People have become overly dependent on technology

The World Wide Web is a huge world that should be controlled. The Internet has many advantages and disadvantages. It is either to be a useful tool or to be a harmful weapon. The Internet had many effects and side effects in the social life, Safety and also purchasing or shopping. If it was controlled all those will be much better and life will be easier. However, if it was uncontrolled that will lead to huge problems. The peaceful tool will convert to be a harmful weapon. It won't kill humans but I will kill nations and cultures. First, the Internet had developed the teaching methods and made the education uch easier and better.The student can look up for any subject that he need in the internet and It will Just pop up to him. It is better than referring to books. Internet will take you seconds to find specific information, while books may take hours and day to look up on them. The student homework's, assignments and projects also require him to use Internet. The students and kids ar e totally able to look up for anything in the Internet, so that can lead to one of two things. First, Either the kids will use that to improve their skills, knowledge and they will catch up with the technology.Second, they will start to look up for pornographic media and it will be easy to obtain. It will destroy a lot of their parents work. They may addict online games as most of the kids in this time. This will cause them their social life. They wont be able to make friends or to contribute with anyone. They will not feel that they are wrong until they grew up and become adults. In that time they will notice that they have no friends or anyone around him. It will be very hard in that time to recover what he did. Not to mention that the kids who stay a lot in the Internet they got some issues.They will have pain in their packs and in their hands. This pain will be noticed after they grew up. But they will feel that their eyes are becoming weaker with time. It is the main reason for why too many people are wearing glasses in these days. They should be censored in what they see, how long they set in front of their computers or laptops and how they set. Second, The Internet can be used by governments to ensure the safety. It is a tool that the governments can use to detect the strange cases and stop them right away. There were some cases those terrorist used emails to contact each other.If their emails were controlled and under the government eyes they would probably save human lives. Governments should also watch the text massaging and instant massaging such â€Å"WhatsApp† or â€Å"skype† because it may used to plan for something. If governments work harder in the telecommunication security side, they would achieve many things that they are trying to do by other methods. They may detect a terrorist or also a murder evident, these things should not be ignored. Other wise we will watch a new type of terrorist that is more crazy than the previous on es.Third, There are types ot thieves and terrorist. In these days the worse type ot it is the hacker. There are a lot of hackers in this time. Those hackers may do small things such hacking an email. They also may do huge things like trying to hack a financial websites and steal the money from it. There are a lot of people who shops in the Internet and they are all afraid from the hackers or the fake website. Since they Just fill in their credit card information. They will find out that they were stolen. There are many fake websites and hackers that use Internet to gain money.The huge what hackers can do is trying to steal a bank. If government do not secure banks, people money will Just disappear. All the financial websites should be secured and controlled by the government so no body get stolen. Finally, The Internet can be a very useful tool to develop and to live a better life. However, this can never be unless that the Internet was secured and under the government eyes. I hope that people understand the meaning of the Internet and how harmful can it be. I also hope that people understand how a useful it is if it was used properly. People Have Become Overly Dependent on Technology Humans have been called the animals which make things, and at no time in history has this been so obvious as the present. Today, every human activity is dependent upon various tools, machines, and systems, from growing food to providing shelter to communication, healthcare, and entertainment. Some machines, like the tractor, speed up and make more efficient activities that humans have done for hundreds of thousands of years. Others such as the airplane or the Internet, make possible things that humans have never been able to do before. This collection of devices, capabilities, and the knowledge that accompanies them is called technology. We can say that â€Å"living without technology is like living without air† in this technical world of today. Therefore, we are much dependent on technology. Broadly speaking, technology is how people modify the world to suit their own purposes. From the Greek word techne, meaning art or artifice or craft, technology literally means the act of making or crafting, but more generally it refers to the diverse collection of processes and knowledge that people use to extend human abilities and to satisfy human needs and wants. Technology has been going on since humans first formed a blade from a piece of flint, harnessed fire, or dragged a sharp stick across the ground to create a furrow for planting seeds, but today it exists to a degree unprecedented in history. Planes, trains, and automobiles carry people and cargo from place to place at high speeds. Telephones, television, and computer networks help people communicate with others across the street or around the world. Medical technologies, from vaccines to Stem Cell therapy, allow people to live longer, healthier lives. 00 years ago people’s average age of death was from 40 to 45. But now it’s 75. Furthermore, technology is evolving even as we speak, with new technologies being created and existing technologies being improved and extended. The benefits of technology are usually obvious, if they were not, it would probably never be developed, but the disadvantages and dangers are often hidden. A perfect example is chlorofluorocarbons, or C FCs. When CFCs were invented, no one realized that these chemicals used as refrigerants would eventually damage the ozone layer. Today, the Internet is having profound effects on society, how people interact and communicate with one another, how they do their business, and how they get their entertainment and recreation, but no one knows exactly what to expect from it in future. Computers make our lives easier and give us new ways to learn about the things we're interested in. They make it possible to do many things from the comfort of our own home — we can shop online, keep in touch with our friends online, even go to school online. They make it easier to record and organize information and entertain us with a nearly endless variety of games. However, it's still important to maintain a life outside of the cyber world; a life spent attached to a computer screen isn't a real life. When a computer becomes the central point of a person's life, they undergo a change in behavior; they become lazy and develop anti-social tendencies, and, in some severe cases, simply cannot function without a computer. Some people say that we are not really dependent on technology. We can live without the technology. Our ancestors did it, so why can't we? I would ask these questions: When was the last time you solve math problems without using calculator? When was the last time you went to library to find information instead of searching from internet? Also time has changed since our ancestors era. Has technology really taken over our lives this much? Where we can't go 2 minutes without checking our phone to see if we have a text? Where we can't go a day or two without checking our e-mail, and facebook? We can't even walk across a campus without seeing a student on the phone, laptop or listening to their iPods. All this makes it particularly important that people understand and are comfortable with the concepts and workings of modern technology. Today's people, including me, have become socially inept and too dependent on technology. Now this isn't meant to be a hate technology thread, because technology really can be awesome at times. From a personal standpoint, people benefit both at work and at home by being able to choose the best products for their purposes, to operate the products properly, and to troubleshoot them when something goes wrong. And from a societal standpoint, an informed citizenry improved the chances that decisions about the use of technology will be made rationally and responsibly. But sometimes we take technology too seriously, and depend on it too much. If your computer breaks, don’t get pissed about it. If the Internet goes down, it’s not the end of the world. If your phone is broken, don't kill yourself. And ask this question from yourself: How long can you â€Å"survive† without technology?

