political Philosophy H. Arendt, Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy P. Riley, Will and Political Legitimacy L. Krieger, The German Idea of Freedom G. A. Kelly, Idealism, Politics, and History Reiss, H. S. (ed. ) (1991) Kant’s Political Writings, (2nd ed. (H. B. Nisbet trans. ) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Also useful for commentaries and discussion: Allison, H. (2004 ed) Kant’s Transcendental Idealism: An Interpretation and Defence, London and New Haven, CT: Yale University Press Ameriks, K. (2000 ed) Kant’s Theory of Mind, Oxford: Clarendon Press Beck, L. W. (1960) A Commentary on Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason, Chicago Caygill, H. (1995) A Kant Dicti onary, Oxford: Blackwell Collins, A. (1999) Possible Experience: Understanding Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press Downie, R. S. and Telfer, E. 1969) Respect for Persons, Allen and Unwin Filkshuh, K. A. (2003 [2nd ed. 2009]) ‘Kant’ in Boucher, D. and Kelly, P. (ed. s) Political Thinkers From Socrates to the Present, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 422-36 Gardner, S. (1999) Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Kant and the Critique of Pure Reason, (London: Routledge) 13 Keller, P. (2001) Kant and the Demands of Self-Consciousness Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Kitcher, P. (1982) ‘Kant on Self-Identity’, The Philosophical Review, vol. 91, no. 1, pp. 41-72 Kitcher, P. (1999) ‘Kant on Self-Consciousness’, The Philosophical Review, vol. 08, no. 3, pp. 345-386 Korsgaard, C. (1996) Creating the Kingdom of Ends, Cambridge; Cambridge University Press Sircello, G. (1968) ‘Subjectiv ity and Justification in Aesthetic Judgements’, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 3-12 Wolff, R. P. (ed. ) (1967) ‘Kant: A Collection of Critical Essays’, Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor [a useful collection] Hegel Useful Introductions: Singer, P. (1983) ‘Hegel: a very short introduction’, Oxford: Oxford University Press Patten, A. (2003 [2nd ed. 2009]) ‘Hegel’ in Boucher, D. and Kelly, P. (ed. ) Political Thinkers from Socrates to the Present, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 437-58 Knowles, D. (2002) ‘Hegel and the Philosophy of Right’, New York; Routledge [An excellent text. Really useful for situating Hegel’s knowledge in context. Very clearly written]. Also useful: * Hampsher-Monk, I. A History of Modern Political Thought (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992), * Patten, A. Hegel’s Idea of Freedom (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999). * Wood, A. W. ‘Editor’s Introduc tion’, in G. W. F. Hegel, Elements of the Philosophy of Right (CUP 1991) * Burns, A. ‘G. W. F.Hegel’, in Terrell Carver and James Martin (eds), Continental Wood, A. W. Hegel’s Ethical Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). Ameriks, K. (1985) ‘Hegel’s Critique of Kant’s Theoretical Philosophy’, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research Vol. XLVI, no. I, pp. 1-35 Haddock, B. ‘G. W. F Hegel: Philosophy of Right’, in Murray Forsyth and (eds), The Political Classics: A Guide to the Essential Texts from Hamilton to Mill, Vol. 2 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993). Beiser, F. (2005) ‘Hegel’, London: Routledge Berenson, F. (1982) ‘Hegel on Others and the Self’, Philosophy, vol. 57, no. 19, pp,77-90 Taylor, C. Hegel and Modern Society (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979). Taylor, C. Hegel, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977). Di Giovanni, G. and Harris, H. S. (ed s) (1985) ‘Between Kant and Hegel’, Albany: SUNY Press Harris, H. S. (1995) ‘Hegel: Phenomenology and System’, Indianapolis: Hackett Houlgate, S. (1991) ‘Freedom, Truth, History: And introduction to Hegel’s Philosophy’, London: Routledge Ritter, J. Hegel and the French Revolution: Essays on The Philosophy of Right (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1984). Mccarney, J. ‘Hegel on History,’ (London: Routledge, 2000). Habermas, J.Knowledge and Human Interests, trans. Jeremy J. Shapiro (Cambridge: 14 Inwood, M. A Hegel Dictionary (Oxford: Blackwell, 1992). Inwood, M. Hegel (London: Routledge, 1983). Hardimon, M. O. Hegel’s Social Philosophy: The Project of Reconciliation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994). Mure, G. R. G. (1965) ‘The Philosophy of Hegel’, London Pinkard T. (2000) ‘Hegel: A Biography’, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press [Useful introduction to Hegel’s life and times] Raymon d Plant, Hegel (London: Routledge, 1999). Pippin, R. B. Idealism as Modernism: Hegelian Variations (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997).Avineri, S. Hegel’s Theory of the Modern State, New edition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974). Solomon, R. (1983) ‘In the Spirit of Hegel’, Oxford: Oxford University Press Stewart, J. (2000) ‘The Unity of Hegel’s Phenomenology of Spirit’, Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press Taylor, C. (1975) ‘Hegel’ Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Villa, D. (2005) ‘Hegel, Toqueville, and â€Å"Individualism†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢, The Review of Politics, Vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 659-86 Walsh, W. H. Hegelian Ethics (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1969). Westphal, K. (2003) ‘Hegel’s Epistemology’, Indianapolis: Hackett Allen W.Wood, Hegel’s Ethical Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990). Pelczynski, Z. A. (ed. ), The State and Civil Society: Studies in Hegel’s Political Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984). Pelczynski, Z. A. Hegel’s Political Philosophy: Problems and Perspectives (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971). Marx General texts S Avineri, Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx T Bottomore (ed), A Dictionary of Marxist Thought T. Carver ed. , The Cambridge Companion to Marx T. Carver, Marx’s Social Theory T. Carver, The Postmodern Marx *G Duncan, Marx and Mill M Evans, Karl Marx *I.Hampsher-Monk, Modern Political Thought Ch 10 J Lively & A Reeve (eds),Modern Political Theory Section VI *D McLellan,Karl Marx: His Life and Thought *D McLellan,The Thought of Karl Marx [thematic chapters in Part 2 are extremely useful] J Maguire, Marx's Theory of Politics P. Osborne How to Read Marx *P Singer, Marx (a useful, short introduction) T Sowell, Marxism, Philosophy and Economics W Suching, Marx: An Introduction 15 A Wood, Karl Marx The Young Marx and Alienation E Fromm, Marx's Conce pt of Man S Hook, From Hegel to Marx * D McLellan, Marx Before Marxism I Meszaros, Marx's Theory of Alienation B Ollman, Alienation D.McLennan, The Young Hegelians and Karl Marx Historical Materialism & Social Change A Carter, Marx: A Radical Critique T Carver, Marx's Social Theory G Cohen, Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence M Rader, Marx's Interpretation of History Marx and Capitalism: Marxist Economics A Brewer, A Guide to Marx's Capital B Fine, Theories of the Capitalist Economy A Giddens, Capitalism and Modern Social Theory E Mandel, The Formation of the Economic Thought of Karl Marx E Mandel, An Introduction to Marxist Economic Theory T Sowell, Marxism, Philosophy and Economics Marx and Ideology E. Balibar, Marx and Philosophy T.Carver, `Did Ideology fall with the Wall? Marx, Marxism, Post-Marxism’ in M. Freeden ed. , Reassessing Political Ideologies J Lorraine, â€Å"Ideology and its revisions in Contemporary Marxism† in N O'Sullivan ed. , The Structure of Modern Ideology J. McCarney, The Real World of Ideology M. Seliger, The Marxist Concept of Ideology R. Williams, `Ideology' in his Keywords Marx and Engels on justice, morality, human nature and exploitation Arneson,`What's wrong with Exploitation? ‘ Ethics 91 (Jan 1981) A. Buchanan, `Exploitation, Alienation and Injustice', Canadian Journal of Philosophy IX vol. Cohen, Nagel & Scanlon eds, Marx, Justice and History (esp. articles by Husain and Wood L. N. Geras,`The Controversy about Marx and Justice', New Left Review 150 (1985) * N. Geras, Marx and Human Nature *S. Lukes, Marxism and Morality *K. Neilson & S. Patton eds, `Marx and Morality', Canadian Journal of Philosophy. Supplement to vol. VII (1981) A. Wood, Karl Marx, pt III A. Wood, `The Marxist Critique of Justice', Philosophy and Public Affairs vol. 1 no. 13 (1972) 16 Young, `Justice and Capitalist Production. Marx and Bourgeois Ideology', Canadian Journal of Philosophy VIII no. 13 (1978) Nietzsche *K.Ansell-Pearson, T he Perfect Nihilist. An Introduction to Nietzsche as Political Thinker *K. Ansell-Pearson, Nietzsche