Analysis of the Hungarian Mobile Market Essay

Introduction The mobile market is still one of the most rapidly expanding business sectors in Hungary. Openness to new technologies and society’s need for swift communication, have elevated current statistics to show that the number of mobile telephones in Hungary exceed that of landlines. And it appears that the balance continues to shift more in favor of mobiles. This is characterized by the occurances of the previous years. At the end of 1999 the proportion of landline to mobile use was two to one, by the end of 2000 the number of landlines was only 25% higher than that of mobiles. Recently, over the course of the past few years dramatic changes have taken place. The country’s leading mobile provider, Westel Mobile Rt., reached 2 million subscribers by June 12, 2001; at the same time Pannon GSM reported 1.5 million subscribers, while the number of Vodafone subscribers was around 260,000.According to a recent report of the Telecommunications Supervisory Office, the number of opera tional mobile telephones in October 2003 amounted to 7,614,256. Given the tendencies of previous years, this number is expected to increase. Therefore, we can observe that mobile penetration has increased by nearly 100% over the course of the last few years. Growth shows no sign of slowing with the market. This makes it one of the highest growing markets in eastern Europe. But how will the Hungarian mobile-market develop further? Can the sharp increase of recent years be maintained, and when can we expect signs of market saturation? The Main Market Players Westel Mobile On 16 June 2000 Westel’s analogue and digital divisions, Westel Radiotelefon and Westel 900 GSM, officially became known as Westel Mobile; the company required a name change to reflect the fact that it was scheduled to introduce a GSM-1800 service. Westel was granted a GSM-1800 licence in mid-1999 when the government awarded Hungary’s third digital concession to Vodafone. In the interest of promoting fair competition, Vodafone was afforded a year-long period of exclusivity before Westel was allowed to launch its own GSM-1800 offering. Westel began sales of dual-band handsets in January 2000 in preparation for its November launch. Westel’s GSM subscriber base almost doubled during the course of 2000, from 842,000 to 1.6 million, growth which the company has attributed to the popularity of its pre-paid service Domino. The sale of Domino packages accounted for 76% of total revenues in 2000 and by the end of the year pre-paid users outnumbered post-paid customers, ac counting for 52% of the total subscriber base; this had risen to 57% three months later. By the end of March 2001 Westel had signed up a total of 1.8 million subscribers and in mid-June 2001 it registered its two millionth customer, by which time 60% of its customers were pre-paid. Westel launched its WAP service in early February 2000 and by the end of the year claimed that 100,000 customers were using WAP-enabled handsets. According to the company, there will be a boom in its WAP services once access times have been cut by GPRS. In spring 2001 Westel launched GPRS to a couple of hundred users and has scheduled full commercial launch for 1 August. It is aware that the technology could be slow to take off, however, and has already indicated that initial growth could be affected by the lack of handsets. A major development for Westel customers in 2000 was the introduction of the GreenZone tariff package, which allows customers living in rural areas to make lower cost calls. The GreenZone covers around 80% of Hungarian territory. In addition Westel has roaming agreements in place in 87 countries with 196 networks. It has also highlighted the popularity of SMS services; 200 million were sent during 2000 and in the first half of 2001 Westel customers sent more than 30 million per month. Westel Mobile retained its dominance over the market having almost doubled its subscriber base during the course of 2000, from 842,000 to 1.6 million, giving it a market share of 53.1%. By March 2001 the number of subscribers had reached 3.39 million, equivalent to a penetration rate of 33.7%. estel Mobile is owned by Matav (51%) and Deutsche Telekom (49%). Pannon GSM Although growth was steady during 2000, Pannon gained little ground on Westel; at the end of March 2001 it claimed a market share of 40.4%, up slightly on the 39.3% it recorded a year earlier. At the same date its subscribers numbered 1.37 million, 38% of whom were signed up to its pre-paid package Pannon Praktikum, which was launched in November 1997. By May 2001 Pannon announced that its customer base had reached 1.5 million. It has offered WAP services since early March 2000 and claims to have signed up several thousand users in the first four months. Majority shareholder KPN announced in June 2001 that it was seeking to offload its stake in Pannon as well as its minority stakes in the Ukraine and Indonesia. Interest in the stakes has been high and at the time of writing KPN confirmed that talks with potential buyers were well under way. Analysts have suggested that Vodafone may show interest in acquiring Pannon to strengthen its position in the country; it is not believed that Vo dafone will be deterred by the fact that Pannon is likely to be sold in conjunction with VoIP operator Pantel. Pannon is owned by KPN (44.66%), Telenor (25.78%), Sonera (23%) and TDC (6.56%). Vodafone Hungary When the VRAM consortium launched Hungary’s third digital mobile network under the Vodafone name in November 1999 it stated that its aim was to achieve a market share of 10% by the end of 2000. It failed to reach this target, signing up 200,000 customers, equivalent to just under 6.5%. Nonetheless, growth has been rapid. By March 2001 Vodafone had signed up 223,000 subscribers, up 374% from the 47,000 it claimed a year earlier. At the beginning of 2001 Vodafone announced that it would invest USD60 million in Hungary to build 400 base stations nationwide in addition to the 800 it has already installed. Vodafone has invested hundreds of millions of dollars since the inception of its Hungarian project to fund infrastructure, marketing and technological advances. The VRAM consortium consists of Vodafone (50.1%), RWE Telliance (19.9%), Antenna Hungary (20%) and Magyar Posta (10%). Market Share Development in Hungary Total Subscriber Development in Hungary Market Analysis This market is characterized by severe price discrimination implemented by all the participating firms. All three members of the market have pre paid and post paid packages available to their customers. It is observable that more users choose the pre paid packages in general. This can be derived from the price discrimination of the competing firms on the market. The following diagram also illustrates this tendency. Since the slope of the two lines is determined by the cost per minute it is obviously the lower envelope that represents the line according to which buyers should base their preference-based decisions. A customer who does not uses his or her mobile a lot will choose one of the pre paid packages. Controversially someone who is willing to talk much on his or her mobile will choose the post paid package, which implies to pay more for getting the started and costs less to use. In the intersection point of the two lines is the point where the customer is indifferent between the two. The market had witnessed unprecedented growth during 2000. At the end of the year it was home to 3.1 million users, this constitutes a 92.5% increase on the previous year end of 1999. This also beat the government’s forecast of a target of 2.5 million by a considerable margin. Also noteworthy is that mobile penetration reached an impressive 30.7% in December 2000, up from just 15.9% twelve months earlier. The market is growing indeed. according to analysts, 2002’s tendencies were easy to predict. The fast growth continued in the mobile market. However, it seems harder to foresee the development of the market later on. The only fact evident is that in the long run, there will be more mobile terminals in the country than the number of people living in it. Hungary’s new telecommunications act, which is currently being debated in Parliament, is also expected to further boost competition in the mobile phone market. With three competing mobile phone operators the Hunga rian market is probably the toughest in the entire region. Mobile Penetration Development in Hungary The second year of liberalized telecommunications in Hungary was marked by a decline in the number of fixed-line subscribers, but a persistently growing mobile market. In the first quarter of 2003, the number of mobile subscriptions (including active SIM cards and analogue subscription) rose to over 7 million for the first time, says a telecommunication market quarterly report compiled by the National Communications Authority (HIF). A comparison of 2003’s summer figures with those from the summer of 2002, shows an increase in mobile phone subscriptions of 22%. The numbers illustrate a major trend in the telecommunications sector of, let’s not forget, a country of only 10 million inhabitants. Westel leads the sector with a 47.5% market share, while Pannon GSM ranks second at 36.94%, followed by Vodafone, the smallest player, but one that is quickly growing with a 15.56% share of the market, according to HIF. Prices appear to increasingly level off, and the competition is speeding up. Therefore the mobile companies react faster to each other’s steps. Several years ago it took mobile operators almost half a year to counter each other’s marketing actions, but today it is a matter of days. This type of price war competition was started by Vodafone, Hungary’s third mobile phone provider, which entered the market in 1999. Vodafone’s Vitamax pre-paid cards became an instantaneous hit. Initially Vodafone’s prices were some 15-20% lower than anything offered on the market, but in the time since Westel and Pannon have lowered their prices as well. Pannon’s new campaign: â€Å"De-Juice† was a response to Vodafone’s younger image, and offers prepaid options along side Pannons already existing Praktikum service. Since March this year, Westel has introduced three new pre-paid Domino packages that offer competitive and unified tariffs on calls mad e to fixed-line or other mobile networks. There is also a considerable amount of price competition in the post-paid sector. Similarly to the post-paid packages, there is a very large array of package allocation possibilities. Of these assortments Westel’s cheapest offer for subscribers is its ‘Tà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½rsalgà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ M’ package, under which users can call within the network for 36.75 Hungarian Forints per minute in peak hours. Under Pannon’s ‘Horizont’ package, subscribers can choose between three different categories (Bà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½nusz, Plusz, Extra) that offer economical prices for calls made at different times of the day. In the meantime, Vodafone has come forward with its Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘Csà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½cs Plusz’ subscription package, which offers a tariff of 6 Forints per minute for the first 10 minutes of a call made to any network. So competition is fierce among mobile operators for post-paid subscribers and pre-paid card users. Although companies believe they will win customers by advertising the lowest prices, we have ascertained that many pre-paid packages hide additional charges for calls made after prime time hours. Many analysts say that even after Hungary’s new telecom law takes effect, price competition will continue since there are still significant reserves in pre-paid card rates. Although mobile operators are extremely careful about detailing their strategies, we believe that telephone equipment prices, along with regular subscribers, will remain the main campaign elements in the future. One aspect of the new telecom law states that from May 1, 2004, customers may keep their mobile numbers even if they switch providers. It seems that this will greatly rearrange the market. It can be expected that pre-paid phone customers will probably have to pay much more for the mobile handsets (as opposed to being relatively cheap, as is the case right now), as it would not be in any company’s interest to give expensive, modern phones cheaply to customers who could change providers at any moment. Meanwhile, the value of regular subscribers is expected to grow and those customers who sign a long-term contract will probably be the most important ones. Pannon GSM, for instance, seems to put more focus on the post-paid customer segment instead of the SIM card market. The current price competition, mostly focused on pre-paid card users, is seen spreading to subscribers who would be able to make cheaper calls as well. Vodafone is also pursuing a similar strategy. Telecom Policy Director Pà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½l Marchart says: â€Å"I expect that the new regulation will stimulate market competition even in those markets that show monopolistic signs today.† In reality however, the new regulations are being carefully scrutinized and opinions vary. It is questionable whether they will fulfill the function of creating real market competition. Prices would radically drop if real market competition existed in the market. This question was first raised by Hungary’s Competition Authority (GVH). The office made headlines recently with its inquiry into the telecommunications services sector, which resulted in imposed fines for Westel and Pannon. The sector inquiry enabled GVH to achieve a more accurate view of the mobile phone sector. The office found several problems on the mobile market, mainly with the pricing of calls generated from mobile phones to fixed-line networks. GVH accused mobile operators of utilizing restrictive practices in-order to increase mobile use in Hungary. The inquiry alleged that there is a mobile phone cartel in Hungary. But of course in the end it accused mobile service providers of little and did not prove that there were coordinated actions taken on by the mobile firms. GVH could not even prove that call fees to other networks were too high, but only stated that some contracts among mobile providers could distort competition. Westel was fined HUF 210 million and Pannon GSM HUF 150 million by GVH. The fine is not substantial, however, and accounts for a mere fraction of mobile operators’ turnover. Westel and Pannon said they will appeal the GVH decision in Hungarian courts. Vodafone did not have to pay any fines. The mobile companies agreed that fees for calls to other mobile service providers would cost less than calling fixed-line operators. In Summary then, we believe it is safe to say that continued competition and occasional price-wars will continue to surface among the three mobile conglomerates in Hungary. We have just recently perused in the latest issue of the Budapest Times that the new telecoms legislation has just been officially approved in Parliament. The new telecom act will come into force January 1, 2004 for fixed-lines and May 1, 2004 for mobile networks, just in time for the EU entry. We are yet to see what real effects this law will have on market competition, and if predatory and limit pricing attempts will be detected and penalized by the GVH. Also of note for future developments is Hungary’s ensuing EU absorption. Although it is expected that new fixed-line operators will enter the Hungarian market after EU integration, in the mobile market, the situation is quite different. Given the considerable number of active mobile phone users in the Hungarian population, it seems inconceivable that a potential new entrant firm could operate efficiently next to the incumbents. They would need a lot of resources and a good financial background, since return on the investment would probably take a good number of years. The fact that the number of mobile providers is not bound to increase in the future is one issue that all three firms seem to agree on. However, we believe that eventual new entrants will or should make their way on the market, since this would further promote competition which is an obvious goal of the Hungarian Competition Office (GVH). What we, consumers can do is to hope that at some point in time prices and minimum average costs will tend to meet, setting an end to the presence of dead weight loss. This way welfare as well as consumer surplus will be maximized on the Hungarian mobile market. Bibliography Sources Consulted and Referenced: Hungarian Competition Authority (GVH) official website; www.gvh.hu Hungarian National Communications Authority (HIF) official website; www.hif.hu Pannon GSM Mobile Service Provider Corporation official website; www.pannongsm.hu The Budapest Times Newspaper. Issue: Nov 28. – Dec 4. 2004; www.budapesttimes.hu Vodafone Mobile Service Provider Corporation official website; www.vodafone.hu Westel Mobile Service Provider Corporation official website; www.westel.hu

Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made Essay

Introduction An entrepreneur is a person who sets up a business by taking on financial risks in hope to make a profit. The word entrepreneur stems from the French word entreprendrà © which means ‘to undertake’. A couple of examples are Lord Alan Sugar and Bill Gates. Lord Sugar is an entrepreneur worth  £800 million. He started by selling car aerials out of a van, he then set up his company, Amstrad which sold affordable hi-fi turntable covers. In 1993 he founded Amsair Executive Aviation with his son Daniel who provide executive and business jet charters. Bill Gates was the world’s first centibillionaire. He began programming aged 13 and continued to gain experience with computing before studying law at Harvard. He spent most of time there programming and created Microsoft. This became the most used computer software in the world. He was CEO up until 2008 and is still a chair in the company. This essay will look at the traits that many entrepreneurs have and see which ones you are born with and which are attainable through education or training allowing anyone to become an entrepreneur. It will conclude arguing that entrepreneurs are made though not all the traits can be improved through training. Traits of Entrepreneurs One trait of entrepreneurs is the need for independence (Brooks 2011). Many entrepreneurs do not want to work for other people and it is this independence that attracts them as they can control their own work and life, it is often a more flexible lifestyle as an entrepreneur can take time off when he wants to. Another trait is the need for fulfilment (Delgado-Garcà ­a et al. 2012). This is believed to be the main drive in entrepreneurs and it isn’t always making money that is the aim. Often their targets are very personal such as becoming international or to employ 100 employees (Brooks 2011). There is also the trait of having an internal locus of control. Being an internal means that you believe you control a broad array of factors in your life (Judge & Bono 2001). An external is the opposite and believes in fate and not being able to control your entire life. These people are less likely to take risks and therefore would make poor entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs need to be self confident. If an entrepreneur isn’t confident in their product or service they are providing then it will be less likely  the entrepreneur will be successful. For investors and shareholders to be confident in the business or business plan then the entrepreneur must be 100% confident in what he is pitching. Entrepreneurs must be innovative also. They must be able to use innovation to create an opportunity. It is a key skill to be able to spot gaps in the market, and take this opportunity to develop a successful business to make money and produce new products. Born or Made? Starting with the first trait independence, independence meaning not wanting to be an employee but be self employed. This is a personal preference which you may be born with and always have a desire to be your own boss. However, this preference may come down to a parent being self employed and seeing him/her having the freedom to take days or afternoons off work and be more flexible may encourage their offspring to be entrepreneurs. The trait of needing fulfilment is one that most people are either born with or not born with. Many people may be happy in a job where they are earning a decent amount and don’t feel the need to try and move up in a company’s hierarchy or leave their job and become an entrepreneur. However, people may not be born with the need for fulfilment but have an idea they genuinely think will succeed and this may encourage them to become more motivated and they will want it to succeed. Overall, the trait of needing fulfilment and achievement is one that can be adopted when older and not necessarily born with. In the case of the internal locus of control, this is something that people may have strong views about and many people make up their own mind about whether they control their own lives or whether fate decides. Education and training is unlikely to change people’s perspective. This perspective is likely to arise from how the person has been brought up, if their parents always told them how fate doesn’t exist then they will probably grow up to believe the same, this means it isn’t something that you are born with (genetic) but is something you may pick up during childhood through the surrounding environment. As shown above confidence is key to being a successful entrepreneur, confidence is something that many people are born with. However, confidence can be built up through therapy or by changing mental attitudes. On the whole, confidence can be made but some people are more naturally confident than others and will need to work less at being that  confident entrepreneur. Innovation is something that is hard to teach and is a trait that you are born with, some people would struggle to come up with ideas and find a gap in the market just as some people are naturally talented at painting and some have to work at it. Innovation is slightly harder to teach that painting however, this is the one trait which would be hard to improve in a person. Conclusion As the above shows many of the traits entrepreneurs need are born with however, they can be improved through education and training later in life. The only one that cannot be improved very easily is innovation. Many people may argue that none of the traits are born with and that they are all developed during childhood and through the environment a person is brought up in. For this reason entrepreneurs are made and many of the traits can be improved to allow a person to become a better entrepreneur. References Billett, M.T. & Qian, Y., 2008. Are Overconfident CEOs Born or Made? Evidence of Self-Attribution Bias from Frequent Acquirers. Management Science, 54(6), pp.1037-1051. Burns, P., 2008. Corporate Entrepreneurship 2nd Edition. Hampshire. Palgrave Macmillan Delgado-Garcà ­a, J.B., Rodrà ­guez-Escudero, A.I. & Martà ­n-Cruz, N., 2012. Influence of Affective Traits on Entrepreneur’s Goals and Satisfaction. Journal of Small Business Management. 50(3), pp.408-428. Judge, T.A. & Bono, J.E., 2001. Relationship of Core Self-Evaluations Traits – Self-Esteem, Generalized Self-Efficacy, Locus of Control, and Emotional Stability – With Job Satisfaction and Job Performance: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology. 86(1), pp.80-92 Piperopoulos, P.G., 2011. Business Emergence and Growth. Hampshire. Palgrave Macmillan.

Rift Valley and Jane Axtell or The Chairman Essay

Rift Valley and Jane Axtell or The Chairman - Essay Example There are a number of persons, parties or stakeholders involved in both scenarios; the Rift Valley and the 21st century. These parties are charged with different duties and responsibilities, but the common denominator is that they work towards a common goal or purpose (Dow 212). On the same note, there are distinct mechanisms through which the required processes are undertaken or ways through which the involved parties interact. In this respect, there is an aspect of work setting established in both the Rift Valley and the 21st century. Interaction and relations are also at stake in different levels. The extent of interaction between parties in the Rift Valley and those in the 21st century, however, vary according to the work practices observed in the two areas. At the height of work relations, there is a supervisory role played by the relevant key movers of activities, meaning that communication and work practices are undertaken in distinct levels that are unique to both the Rift Valley and the 21st century. Given a choice between Jane Axtell and the chairman of the firm, personally I would choose the chairman of the firm. There are a number of reasons that back up this choice. Firstly, chairmanship is a coveted position hold. The desire to feel in control and working with other people is an interesting experience. In this regard, the chairman of the firm becomes an essential choice. This does not mean that Jane Axtell is dominated or ruled, but that the role played in her context is not as outstanding as that associated with the chairman. Secondly critical decision is unavoidable to the chairman. This requires that the chairman keeps at par with the trends and changes in the firm. As a result, information diversity must characterize the roles played by the chairman. Similarly, I personally desire to associate with these activities. Chairmanship is essentially a critical position to exploit one’s knowledge and skills base (Teare 128). In other words,

Establishing a Formal Systems Development Process Case Study

Establishing a Formal Systems Development Process - Case Study Example Brian has been advocating for waterfall approach while Carrie has been advocating for incremental developmental approach. Jane wants to develop a formal systems development process and the two analysts would like implementation of their preferred approaches. Dealing with the two analysts from a technical perspective would require a quantitative approach to understanding their proposed approaches and an evaluation of benefits and limitations of their proposals. This would lead to development of models for quantitative analysis of the two proposed systems and the models compared. The model that offers the highest level of net benefits to the organization and best suits the organization’s scope and resources would then be implemented. A trade off would be necessary between net benefits and the systems’ ability to integrate into the systems but the approach disregards any possible differences between the analysts (Quaddus and Siddique, 2013). Human resource perspectives involve relationships between employees towards a cohesive work environment. The difference in opinion between the two analysts, having existed for a long period, offers a threat to such a cohesive relationship and requires an approach to compromise in selectin g the approach to be implemented. Jane should therefore invite the two analysts for a discussion in which each analyst would explain the reasons for supporting his or her position before a joint evaluation. She would assume a mediator role to help the two analysts agree on the most suitable approach and then implement the approach (Pravin, 2010). Process management solutions do not guarantee success unless factors to their implementations are considered and incorporated in implementation processes. Jane needs to consider such factors and the main considerations should be her organization’s goals and objectives. This is because goals and objectives of a department should be aligned for

Role Models and Heroines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Role Models and Heroines - Essay Example She is able to objectively analyze her attitudes and preferences and she is not fanatic about anything and anyone. Though it is considered that each of us has his unique fate and we are not to keep to the beaten tracks of other people, young people do need some examples to orient at. The greatest artists had to copy earlier masters in order to develop their own styles. So it is quite normal first to choose role models in searching for your identity. As my friend has put it, this helps girls â€Å"to stay on the right track†, to set goals and have dreams, without which development is impossible. Thinking or reading about lives or career stories of her chosen heroines, my friend is encouraged and recharged to run into her goals just as they did† My friend chooses role models and heroines according to emerging spiritual and intellectual necessities of hers. Looking at young women, who have achieved something, my friend sees what traits of character must have helped them to succeed and she learns and develops those traits. This way she is able to set new goals at each stage of her life. In early teens my friend looked at pop-stars (as most of teenagers do). This way she acquired some notions of beauty and charm, she learnt the skills of communication, and had some naà ¯ve dreams (that develop artistic skills, on the other hand). Later she got impressed by Hillary, whose life and work served as inspiration. Today my friend wants to follow the example of her mom, the woman close to her, the one, who has succeeded in her work, but also managed to be a perfect wife and mother. Being a leader by her nature, my friend has always oriented at women who succeeded in their career and became leaders in their fields. These women are â⠂¬Å"dignified and beautiful, inside and outside.† Confidence, charisma and leader’s abilities caught my friend’s attention and she adopted ways of thinking and behaving from her role models. My