contra Rousseau. A Study of Nietzsche's Moral and Political Thought K. Ansell-Pearson, `The Exotic Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche', Political Theory (Aug. 1986) *K. Ansell-Pearson, `Nietzsche on Autonomy and Morality', Political Studies (June 1991) K. Ansell-Pearson, `Nietzsche: A Radical Challenge to Political Theory? ‘ Radical Philosophy 54 (1990) K. Ansell-Pearson, `Who is the ubermensch? Time, Truth and Woman in Nietzsche' Journal of the History of Ideas (April/June 1992) D. Conway, Nietzsche and the Political D.Conway, Nietzsche's Dangerous Game S. J. Coleman, `Nietzsche as Politique et Moraliste' Journal of the History of Ideas vol. 27 (1966) G. Deleuze, Nietzsche and Philosophy [challenging but brilliant] D. Allison ed. , The New Nietzsche [excellent but challenging collection] R. Hollingdale, Nietzsche: The Man and his Philosophy [a readable semi-biography by one of his main English translaters] W. Kaufmann, Nietzsche. Philosopher, Psychologist, and Anti-Christ [It was Kaufmann who first introduced Nietzsche to many English-speaking readers, via his translations, and he who was mainly responsible for re-presenting N. s an existentialist. His work is very accessible and convincing] T. Strong, Nietzsche and the Politics of Transfiguration (2000) [good on N and Politics] M. Warren, Nietzsche and Political Thought (MIT 1988) M. Warren, `The Politics of Nietzsche's Philosophy: Nihilism, Culture and Power', Political Studies (Sept. 1985) M. Warren, `Nietzsche and Political Philosophy', Political Theory vol. 13 no. 2 (May 1985) K. Higgins, Nietzsche's Zarathustra D. Owen, Nietzsche, Politics and Modernity D. Owen On the Genealogy of Morality (2007) P. Patton, Deleuze and the Political (Routledge 2000) ch. [not all on Nietzsche but some very useful comparative points] R. Schacht ed. , Nietzsche, Genealogy, Morality: Essays on Nietzsche's Genealogy of M orals B. Leiter Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Nietzsche on the Genealogy of Morality *M. Tanner, Nietzsche (1994) [this is a very short and accessible introduction] B. Magnus & K. Higgins ed. , The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche [esp. articles by Magnus & Higgins, Strong and Nehamas] *A. Nehamas, Nietzsche: Life as Literature [a very useful commentary] R. Soloman & K. Higgins, Reading Nietzsche E.Kennedy, `Woman as Ubermensch: Nietzsche', in Kennedy & Mendus eds, Women in Western Political Philosophy K. Oliver, Womanizing Nietzsche: Philosophy's Relation to the `Feminine' 17 P. Johnson, `Nietzsche Reception Today', Radical Philosophy 80 (Nov/Dec 1996) [useful overview of literature on Nietzsche's politics] D. Coole, `The Politics of Reading Nietzsche', Political Studies 46 (June 1998) D. Coole, Politics and Negativity (Routledge 2000) ch. 3 S. Rosen, The Mask of Enlightenment. Nietzsche's Zaarathustra [very detailed exposition of a major text] T. Sadler, Nietzsche. Truth and R edemption.Critique of the Postmodernist Nietzsche [presents a mystical, existentialist Nietzsche, based on the early writings. Readable but controversial] *F. Appel, Nietzsche Contra Democracy [short and clear. Argues that Nietzsche is a thoroughgoing anti-democrat] Additional thematic sources: Many of the sources already listed by thinker have useful material on the themes for the extended essay. The sources below provide general background and additional material. As a general starting point Goodin and Pettit (eds) A companion to contemporary political philosophy (Blackwell, 1995) has useful chapters on most of these themes.Remember that texts from last term will also be relevant. Freedom: Connolly, William, The Terms of Political Discourse (1983), chapter 4 Coole, Diana, ‘Constructing and Deconstructing Liberty’, Political Studies 41:1 (1993) [reprinted in P. Dunleavy et al. (eds. ), British Political Science] Green, T. H. , ‘Liberal Legislation and Freedom of Contract’, in Lectures on the Principles of Political Obligations and Other Writings Miller, David, Liberty Ramsay, Maureen What’s Wrong with liberalism? (1997) Ch 2 Riley, Jonathan, ‘Liberty’, in Catriona McKinnon (ed. , Issues in Political Theory Ryan, Alan (ed. ), The Idea of Freedom Swift, Adam, Political Philosophy, (Polity, 2001) part 2 Taylor, Charles, ‘What's Wrong with Negative Liberty? ’, in A. Ryan (ed. ), The Idea of Freedom and