Understanding Plagiarism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Understanding Plagiarism - Essay Example The kind of information that must be acknowledged and documented in written assignments include the name of the person who wrote the piece, the exact date of the publication from where the matter has been taken, the publication or the article that is being used with the exact title, page numbers, volume details and so on. All the pertinent information would then facilitate the academic writing checker to gauge the authenticity of the written piece. However those pieces written by the writer himself and are referred to as his personal thoughts usually do not require any citation or source at all. These written documents are usually the personal reflections of the people who are actually penning down what they think about a particular subject. Any viewpoint which is the writer’s very own must not be cited because this is exclusive to him and is considered his own work. If one is borrowing the same words of someone else, then it is a must that the citations are provided so that the work is not regarded as plagiarized. This is important as it gives the actual writer the much needed attention that he deserves with respect to his work. It also allots significance to the fact that the academic writer has made use of others’ works and properly credited them for their respective work areas (Cryer 2000). Outside sources must also be used when work is paraphrased because the main content is of the original author that made use of the text within his written piece in essence. This is an important barometer for measuring the depth of genuineness within work and hence gives a good indicator as to whether someone has taken information from someone else or written it by his own self. Paraphrasing is a good thing but it must be done in such a way that it brings the viewpoint of the academic writer within the written piece as well. He must not change the w ords alone rather provide his own inputs so that the written piece is elaborate

'Tourism education and training in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

'Tourism education and training in China - Essay Example This figure continued to rise in subsequent years, as depicted by the figure below1. The total number of inbound tourists and growth rates between 1996-2000 were respectively as follows: 51.1275 million in 1996, with an increase of 10.2% over the previous year; 57.5879 million in 1997, a rise of 12.6%; 63.4784 million in 1998, up 10.2%; 72.7956 million in 1999, up 14.7%; and 83.4439 million in 2000, increasing by 14.7%. But the real impetus came after China joined the WTO regime in December 2001. Thereafter European tourists also headed towards China in big numbers, as they wanted to unravel the mystery called China, the land of billions. Business community from Europe and America now wanted to explore the market potential of China. This further helped the Chinese tourism industry, which too started realizing the need for bringing in more professionalism in the industry. Tourism education forms a basic component for managing the industry more professionally. Tourism education began in a big way in 1978 when Nanjing Tourism School was first established and Shanghai Tourism College the year after. China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) set up tourism departments in seven colleges and universities in the 1980s to meet the needs of developing managerial personnel for the tourism industry. To prosper, tourism requires participation of the industry, the government and the public in good measure. Me anwhile, many other colleges and schools began to set up their own tourism education departments or specialties (Zhang et al, 2001). In addition, some organizations, like international hotel chains, tourism companies also started taking interest in setting up their own training system, providing on the job training, various management trainings etc. From Chinese government statistics, in 1986, there were only 27 universities and colleges offering hospitality and tourism programs with 4,800 students. The number increased to 69 universities with 8,551 students in 1989. Subsequently in 1998 there were 936 tourism schools and colleges having 29,566 students (Huyton et al, 1999). Before the onset of the liberalization era Chinese government was known for keeping a firm control on almost all service sectors. But gradually the public sector units with the government are being handed over to private management and government has started concentrating on governance. A report by United Nation s' World Tourism Organisation, at the end of the year 2004, China stands as the fourth largest international tourist destination in the world with 109m inbound visitors in 2004.that brought in a foreign exchange of around US$25.7bn. The Global Competitive Report 2006-2007, brought out by the World Economic Forum, places China at 71st place in terms of Travel and Tourism Competitive. The report states that2, "Although China is ranked 3rd in terms of World Heritage sites, and 11th in terms of price competitiveness, it has a policy environment that is not at all conducive for T&T development (ranked a low 97th), with property rights that are not sufficiently protected, strong foreign ownership restrictions and stringent visa requirements." That effectively means that there's still a lot for China to encourage tourism in the country. Providing, tourism education to the

The Differences in Economic Coverage conducted by The New York Times Essay

The Differences in Economic Coverage conducted by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal - Essay Example ommunist Movement’s elites; the week before gave out a pattern for refurbishing over the coming year that demands authorizing customers and simplifying Beijing’s clutch on important firms long managed by the government. Its clearing objectives constitute simplifying hindrances for foreign capital in a few firms; raising the engagement of private investors in government ruled enterprises and offering the nation’s huge rural demography larger availability of cash. For a long time, a single important step, that is a demand to simplify China’s single-child rule, indicates an intention to struggle with the accumulating forces for an aging community. Several people claim that even extra theatrical steps are required. However, Beijing’s declaration proposes that elites need to make sure that China has a steady pool of workforce; and remains a healthy development market for decades to come. The motive in the nation is optimistic and the citizens of China ar e ready to cooperate (Baker 1). As well, the New York Times reporting on the Federal Reserve officials claimed that several of them are unwilling to move on with the Fed’s incentive movement in its present state. Thus, they struggled at their most current conference with different means of promoting an economy that yet requires aid. The debates, defined in the normal report of the conference in October that the Fed issued on Wednesday, did not provide any sudden reform in rule (Appelbaum 1). Officials agreed at the conference to push ahead with the present operation, despite the report claiming that a reform could emerge â€Å"at one of its coming conferences†. The framework of that change has been obvious for some time. The Fed wishes to lower and then postpone its monthly buys of assets and mortgage-backed... This paper is the best example of comparison of economic coverage of similar events, performed by two renowned American newspapers. On the economic front, visions and approaches of these two outlets vary. For instance, the NYT on the Chinese economy claimed that an agreement was reached at the Third Plenum that the nation must change from a development plan concentrated on manufacturing exports in the U.S. and different affluent nations, to one that attracts high promotion from its 1.3 billion customers. On the other side, the WSJ, argues that: business may triumph huge if China pursues through on its promises to provide the market a higher responsibility in the globe’s second biggest economy As well, the NYT reports, that on the Federal Reserve officials agreed at the conference to push ahead with the present operation, despite the report claiming that a reform could emerge â€Å"at one of its coming conferences†. The WSJ on its part claimed that data obtained from the Federal Open market Committee conference largely proposes that economic activity has moved on growing at a reasonable speed. On the euro zone economy, the NYT claimed that the euro zone economy marked moment in the third quarter of the calendar, increased by simply 0.1% from the second quarter. This illustrated frustrating hopes that a completely fledged revival was lastly taking hold following five decades of depression and declination. The WSJ on its part accounted that another indicator for the euro zone economy assumed an expected twist for the worse this month as an economic trust sign declined.

Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Music - Essay Example The group’s song â€Å"I’m Gonna Sing Till the Spirit moves† is one best example of their song which has uplifted the spirits of the many. The song is in â€Å"a capella†. Just the soft yet powerful voices of the singers can be heard. They just used their own voice, blended their tone qualities with each other and produced accompanying sounds making the song more effective and interesting to hear. The overall structure of the song is very solemn. In fact, this song can be sung inside the church. Listeners, like me, can even imagine to serious faces of the singers giving all their hearts and soul while singing the song. The mode and/or tone is very emphatic. It is as if the singers are directly talking with each listener. But despite this, listeners can enjoy every lyric of the song. I even noticed myself tapping my fingers and silently humming the song. Indeed the title of this song is very apt with its content and melody. It will not take too much of the time of the singers in singing the song because the listeners’ spirits will surely be moved in less than a time. Brownie McGhee & Sonny Terry were two famous soloists during the early 1930’s. But these two tried sharing their music together and their fans loved them more for this move. Brownie was a superb and smooth guitarist and singer, while Sonny was known for his able playing of his harp and voice quality which is in a rough country style complete with whoops and hollers. Sonnys solo "Mountain Blues" from the 1938 Spirituals to Swing concert was one of his finest recordings and was sung completely in falsetto. Nearly blind since childhood Sonny had almost always played music, at first on street corners and later in recording studios with Blind Boy Fuller. Sonny met his partner of many, Brownie McGhee. Together they became the folk-blues musicians - recording and gigging with people like Lead belly, Woody

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example Half of the participants were told to leave their email alerts on while the other half were told only to check their emails three times daily. After a week the participants who checked email frequently were told to check only three times while the other group was told to check frequently. All the other factors remained constant. They observed that the participants were more stressed when they were told to check their emails more frequently. Evidently, the authors aim at proving that frequent viewing on one’s email might not be healthy, but at that same time warns that it might not be an easy task. The article begins with the questions, â€Å"Is email overload, bad for you?†. This question is used at the beginning of the article with the sole reason of making sure that the readers have the question in mind as they go through the rest of the article. It is like a way through which the writers notify the readers of the article exactly what the article is going to cover. The writers proceed by admitting that the question is rather a tricky question given the fact that there have been both sides of the argument, with both sides being keen on the evidence that they give for their assertion. The use of an example, in the first paragraph helps in giving more light on the exact possible consequences of frequently reading emails. Kuslev and Dunn choose to sue experimental evidence to prove their case. Through the case study discussed in the article, Kostadin Kuslev and Elizabeth Dunn are trying to prove to their readers that their assertion is not based on some assumption but some fact that can be proved. The practical scenarios tend to attract the attention of the audience by letting them know that the argument that frequent email reading can actually lead to stress. Through the presented case study, the authors are able to bring their audience closer to accepting their argument. Despite the fact that the