in D. Miller, Liberty. Human nature Davies, J. , Human nature in politics (Wiley, 1963) Forbes, I. , and Smith, S. , (eds) Politics and human nature (1983) Parekh, Bikhu, Rethinking Multiculturalism. MacMillan: Basingtoke, 2000. Chapter 4. Pinker, S. , The blank slate: the modern denial of human nature (2003) Rosen, M. , & Wolff, J. , Political Thought.Oxford: Oxford UP, 1999, Chapter 1. Sayers, S. , Marxism and human nature (Routledge, 2007) 18 Morality K. Ansell-Pearson, Nietzsche contra Rousseau. A Study of Nietzsche's Moral and Political Thought Berki, N. , and Parekh, B. The morality of politics (1972) S. Lukes, Marxism and Morality Nuttall, J Moral Questions: an introduction to ethics (Polity, 1993) Ch 13 Raz, J. , The morality of freedom (Clarendon, 1986) Raz, J. , Ethics in the public domain: the morality of law and politics (OUP 1994) Equality Arneson . , RJ ‘Equality’ in Goodin and Pettit Pojman, L. and R. Westmoreland (eds. , Equality: Selected Readings Rees, John, Equality (Pall Mall Press, 1971) Sen, A. , Inequality Re-examined Sen, A. , ‘Equality of What? ’, in Choice, Welfare and Measurement Tawney, R. H. , Equality, (1931) especially section on ‘Liberty and Equality’ Swift, Adam, Political Philosophy, esp Part 3 (Polity, 2001) Tawney RH Equality (Allen and Unwin, 1931) White S. , Equality (Polity, 2007) Political authority and legitimacy Dunn, J Political obligation in its historical context (CUP 1980) Flathman. , R ‘Legitim acy’ in Goodin and Pettit (eds) A companion to contemporary political philosophy (Blackwell, 1995) Flathman, R. The practice of political authority (Univ of Chicago Press, 1980) Green , L. , The authority of the state (Clarendon 1988) Green TH Lectures on the principles of political obligation and other writings (CUP, 1986) Hampton, J. , ‘Contract and consent’, Ch 16 in Goodin and Pettit (eds) Lessnoff, M. , Social contract theory (Blackwell, 1990) Morris ,C. , (ed) The social contract theorists: critical essays on Hobbes Locke and Rousseau (1998) Pateman, C Participation and democratic theory (CUP, 1970) Pateman The problems of political obligation (CUP, 1985) Plamenatz, J. Consent, freedom and political obligation (OUP, 1968) Riley P. , Will and political legitimacy: a critical exposition of social contract theory in Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau Kant and Hegel ( Harvard University Press, 1982) Simmons, AJ. , Moral principles and political obligations (Princeton Univ Press, 1979) Warrender, J The political philosophy of Hobbes: his theory of obligation (Clarendon, 1957) Please note: if locating material for a topic is difficult please ask your tutor for further suggestions. 19 10. SEMINAR PREPARATION SCHEDULE Week 1: Introduction to the module.Bentham’s utilitarianism Essential Reading: Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, chapters I, IV, VII, XIV (in Wootton). Please bring your copy of the David Wootton volume to class with you. Questions to guide your reading and for seminar discussion: 1. What does Bentham mean when he says that mankind is governed by pain and pleasure? 2. What is the principle of utility? 3. Why does Bentham believe that it can provide an objective standard by which our actions can be judged? What type of ethical theory is utilitarianism? What is its relationship to morality? . What, if any, are the political implications of utilitarianism? Week 2: John Stuart Mill’s Lib eralism Essential Reading: John Stuart Mill, On Liberty. Please bring your copy of the David Wootton volume to class with you. Questions to guide your reading and for seminar discussion: 1. Why does J. S. Mill believe that it is important to define the nature and limits of power? 2. What is J. S. Mill’s ‘one very simple principle’? How simple is it? And how can it be applied? 3. What justification does Mill provide for freedom of expression of opinion? How convincing do you find it? 4.Why does Mill believe that individuality is one of the elements of well-being? What does he mean when he says that human beings can become ‘a noble and beautiful object of contemplation’? Short in-class or post-class writing task: write some notes in answer to the following: How does Mill’s understanding of freedom differ from or develop the ideas of the thinkers we studied last semester? Week 3: Kant’s Enlightenment Essential Reading: 20 Immanuel Kant, â €˜An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment? ’ (Wootton pp. 522-526) Please bring your copy of the David Wootton volume with you to class.Questions to guide your reading and for seminar discussion: 1. How does Kant define Enlightenment? 