Enthanasia Pro And Cons Essay Example for Free

Enthanasia Pro And Cons Essay As Victor Fung Keung pointed out in the Observer column (A person has the right to a dignified death, August 18), most people object to euthanasia without thinking about the subject in a rational way. They ignore the fact that someone who is terminally ill will not get better. And they are indifferent to the suffering and mental anguish that these patients endure. It is cowardly to ignore the excruciating pain they suffer before dying. People opposed to euthanasia banish thoughts of their loved ones ever facing such pain. There are those who attempt to take the moral high ground, saying a life should not be ended in this way under any circumstances. We have to face the issue of euthanasia. We must address it now, not just because of the pleas of the quadriplegic Choi Wan-fung (Quadriplegic thinks about how to kill himself every day, August 16), but also because it is simply inhumane to stand idly by while people die in extreme pain. The government and legislators should have the courage to reform the law on euthanasia. Ko King-tim, Kowloon Tong I do not agree with Victor Fung Keungs article (A person has the right to a dignified death, August 18). I think a person has the right to a dignified life and that there is no dignity in death. I disagree with the promoters of euthanasia, because people choose to die, not through free will, but under pressure, mostly from family members. You reported on the plight of quadriplegic Choi Wan-fung. If I was in a situation where I felt I had become a financial burden to my wife or my children, I would want to opt to die. That is why the present law exists, to protect me, not to encourage me to commit suicide. At the same time, a civil society should provide the means for someone in that state to be able to lead a dignified life. Mr Fung says that dying with dignity is humane but how does he know? As Hamlet says, that is the undiscovered country. A friend of mine died last year of cancer at 53. He was in great pain, but just a few days before dying, and in spite of suffering, lying in his garden he explained to me how overwhelmed he was by the beauty of flowers.

Literature Review of biopsychosocial model of back pain

Literature Review of biopsychosocial model of back pain The bio psychosocial model is now widely accepted for the diagnosis and the management of multifaceted nature of pain. The bio psychosocial model of pain presents an integrated view of biological, psychological and socio cultural factors, which could occur in pain (Jull and Sterling 2009). Seventy-five percentages of individuals in the western world during their lifetime affected with acute or chronic low back pain, which leads to major cause of disability (Kirk et al.2005). Low back pain must be considered as a bio-psycho-social syndrome that consequently requires a multidisciplinary bio-psycho-social treatment approach. (Negrini et al .2008, p.55). The result of a dynamic interaction between psychological, social and patho- physiological factors of chronic pain makes difficulty for the individual patient to determine the pre-eminent factor in his experience of chronic pain, which emphases the importance of bio-psycho-social treatment approach (Kirk et al. 2005). European guidelines also recommend the bio-psycho-social treatment approach for the treatment of chronic low back pain (Balague et al .2007). 1.1 Rationale behind investigating this topic. In clinical area of practice, low back pain is a common health problem for both healthcare professionals and patients, which reflect the thought to find out the role of bio psychosocial perspective in assessment, diagnosis and treatment of chronic low back pain. This would lead us to better understanding of low back pain and pain in general. The aim of this assignment is to critically evaluate the available evidence regarding biopsychosocial model in relation to chronic low back pain. It will also reflect on clinical practice, taking into account the principles of evidence based practice. 2.0Literature review A literature search was carried out using the Science direct, Pub Med, Medline, Ovid, Cochrane and Google Scholar was undertaken for relevant studies in the last 5years and then extended into 10 years .the initial search did not yield enough evidence for assignment aim. The keyword search included :bio psychosocial approach, chronic low back pain, psychosocial factors, mood disorders and combination of key word also used. The search was limited to studies published in English and conducted in human beings. The strength of evidence was established using the Sacketsc hierarchy of evidence (1997) (Please see appendix 1). Each of the papers were analysed for validity and rigour according to the framework given by (Rees 1997, cited in Taylor 2009). (Please see appendix 2). Case history to relate to bio psychosocial model into clinical practise. Mrs smith 35 year old mother of one child, a health professional has been suffering from chronic back pain since 2006 to2008, who feels so depressed as she has some family problems (son was sick with heart problem) and problems with her manager at work (never agreeing with shift adaptation to look after the child). She went to see her GP and complete medical assessment was negative, started on analgesics .The conflict existed, which lead her into severe depression. In 2009 she went see a psychotherapist. The manger agreed with her job flexibility to look after the child, by the time childs condition improved lead her to less frequent and less intense episodes of pain. Like many other patients the patient had never considered the possibility of psychological or social factors for two years, which could contribute to her chronic pain. Mrs smith she was told by psychotherapist that any biological reason together with psychosocial concerns can exacerbate the experience of pain and she realized the contributing psychosocial factors to her pain gradually. As she was a health care professional she started to use coping mechanism effectively with the help of psychotherapist, which helped her to control her stress with subsequent less intense episodes of pain. In the light of the above case, one of the reasons that her medical treatment had failed to respond is because of the underlying psychosocial factors have been left un-addressed. The health care professionals should understand and exploit the bio psychosocial approach to the management of chronic pain will provide effective treatment modality for patients. The bio psychosocial model relates to chronic low back pain: Evidence from studies A systematic review of randomised controlled trials conducted by George (2008) ,to evaluate the effectiveness bio psychosocial approach for the management of chronic back pain .The study also aimed to evaluate the role of individual physiotherapist in bio psychosocial approach for treating for chronic back pain The result of the review was supporting bio psychosocial approach .The sample studies were 9 randomised control studies, where individual physiotherapist has major role in intervention. George (2008,p.4) The result demonstrated significance p The NNT odds ratio reported also showed clinical significance for the result. Compared results of different studies established generalisability and consistency (lack of heterogeneity) of study findings. The included studies were experimental studies and systematic review of experimental studies where intervention provided by individual physiotherapist with minimal support from other health professionals. These studies were concentrated only to chronic back pain treated with psychosocial interventions in adults. The inclusion criteria for selected studies for the review was specific to question set for review, which contributed to get a reliable and accurate result from the review. The selected studies were scoring high to moderate quality on PEDro(physiotherapy evidence data base) appraisal tool, which can provide quality data to support the validity of the result. The interventions carried out in these studies differ from basic physical therapy treatment, which highlights importance of the capability of individual physiotherapist. The generalisability of these finding needs to consider as all care settings does not have trained physiotherapist who can provide interventions to achieve bio psychosocial approach in chronic back pain management. The search strategy identified 99 potential sample studies and the final sample was only 9 randomised control studies after filtration through the inclusion criteria. There is potential chance of bias through objectivity as because there is chance for choice of articles to support the authors viewpoint. . The review gives the strong evidence for the bio psychosocial approach for the management of chronic back pain. The similarity or homogeneity of studies involve d in this review broadening the applicability of bio psychosocial approach by an individual physiotherapist who has appropriate knowledge and capability to carry out the interventions The study reported that individual physiotherapist who manages the bio psychosocial approach for the treatment of chronic back pain is effective as multidisciplinary management of chronic back pain .As it sounds cost effective and may more feasible for patient because of one to one interaction further research must be essential the to promote individual physiotherapy approach. .Waxman et al. (2008) conducted an observational study to examine the impact of psychosocial factors in chronic back pain patients and their relationship satisfaction. The observed sample included was24 men and 30women(N=54) with chronic low back pain who were married or cohabitating and were recruited through chronic pain clinic. The finding from the study reported that depression and negative partner response have significant impact on relationship satisfaction among chronic back pain patients. Table:2 Standardized regression (Path) Coefficients of mediational models with psychosocial variables as mediators of pain and relationship for total sample (Waxman et al. 2008,p.438) The total effect of pain on relationship satisfaction was significant,B=-.32p The association between pain and depression was significant=.63p Indirect effect of pain on relationship satisfaction through depression was significant =-.21,p The relation between pain and negative responses was significant=.38,p The indirect effect of pain on relationship satisfaction through negative response was significant indirect effect =-.20p From this significant evidence reveals that negative response by partner is also a mediator of pain and relationship satisfaction The study reported significant evidence to reveal the relation between various components in bio psychosocial model which include pain(bio),relationship satisfaction(social) depression(psycho) perceived negative response(psychosocial) . (SeeApeedix:5) Reflecting the study back to the case of Mrs smith Its not clear about her partners involvement in her treatment, but she was showing signs and symptoms of depression which might contributed to the chronic nature of pain. The study result underscores the importance of partner involvement in patients pain assessment and treatment the study. In clinical practise there is a need to promote education programme for partners of patients with chronic back pain as part of treatment plan to achieve bio psychosocial approach. When reflecting this finding to clinical practise which explain the reason why the widow or patients who lives alone are more vulnerable candidates for the chronic nature of the pain. These finding consistent with previous following study results .Future research need to consider to compare self reported data from both patients and partners to know the response and behaviours that related to pain. The ethical consideration was done on study as the study was approved by the local IRB, and written consent was obtain from patients as a proof or willingness also promotes the strength of the study. The reliable tools used for data collection was rigor to the study. The recruitment method for sample selection was based on self selection which can contribute to selection bias, which can affect the rigor of the study. The patients who has greater pain and psychological symptoms may not take initiative to participate in the study. The results in this study were based on self-reported outcomes from the questionnaires that were sent to the patients, which makes the data subjective and are most likely to be true and contribute to the rigor of the study, can promote the rigor of the study. The study also reported that the approximate time for completion of questionnaires was 45 minutes. The reliability of data can affect because of length of time especially these patient who are with pain and psychological symptoms. The study is ranked as class 3c on the hierarchy of evidence considering the design and methods employed in the study. The evidence reaffirms the bio psychosocial model for assessment and treatment of chronic back pain. Tang et al. (2008) conducted an experimental study to examine effects of mood on pain responses and pain tolerance in chronic back pain patients. The recruited sample was 55 patients suffering from chronic back pain aged between18-65.The patients were randomly allocated into three groups ,depressed group:18,neutral group19 elated group:18.The the participants were asked to perform a baseline task (reading magazine) to establish a baseline for mood and pain ratings. An artificial mood was induced to participants (musical mood induction)and followed by pain provoking task(holding a heavy bag) to assess the pain rating and tolerance. The study result proved that the participants with depressive mood showed high pain ratings and lower pain tolerance at rest, but happy mood induction resulted in lower pain ratings and higher pain tolerance. The table:3 shows that depressive mood positively correlated with increase in pain ratings(Tang et al. 2008,p.399) The participants were manipulated to examine the effect of artificially induced mood on artificially induced pain which may affects the reliability result when it apply into real mood and pain of chronic back pain patients. Even though researcher adapted a pre-determined mood change criteria to judge the effectiveness of mood on the participants during the study. This can contributed to rigour to study and it can promotes the reliability of the result. The sample population was aged between 18-65,tolerence of induced mood and pain may not be same between these age groups .The difference in sex also can affect the mood and pain tolerance. The Researcher failed to mention about the method of randomisation to overcome confounding factors. Blinding not performed and can affects the performance bias The study design was experimental designwhich comes under level 1a in hierarchy. This study also proved that music therapy is effective to improve pain and pain tolerance in chronic back pain patients. It agrees with (Guetin 2005),music therapy is a effective complementary treatment in chronic back pain associated anxiety-depression and behavioural consequences. Future research needs to consider for evaluating the effectiveness music therapy as part of multidisciplinary rehabilitation. Bio psychosocial approach for assessment helps to identify the matching treatment for patients based on their characteristics and refine the focus of treatments and achieve effective outcome. Even though there are weaknesses for this study it proved that mood can influence the pain. The result is consistent with Waxman et al.(2008 ) discussed in previous study. These studies highlights the importance of cognitive behavioural therapy in bio psychosocial rehabilitation for chronic back pain patients NICE(2009). Mitchell et al. (2009) conducted a cross sectional study to evaluate the role of personal bio psychosocial factors on low back pain, in nursing students. The results proved that modifiable life style, psychological, physical factors were relates to low back pain in nursing students. One hundred and seventy undergraduate nursing students from two university nursing schools of western Australia were enrolled for this study. The study compared three groups of students (no LBP group, mild LBP group significant LBP group) and reported that students with significant low back pain were more physically active compared to no low back pain group group. The DASS total score and stress subscale score were higher in significant low back pain group compared to NO LBP group .The study also reported that social measures did not influence their pain intensity. The study result mentioned that the social measures including household income and smoking did not affect the significant low back pain patients. This cannot be generalized into general population types, as it conducted on healthy university sample may not be much influenced by social factors. There are contrasting findings which mention the relation between low back pain and social measures(Shiri et al.2009) Study gives the evidence for sufficient statistical power and ethical consideration. The researcher used triangulation in data collection, which overcome the limitations of a single method of collecting data and hence increased the validity of the results. The results of this study were based on self-reported (questionnaire) outcomes that were collected from patients. It can contribute to validity of the results, because they are more subjective and most likely true. The inclusion criteria on sample selection was appropriate to focus bio psychosocial approach in chronic back pain patients, as the criteria excluded patients with inflammatory disorders ,neurological or metastasis disease, pregnancy or less than 6 months postpartum. The study was conducted as cross sectional study which classified in to class 3c on level of evidence.,and researcher failed to include other factors like fear avoidance and genetic factors. This study was carried out in the Australia and their socio cultural factors and life style may differ from United Kingdom , decreasing the accuracy of reproducing these results to UK practice.Even though study result is consistent with other studies conduced in united kingdom . In the area of practice physical and psychosocial factors has important role on experiencing low back pain among healthcare professionals and potential candidates, which reflects the necessity of education related to stress management such as relaxation techniques and meditation and mandatory manual handling training. Job stress and fear related to pain are mediators to inability to return to work Gheldof et al.