2. How is enlightenment attained and what is its significance? 3. What are the obstacles to Enlightenment and how can they be overcome? 4. What is the relationship of Enlightenment to freedom? Week 4: Hegel and the State Essential Reading: G. W. F. Hegel, Elements of the Philosophy of Right, (Cambridge, CUP, 1991) Part 3: Ethical life, Section 2, Civil Society, pp. 220-39) On QM+. The editor’s introduction by Allen Wood is also very useful. Please focus especially on the following sections;  §188; C. The Police and the Corporation  §230, a.The Police  §231-249; b. The Corporation ( §250-256). Section 3, The State  §257-259. Questions to guide your reading and for seminar discussion: 1. What does Hegel understand by c ivil society ( §188)? 2. What is the role of the police ( §231-49)? 3. What is the relationship between the family and civil society and the family and the state ( §231-256)? 4. How is the relationship between individual and civil society different from that of individual and the state ( §258)? 5. What does Hegel think the relationship is between freedom and the state ( §258)? Do not be worried if you find these questions difficult to answer when reading on your own.We will try to answer them together in the seminar. Week 5: The early Marx This is the first of three sessions on Marx. In order to understand the context of his ideas, his career and political commitments, it will help you a great deal to do some general introductory reading on Marx from the list below over the next three weeks to support your reading of the primary texts. These are all accessible and clear introductions to Marx’ work. Class discussion will focus on the primary text, and you must bring a copy of the Wootton text with you each week and prepare some answers to the questions that will form the basis of discussion. 1 P. Singer, Marx. A Very Short Introduction (OUP) David McLellan, Karl Marx: His life and thought Hampsher Monk, A History of Modern Political Thought (Blackwell), Chapter 10, â€Å"Karl Marx†, especially section on â€Å"Early life and influences† Francis Wheen, Karl Marx (Fourth Estate) (a lively short biography) The texts we will read this week are drawn from Marx’ early work. We will consider his critique of liberal rights and freedom, and then look in detail at his concepts of ‘species-being; and alienation, as expressed in the ‘1844 Manuscripts’, often known as the ‘Paris Manuscripts’.Essential Reading: i. Sections from ‘On the Jewish Question’: Wootton pp 742-747 (first column and top 2 lines of second column) pp750 (Bottom first column ‘According to Bauer .. )-754 (first half o f column 1). ii. ‘Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right’: Wootton pp. 758-765. You need only read the section on pp. 764-5, where Marx derives the proletariat. iii. The 1844 [Paris] Manuscripts. Section on ‘Alienated Labour’ in Wootton pp. 766-772. Questions to guide your reading and for seminar discussion: 1. Why does Marx criticise liberalism?What has he to say about ‘the rights of man’? 2. What kind of emancipation, and from what, is Marx calling for here? 3. Why is the proletariat that will be the privileged agency of emancipation, according to Marx? The Paris Manuscripts 4. What does Marx mean by alienation? What forms does it take? What is wrong with alienation? 5. Why is Marx critical of private property? What is its relation to alienation? 6. What does Marx mean by `species-being'? Do you think Marx has a theory of human nature here? 7. What does Marx mean when he claims that communism will even emancipate t he human senses?Short in-class or post-class writing task: Write a few bullet points in answer to one of the following: How does Marx’s view of human nature/essence differ from other thinkers you’ve studied? What do you think freedom might consist of for Marx? Week 6: Historical Materialism and the Dialectic Essential Reading: i. The German Ideology Part 1 (Wootton pp775-787 up to ‘as the history of communism proves’) ii. Theses on Feuerbach (Wootton pp 773-4) iii. Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (Woottton pp. 829-831) iv. Manifesto of the Communist Party Parts 1,2,4 (Wootton pp. 98-809 and pp. 814 -815). 22 Questions to guide your reading and for seminar discussion: 1. What is materialism? 2. What makes Marx’ materialism historical? What drives history, according to Marx? 3. What is the relationship between forces and social relations of production, and between base and superstructure? What is a mode of production? 4. To what extent can human action shape history, according to Marx? How does class struggle fit in here? 5. What is ideology and what is its function? 6. How might a revolution come about, in Marx’ view?Short in class or post-class writing task: Write a paragraph on how Marx’s view of history challenges the justifications for political authority advanced by other thinkers previously studied on the course. Week 7: Reading Week Week 8: The Analysis of Capitalism. Essential reading: Wootton contains very little of Capital. Essential reading for this week is taken from Tucker The Marx Engels Reader (Norton, 1978) and can be found on the module QM+ site. i. The Coming Upheaval Tucker pp. 218-9 ii. Capital vol. 1: Pt I ch. 1 sect. 1 (Tucker pp. 302-8); sect. 2 (Tucker pp. 308-312); sect. 4 (Tucker pp. 319-29); ch. VI (pp. 336-343); Pt III ch.VII sect. 2 (pp. 351-361); ch. X sect. 2 (pp. 364-7); Ch. XIII, esp. sect's 4,5 (pp. 392-403); Pt V ch. XVI (pp. 417-9); ch. XXV sect. 4 (pp. 429-431); Pt VIII (pp. 431-8) iii. Capital vol. 3 (pp. 439-442) iv. Crisis Theory Final section (pp. 459-65) Questions to guide your reading and for seminar discussion: 1. What is Marx's theory of value? What do the terms use value, exchange value and surplus value mean and how do they relate to one another? 2. What is the `twofold character of labour'? 3. What does Marx mean by the fetishism of commodities? 4. What are the contradictions and crises that Marx finds inherent in capitalism? . How does the proletariat's exploitation occur? 6. What does the analysis of capitalism show us about the dialectical method? Is this still relevant as a way of reading the present? 7. How convincing do you find Marx’s analysis of capitalism? Short in class or post-class writing task: Write a paragraph summarising your understanding of Marx’ views on either a) morality or b) equality. 23 Week 9: Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morality I Background to Nietzsche As a preparation for studying Nietzsche, you are advised to read K. Ansell-Pearson, The Perfect Nihilist. An Introduction to Nietzsche as Political Thinker (CUP 1994).D. Conway, Nietzsche and the Political (Routledge 1996), is a possible alternative but rather misleadingly `reconstructive' as an introductory text. Both of these books nevertheless offer accessible introductions to Nietzsche, with particular emphasis on his political dimension. A useful introductory essay to his writings can also be found in B. Magnus & K. Higgins, `Nietzsche's Works and their Themes' in The Cambridge Companion to Nietzsche (CUP 1996), which can be found on Moodle Wootton (ed) contains only the first essay of the Genealogy of Morality so you will definitely need access to another copy too.Key readings not in Wootton, as well as helpful supplementary readings are available on QM+. The Cambridge University Press edition of the Genealogy is a very good one if you wish to buy a copy. In addition, it would be very useful if you were to look at Beyond Good and Evil. Essential Reading: Nietzsche, Genealogy of Morality Preface; Essay 1. Please focus especially on sections 2,7,10,11,12,13 and pay especial attention to section 13. On the Genealogy of Morality: 1. How does Nietzsche distinguish between good/evil and good/bad?Explain how the latter gave way to the former and the type of persons which were classified under each heading. Which civilisations correspond to these categories? 2. What is the meaning and significance of `ressentiment' and the `herd instinct’? How do they differ from what is `noble’ and the aristrocratic way of life? What do you think it means in this context to say `yes’ to life? 3. What has been the fate of we modern Europeans, according to Nietzsche? 