(2005) The high prevalence rate of low back pain highlights the importance of targeting prevention interventions among healthcare professionals and patients. The case study of patient discussed has not had much benefit from the conventional treatment pattern and showed clear evidence of personnel and psychological factors that can contribute to pain. The understanding of bio psychosocial factors helps to find out cause diagnosis treatment and prevention of chronic back pain Suprina (2003) conducted a case study to discuss the efficacy of bio psychosocial model. The sample for this study was a 32-year-old woman who suffers from chronic back pain for almost ten years and study reported that bio psychosocial model helps the women for successful reduction of symptoms. This study also proves that single practitioner can plan bio psychosocial model for the treatment of chronic back pain. The researcher reports that the treatment can be more effective when implementing one person integration model than multidisciplinary approach as it has easy access to patient also saves money and time. This study classified under level 3d as this is a study of only one individual. There is chance of performance bias as the subject blinding done in this study . Even though it is individual case study it agrees with widely accepted bio psychosocial model. The study reveals that all health professional should consider individual patient as one with complex behaviours and emotions and not just organism with physiological changes .The researcher who conducted this st udy in United states is supporting the one-person integration model, practicability of this one- person integration model in United kingdoms clinical practise is questionable because the way of clinical practise may vary in different countries. The current trouble within heath care system in European countries is relegate mainly to biomedical perspective and not considering psychosocial aspects because of time constrict and inadequate training. Mauksch (2005) compared the current state of bio psychosocial approach to a dormant seed, which is sitting on the shelf, which need to be watered with bio psychosocial education by health care professionals and placed in an environment fertile with bio psychosocial practise. The knowledge about bio psychosocial approach helps healthcare professionals for better assessment and treatment of patients, which also agrees with case study discussed. Currie and Wang (2004) examined prevalence and correlation between major depression and chronic back pain. The data collected from 118,533 household residents from Canadian community health survey .The study result showed that low back pain is significant factor as a predictor for major depression (Fig:1). Individuals with severe pain intensity represented highest risk of major depression(odds ratio,1.61;95%confidence interval L:1.34-1.97;p Fig1:Prevalence of major depression(MD)in persons with chronic back pain stratified by pain severity . Currie and Wang (2004,p.55) The study also proved that individuals with chronic back pain and major depression were younger and they were more likely to be single and younger. The personal factors play an important role for contribution to low back pain which agrees with Mitchell et al. (2009). The episode of depression were measured by WHOS fully structured diagnostic interview, Composite International Diagnostic Interview -Short Form for depression. Which produce internal validity to the study.(scott et.al.(2000), The study mentioned that this is the largest sample size(118,533 residents)ever used in population -based study of chronic pain and depression. This sample size from national population health survey gives power to the study and promotes the reliability and generalisability of the results. The sample included in the study was aged from 12 years .As age, gender and cultural factors have an influence on level of perceived pain and influence of depression,these are important factors to consider to avoid selection bias and to make the study rigorous. The researcher used multi staged stratified random sampling procedure in the study would have added rigor to the study. The population for this study was from Canadian community health survey. As we discussed cultural factors and personal factors has influence in experiencing pain and depression in individual, reflection of the results into United Kingdom population may be not accurate. Even though study result is consistent with other studies conduced in United Kingdom The study was conducted as cross sectional study which classified in to class 3c on level of evidence Mrs smith case report also illustrates signs and symptoms of depression, which could contribute to her chronic back pain. She was lacking multidisciplinary  Ã‚   bio psychosocial rehabilitation in her treatment. Multidisciplinary  Ã‚   bio psychosocial rehabilitation with functional restoration reduces pain and improves function in patients with chronic low back pain(Lang et al.2003,P.270), (Demoulin et al.2010). Woby et al.(2007)aimed a study to determine the relation between cognitive factors and level of pain and disability in chronic back pain and reports that pain intensity and disability strongly related to cognitive factors . The sample selected for the study was 183 C L B P(chronic low back pain) patients with onset of back pain>3 months who had been referred to an physiotherapy rehabilitation programme which underpinned by cognitive-behavioural principles and revealed that higher levels of functional self -efficacy (b=0.40;p The researcher used triangulation in data collection, which overcome the limitations of a single method of collecting data and hence increased the validity of the results. As all data collected by self reported measures the validity of data can be affected by social desirability .The selection bias in sample selection needs to be considered because patients selected for study was from rehabilitation programme, who had been referred to cognitive behavioural based intervention. It indicates that sample may be already affected with psychosocial factors, which can affect the validity of the result. The results suggest that psychosocial factors should consider as integral facet for treatments for chronic low back pain. The cause of chronic pain in case Mrs smith should have been identified by the team involved in her care than trying to alleviate her suffering through the conventional treatment like pain killers.  The pathway in fig:2 explaining Mrs smith painful experience, disability and its recovery, which also agrees with the Woby et al.(2007)study results. Mauksch (2005) reported that average visiting length between physician and patient is highly stressed for 15 minutes in primary care system in European countries, which may possibly happened with Mrs smith case, which emphasis the need of the adequate structured training to all healthcare professionals to practise bio psychosocial model with in limited time. Fig2: Revised fear-avoidance model incorporating the mediational role of functional self-efficacy (Woby et al.2007,p.716). The health care professionals should understand that the psychosocial factors are very important prognostic factors in the prediction of chronic pain and disability. 2.3 Bio psychosocial model can promote patient satisfaction -evidence from study Margalit et al.(2004) conducted a experimental study to find out the effect of bio psychosocial approach for patient satisfaction in their care. The study confirms that bio psychosocial model approach can reduce the heath care expenditures and can promote patients satisfaction.( Table:2,appendix:6). The study sample was 44 general practitioners randomly selected from 523 practitioners who works with North Israel district. Again researcher used randomisation to allocate teaching methods, which gives rigour to the study. In this study he compared pre teaching effect and post teaching effect of two teaching interventions with two groups of general practitioners. The first method (didactic) consisted with reading assignments and lectures. The second method consist (interactive) consisted with role-play and group discussions. The result reported that the interactive teaching method elicited higher patient satisfaction. Finestone et al. (2008) included a set of suggestion for physician to introduce bio psychosocial model in his study. Fig:4(Appendix:3). There are limitations to this study. The method of randomisation is not mentioned on this study. The researcher highlighted the reasons for dropouts of patients from study but not mentioned anything about intention to treat analysis. Even though recruited sample were consented, the researcher did not request approval from institutional review board. There is chance of bias through hawthrown effect because subjects known that they are video taping for the study. It is worth mentioning that the study is conducted in Israel and application of the results to UK clinical practise needs to consider as their teaching method may differ. This study highlights the importance of interactive assessment to achieve bio psychosocial model treatment. Future researches are needed to support this study result and apply to UK clinical practise. 3.0 Conclusion: The systematic review conducted by George (2008) reported after that bio psychosocial approach for assessment and treatment of chronic back pain can make the successful reduction of symptoms . This study result also agrees with Suprina (2003) and Margalit et al.(2004) which reported that the approach can reduce the health care expenditures and can promote patients satisfaction .these studied also proved that single trained practitioner can achieve bio psychosocial model for the assessment and treatment of chronic back pain. Tang et al. (2008) , Currie and Wang (2004) and Waxman et al .(2008)also reported the same fact which explains the relation between depression and pain intensity. Depression can significantly leads to higher pain ratings and higher pain ratings can also leads to severe depression. The studies also proved that psychosocial factors like fear avoidance behaviour, stress ,negative responses by a partner and cognitive factors are contributing to chronic back pain. The cross sectional study conducted by Mitchell et al.(2008) reported that modifiable personal factors like lifestyle,physical sctvity can contribute to low back pain. After extrapolating the results and considering the nature of the studies, the findings suggest that bio psychosocial factors have important contribution to low back pain. One of these factors could trigger the other and vice versa. In practice, it is difficult, rather impossible, to dissociate one factor from the other, which emphases the importance of bio-psycho-social treatment approach. References . . . Balaguà ©, F., Mannion, A., Pellisà © , F. and Cedraschi, C. 2007 Clinical update: low back pain. The Lancet, 369(9563), pp.726-728. Breen, A., Austin, H., Campion-Smith, C., Carr, E. and Mann, E. 2007 You feel so hopeless: A qualitative study of GP management of acute back pain. European Journal of Pain, 11(1), pp.21-29. Currie, S. and Wrang, J. (2004) Chronic back pain and major depression in the general Canadian population. Pain, 107(1), pp.54-60. Demoulin, C., Grosdent, S., Capron, L., Tomasella, M., Somville, P., Crielaard, J. M. and Vanderthommen, M. (2010) Effectiveness of a semi-intensive multidisciplinary outpatient rehabilitation program in chronic low back pain. Joint Bone Spine, 77(1), pp.58-63 Egwu, M. and Nwuga, V. (2008) Relationship between low back pain and life-stressing events among Nigerian and Caucasian patients. Physiotherapy, 94(2), pp.678-688. Finestone, H., Alfeeli , A. and Fisher, W. (2008) Stress-induceed physiologic changes as a basis for the Bio psychosocial model of chronic musculokeletal pain. Clinical Journal of pain, 24(9), pp.767-775. Guà ©tin, S., Portet , F., Picot , M. C., Pommià ©, C., Messaoudi, M., Djabelkir, L., Olsen , A. L., Cano , M. M., Lecourt, E. and Touchon, J. (2009) Effect of music therapy among hospitalized patients with chronic low back pain: a controlled, randomized trial. Ann Phys Rehabil Med, 53(1), pp.3-14. Gheldof, E., Vinck, J., Vlaeyen, J., Hidding, A. and Crombez, G. (2005) The differential role of pain, work characteristics and pain-related fear in explaining back pain and sick leave in occupational settings. Pain, 113(1,2), pp.71-81. Johnston , V., Jimmieson , N., Jull, G. and Souvlis, Tina . (2009) Contribution of individual, workplace, psychosocial ;and physiological factors to neck pain in female office workers. European Journal of Pain, 13(9), pp.985-991. Jull, G. and Sterling, M. (2009) Bring back biopsychosocial model for neck pain disorders. Manual therapy, 14(2), pp.117-118. Kirka, L., Underwoodb, M., Chappellc, L., Martins-Mendezd, M. and Thomas , P. (2005) The effect of osteopathy in the treatment of chronic low back pain-a feasibility study. International journal of osteopathic medicine, 8(1), pp.5-11. Lang, E., Liebig, K., Kastner, S., Neundà ¶rfer, B., Heuschmann, P. and (2003) Multidisciplinary rehabilitation versus usual care for chronic low back pain in the community: effects on quality of life. The Spine Journal, 3(4), pp.270-276. Margalit, A. P. A., Glick, S. M., Benbassat, Jochanan and Cohen, A. (2004) Effect of a bio psychosocial approach on patient satisfaction and patterns of care. Journal of general internal medicine, 19(5), pp.485-491. Mauksch.Larry (2005) But first,training in biopsychosocial care :A Commentary on The Bio psychosocial Model Is Shrink Wrapped ,on the Shelf, Ready to be used ,but waiting for a new process of care. Families Systems, Health, 23(4), pp.448-449. Mitchell, T., Osullivan, P., Smith, A., Burnett, A., Straker, L., Thornton, J. and Rudd, C. (2009) Bio psychosocial factors are associated with low back pain in female nursing students: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46(5), pp.678-688. Negrini, S., Fusco, C., Atanasio, S., Romano , M. and Zaina , F. (2008) Low back pain :State of art. European journal of pain supplements, 2(1), pp.52-56. NICE. (2009)