4. What is Nietzsche criticising in Essay 1, section 13? Nietzsche alludes here to the will to power: what sense can you gain of it?Week 10: Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morality II Essential Reading: Nietzsc he, The Genealogy of Morality Essay 2, sections 1,2,3,7,11,12,16,17,18,24,25. Please pay especial attention to section 12, which we will read together in class. ii. Nietzsche, sections on nihilism from Will to Power [available on QM+] Questions to guide your reading and for seminar discussion: 1. What developments would have to occur before the human species is capable of entering a social contract? How does Nietzsche believe they were brought about? 24 2. In what sense can these developments be called nihilistic? 3.Explain what Nietzsche is saying about his method and about will to power, in Essay 2, section 12. What does this add to his former analysis of punishment? 4. How does bad conscience arise? What are its consequences? 5. Who is the man of the future? What sort of redemption might he permit? Short in class or post-class writing task: Write a short paragraph or a few bullet points in answer to one (or more) of the following questions. How does Nietzsche’s understandi ng of morality differ from that of other thinkers you have studied? How does he pose a challenge to thinking about morality as an intrinsic part of human nature?How do you think Nietzsche understands freedom? How might freedom be tied to power? Can Nietzsche’s philosophy be reconciled with the concept of equality? Again, try to think about his difference/connection with other thinkers covered on the course. Week 11: Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morality III Essential Readings i. Nietzsche, The Genealogy of Morality Essay 3. Please focus on sections 1,8, 12 to end; ii. Sections from Thus Spake Zarathustra (Wooton only contains first two essays so both of these will be available on QM+). Questions to guide your reading and for seminar discussion: 1.What is the ascetic ideal? Why is it nihilistic? What role do philosophy and religion respectively play in its promotion? 2. What do you think Nietzsche means by `Life'? How does the ascetic ideal both threaten and preserve it? 3. What is the relationship between knowledge and will? Why is everything a matter of perspective? 4. Why does Nietzsche call man the sick animal? 5. What is the herd instinct? How does it help modern individuals to cope with their anguish? 6. What examples does Nietzsche give of modern no-sayers? 7. What is the will to truth? 8.What are the different meanings and symptoms that Nietzsche attributes to nihilism? 9. What is will to power? In what sense is it unconscious? How does it relate to the will to truth? 10. What role is played by Zarathustra and what is his relationship to the Dionysian? Why does Nietzsche suggest he has come too soon? Week 12: Research essay workshop This week’s seminar will take the form of a collaborative workshop intended to help you in preparing and drafting your research essay. By the end of the session you should have a firm title and essay structure in place, and be ready to begin writing (if you haven’t already). 5 Essential preparation: u sing the feedback on your essay plan, begin sketching out the structure and content of your essay in more detail. What will be your final choice of theme and thinkers? What main differences/similarities have you identified in the different thinkers’ treatment of your chosen theme? What will your final essay title be? What are the key primary and secondary texts you are using? You should be prepared to share your work and ideas with other students and to offer constructive criticism of the work of others.IMPORTANT: if for any reason you are unable to attend this workshop you MUST notify your tutor. 26 Appendix I: MPT II Assessment PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE A BRIEFING SESSION ON THE ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL STUDENTS ON THURSDAY 18 JANUARY AT 1PM IN ROOM FB113A Overview: This semester, assessment consists of the following two pieces of work: (i) an essay proposal of max 500 words, plus working bibliography and (ii) a research essay of max. 5000 words. There is no exa m for this module. The research essay is designed to allow you to demonstrate both depth and breadth in your understanding of the semester’s thinkers.It is also intended to help develop your skills of research design and independent research, in order to prepare you for the final year dissertation you will undertake next year. You are required to choose one from a selection of key themes, and to write an essay that compares and analyses the treatment of your chosen theme by at least three of the thinkers covered in this module. The choice of thinkers will depend on the theme chosen and your own interests, with one stipulation: at least two must be chosen from the Spring Semester (for Semester B associates all will be chosen from the Spring Semester).The themes from which to choose are: 1) freedom 2) human nature 3) morality/ethics 4) equality 5) political authority and legitimacy. The requirement to submit a plan and working bibliography is intended to ensure that your choice of themes and thinkers is appropriate, to help you in framing your arguments, and to give you the opportunity to receive feedback on your work in progress from your seminar tutor. Your tutors will also incorporate short writing exercises into classes to help you link themes and thinkers as we progress through the course. Suggested exercises are included in this handbook.Your work will be assessed according to the general assessment criteria set out in the Politics Student Handbook, however you should also pay careful attention to the specific requirements of the tasks set out below. Coursework 1: Research essay plan and working bibliography Deadline 9am Thursday 7 March 2013 (Week 9) 27 Title MPT II research essay plan (also give proposed title of your research essay) Word length Maximum 500 words not including bibliography. Weighting 10% of the overall course mark for MPT (15% for single semester associate students).Task Your 500 word plan must do the following: Give a working tit le for your essay (see end of this appendix for example title formats) Introduce your chosen theme and give a brief rationale for your choice of thinkers Set out an indicative structure for your essay Give an indication of the main similarities/differences between the thinkers in terms of your chosen theme, and/or indicate your overall argument Your working bibliography must: Contain both primary texts and secondary sources Show that you have identified sufficient relevant sources to assist in the research and writing of your essay Be properly and accurately presented, adhering to scholarly conventions MPT II Coursework 2: Research essay Deadline 9am Tuesday 23 April 2013 (revision week) Title Give the finalised title of your essay Word Length Maximum 5000 words including footnotes, excluding bibliography Weighting 50% of the overall module mark for MPT (85% for single semester associate students) Task The essay must: Demonstrate that you have read and understood a range of primary and secondary texts studied in the module. Clearly show the relevance of your chosen thinkers to the theme selected Use analytical and critical skills to explore similarities/differences/complementarities between the thinkers 28Advance and sustain an overall argument Be properly and accurately presented and referenced, and contain a full bibliography Advice and guidance: This research essay is not simply a longer version of the ordinary undergraduate essay. It is more in the nature of a guided research project, and thus requires more of you. You contribute to the design of the topic or question, and you will need to be more independent in identifying and selecting relevant source material. The number of sources consulted will be greater than for the average 2000-3000 word essay. A longer piece of work requires you to develop your points and arguments in greater detail and depth, and it may also be more difficult to structure.Therefore please pay attention to the following suggestion s, and ask your seminar tutor or course convenor for help if anything is unclear. Getting started: Do NOT leave all the preparatory work for this essay until the week before you have to hand in your plan! You need to be thinking from an early stage about what themes and thinkers interest you, and you should make notes, week by week, on how the different thinkers relate to the various themes. Some short exercises are included in this handbook to help you do this: these may be done in class with help from your tutor, but should also be used after class to help you build up a set of thematic notes.Designing your topic It is crucial that your choice of theme and thinkers is coherent. Whatever theme you choose, you should start by iden