Similarities Between Iranian And Malaysian Culture Religion Essay

Similarities Between Iranian And Malaysian Culture Religion Essay In this document some similarities between Iranian and Malaysian culture have been illustrated. Since both Iran and Malaysia are Muslim countries, there are many similarities between Iranian and Malaysian culture. For example I start with the Malaysian and Iranian universities. All of the universities in Iran are Islamic universities while there are a few none Islamic universities in Malaysia. There is a mosque in all Iranian universities which is located at the center of the university. Recently Iranian Islamic government has decided to separate males and females in the universities in which some universities only register males and other universities only register females. I dont think separating males and females in the university be a good idea because in this situation boys and girls wont be able to see each other and choose their future partner but in Malaysian universities boys and girls have the opportunity to make friend to each other and select their future partner. There are 3 different type of mosques in Malaysia namely Vernacular Mosques, Colonial Mosques, Modern Mosques. The third model is very similar to Iranian mosques and the following is a brief description of Modern Mosques in Malaysia: Many local architects were involved in the design of new mosques in Malaysia since independence. The architectural styles of the modern mosques have changed gradually in parallel with the development in structural advances, construction methods, contemporary designs of mosques as well as increased local interests toward Islamic architecture. With the advent of science and technology, modern mosques are constructed in a larger scale to accommodate the increasing number of Friday congregations. Concrete, bricks, steel, stone and marble are commonly used in the construction of modern mosques. Onion-shaped or top-shaped domes, tall minarets and high ceilings are common features found in the modern mosques. The modern mosques usually incorporate well-designed landscape elements including plants, water features, patterned pavements, garden lightings and signages. The Putra Mosque in the early morning The architectural styles of the modern mosque can be classified into two categories. The first category is the modern styles which emphasise the advancement in building technology and engineering. For example, the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur has a minaret of 245 feet in height and an umbrella-like roof. The mosque was constructed of reinforced concrete faced with Italian marble. Its main prayer hall can accommodate more than 3,000 people for prayer at one time whilst its surrounding galleries, topped with numerous small domes, can hold an additional of 5,000 people. The mosque also has a number of rooms used for various functions such as a library, offices, royal guest rooms, Imams room and store rooms. The second category of modern mosque is the Islamic influences which incorporate the styles of many mosques found in Islamic countries including Turkey, the Middle East and Northern Africa. For instance, the design and colour of the Sultan Abdul Aziz Mosque in Shah Alam, Selangor was reflective of the infamous Ottoman mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque has four high minarets at the four corners of the building surrounded by well-kept landscape. Another example is the white-colour Ibai Mosque at Kuala Terengganu which was built on water and its architecture bears a resemblance to the Northern African mosque. Examples of modern mosques with modern structures are Sultan Ahmad I Mosque, Kuantan, Pahang (1964), National Mosque, Kuala Lumpur (1965), State Mosque, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan (1967), State Mosque, Kangar, Perlis (1972), Sultan Idris Shah II Mosque, Ipoh, Perak (1978), State Mosque, Penang (1980) and KLCC Mosque, Kuala Lumpur (1998). Examples of modern mosques with Islamic influence are Al-Malik Khalid Mosque, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang (1975), Sultan Abdul Aziz Mosque, Shah Alam, Selangor (1989) and Ibai Mosque of Kampung Cendering, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu (1994). 2-2 Iran From Cordoba to Delhi, from Sarajevo to the Niger, the mosque (masjid in Persian and Arabic) or house of prayer is the outstanding symbol of Islam, the focus of worship, and contemplation, the meeting place of man with man, and of man with God. Its forms are more varied and its uses more widespread than those of the Christian cathedral or church. While primarily a place of worship, it is also an assembly hall, often a religious college, sometimes a court of .justice, even, to some extent, a poor mans club. The majority of Iranian mosques conform, in whole or in part, to a plan that in Iran must be regarded as the norm. It consists of a an open central court, sometimes large enough to be planted with trees or flowers, with a large portal or ivan, on the side facing towards Mecca, which leads into a domed sanctuary. On the other three sides of the court there are arcades and altars and in the center of each side another, though smaller, ivan. To the left and right of the sanctuary there may be arcaded halls, and in addition balconies (often reserved for the use of women worshippers) from which a view of the mihrab can be obtained. In the grander mosques the south ivan, leading into the sanctuary, and sometimes also the north ivan, which is frequently the main entrance to the mosque. Minarets: The earliest minarets were square, at least in their lower stories, but few of these survive in Iran today. The round minaret originated in north-east Iran and was built of brick, tapering towards the summit. Until at least the thirteenth century, minarets were almost invariably single and placed in the north comer of the mosque. Since the fifteenth century minarets have generally been covered with mosaic or colored tiles, in the taste of the period. In general, Iran, compared with, say, Turkey; is markedly deficient in minarets. Only at Esfahan do they occupy a prominent place in the landscape. Shrines: Nearly every town in Iran has its quota of shrines, and the village or wayside shrines are a recurring feature of the Iranian landscape. In general they are modest, circular, four-sided or octagonal buildings, surmounted by a cone or dome. Many have charm but no great architectural merit; the famous shrines, rambling structures which have received additions from generations of the devout, are among the most splendid, and in some cases the most opulent, buildings in Iran. The lesser shrines, unlike the mosques, have a distinct re2jonal character. Tombs: Secular tombs fall into two clearly marked architectural categories -the domed mausoleum and the tomb tower. The former has certain affinities with the larger shrine. It is frequently octagonal rising through squinches and galleries into a circular dome. It is built for show, inside and out. meant to be visited. the last resting place of a chieftain who may have had no claim to sainthood, but expected to be duly revered when he was dead. Tomb towers, which are mainly confined to northern Iran. were conceived in a different spirit. They were gaunt, remote, solitary resting places, not meant to be frequented by admirers in generations to come. Palaces: There are substantial remains of Achaemenian and Sassanian palaces, impressive both in size and in detail, some of which, as at Persepolis, have been almost miraculously preserved; but when all is said they are ruins. Of Seljuk and Mongol royal residences, however, all trace has disappeared. It is only from Safavid times that royal houses have survived intact, and even then the crop is disappointing. For practical purposes, Safavid palaces are confined to Esfahan. Bridges: More essential for the maintenance of communications than caravansaries, the building of bridges, which where both sturdy and a pleasure to the eye, continued until recently. Well-constructed hump-backed bridges of ancient dates are to be found in many parts of the country -the outstanding examples of which you will see at Esfahan: the Allah Verdi Khan (1629) and the Khaju (1660). These two mighty structures are among the most impressive monuments in Esfahan, and are two of the most remarkable bridges in the world, of their kind, and still in service. MARRIAGE, FAMILY, AND KINSHIP 3-1 Malaysia Since both Iran and Malaysia are Muslim countries, marriage in both countries are influence by Islam therefore there are many similarities between these two countries. The following shows the marriage in the Malaysian style and then marriage in the Iranian style will be illustrated after that. Marriage. Even with significant changes in marriage practices, weddings reveal the sharp differences in Malaysian society. There are two ways to marry: registering the union with the government; and joining in marriage before a religious authority. Christian Malaysians may marry Buddhists or Hindus answering only to their families and beliefs; Muslim Malaysians who marry non-Muslims risk government sanction unless their partner converts to Islam. Marriage practices emphasize Malaysias separate ethnic customs. Indians and Chinese undertake divination rites in search of compatibility and auspicious dates, while Malays have elaborate gift exchanges. Malay wedding feasts are often held in the home, and feature a large banquet with several dishes eaten over rice prepared in oil (to say one is going to eat oiled rice means that a wedding is imminent). Many Chinese weddings feature a multiple-course meal in a restaurant or public hall, and most Indian ceremonies include intricate rituals. S ince married partners join families as well as individuals, the meeting between prospective in-laws is crucial to the success of the union. For most Malaysians marriage is a crucial step toward adulthood. Although the average age for marriage continues to increase, being single into ones thirties generates concern for families and individuals alike. The social importance of the institution makes interethnic marriage an issue of considerable stress. Domestic Unit. Malaysian households have undergone a tremendous transformation following the changes in the economy. The shift from agricultural commodities to industrial production has made it difficult for extended families to live together. Yet as family mobility expands, as a result of modern schedules, efforts to maintain kin ties also increase. Improved telecommunications keep distant kin in contact, as does the efficient transportation network. A dramatic example of this occurs on the major holidays when millions return to hometowns for kin reunions. Inheritance. The critical issue of inheritance is land. With the importance Malays place on land ownership, it is rarely viewed as a commodity for sale, and the numerous empty houses that dot the Malaysian landscape are testament to their absentee-owners unwillingness to sell. Gold is also a valuable inheritance; Malaysians from all groups readily turn extra cash into gold as a form of insurance for the future. Kin Groups. The crucial kin distinctions in Malaysian culture are between ethnic groups, which tend to limit intermarriage. Among the majority of Malays, kin groups are more horizontal than vertical, meaning that siblings are more important than ancestors. Those considered Malay make appropriate marriage partners; non-Malays do not. These distinctions are somewhat flexible, however, and those that embrace Islam and follow Malay customs are admitted as potential Malay marriage partners. Greater flexibility in kinship practices also appears among immigrant groups amid the fresh possibilities created by diasporic life. A striking example is the Baba community, Chinese who immigrated prior to British rule and intermarried with locals, developing their own hybrid language and cultural style. These dynamics point to the varied kinship arrangements possible between the different ethnic communities in Malaysian society. 3-2 Iran Marriage. In Iran women control marriages for their children, and much intrigue in domestic life revolves around marital matters. A mother is typically on the lookout for good marriage prospects at all times. Even if a mother is diffident about marriage brokering, she is obliged to clear the path for a marriage proposal. She does this by letting her counterpart in the other family know that a proposal is forthcoming, or would be welcome. She then must confer with her husband, who makes the formal proposal in a social meeting between the two families. This kind of background work is essential, because once the children are married, the two families virtually merge, and have extensive rights and obligations vis-Ã ¡-vis each other that are close to a sacred duty. It is therefore extremely important that the families be certain that they are compatible before the marriage takes place. Marriage within the family is a common strategy, and a young man of marriageable age has an absolute right of first refusal for his fathers brothers daughter-his patrilateral parallel cousin. The advantages for the families in this kind of marriage are great. They already know each other and are tied into the same social networks. Moreover, such a marriage serves to consolidate wealth from the grandparents generation for the family. Matrilateral cross-cousin marriages are also common, and exceed parallel-cousin marriages in urban areas, due perhaps to the wifes stronger influence in family affairs in cities. Although inbreeding would seem to be a potential problem, the historical preference for marriage within the family continues, waning somewhat in urban settings where other considerations such as profession and education play a role in the choice of a spouse. In 1968, 25 percent of urban marriages, 31 percent of rural marriages, and 51 percent of tribal marriages were reported as endogamous. These percentages appear to have increased somewhat following the Revolution. In Iran today a love match with someone outside of the family is clearly not at all impossible, but even in such cases, except in the most westernized families, the family visitation and negotiation must be observed. Traditional marriages involve a formal contract drawn up by a cleric. In the contract a series of payments are specified. The bride brings a dowry to the marriage usually consisting of household goods and her own clothing. A specified amount is written into the contract as payment for the woman in the event of divorce. The wife after marriage belongs to her husbands household and may have difficulty visiting her relatives if her husband does not approve. Nevertheless, she retains her own name, and may hold property in her own right, separate from her husband. The wedding celebration is held after the signing of the contract. It is really a prelude to the consummation of the marriage, which takes place typically at the end of the evening, or, in rural areas, at the end of several days celebration. In many areas of Iran it is still important that the bride be virginal, and the bedsheets are carefully inspected to ensure this. A wise mother gives her daughter a vial of chicken blood just in case. The new couple may live with their relatives for a time until they can set up their own household. This is more common in rural than in urban areas. Iran is an Islamic nation, and polygyny is allowed. It is not widely practiced, however, because Iranian officials in this century have followed the Islamic prescription that a man taking two wives must treat them with absolute equality. Women in polygynous marriages hold their husbands to this and will seek legal relief if they feel they are disadvantaged. Statistics are difficult to ascertain, but one recent study claims that only 1 percent of all marriages are polygynous. Divorce is less common in Iran than in the West. Families prefer to stay together even under difficult circumstances, since it is extremely difficult to disentangle the close network of interrelationships between the two extended families of the marriage pair. One recent study claims that the divorce rate is 10 percent in Iran. For Iranians moving to the United States the rate is 66 percent, suggesting that cultural forces tend to keep couples from separating. Children of a marriage belong to the father. After a divorce, men assume custody of boys over three years and girls over seven. Women have been known to renounce their divorce payment in exchange for custody of their children. There is no impediment to remarriage with another partner for either men or women. Domestic Unit. In traditional Iranian rural society the dinner cloth often defines the minimal family. Many branches of an extended family may live in rooms in the same compound. However, they may not all eat together on a daily basis. Sons and their wives and children are often working for their parents in anticipation of a birthright in the form of land or animals. When they receive this, they will leave and form their own separate household. In the meantime they live in their parents compound, but have separate eating and sleeping arrangements. Even after they leave their parents home, members of extended families have widespread rights to hospitality in the homes of even their most distant relations. Indeed, family members generally carry out most of their socializing with each other. Inheritance. Inheritance generally follows rules prescribed by Islamic law. Male children inherit full shares of their fathers estate, wives and daughters half-shares. An individual may make a religious bequest of specific goods or property that are then administered by the ministry of waqfs. Kin Groups. The patriarch is the oldest male of the family. He demands respect from other family members and often has a strong role in the future of young relatives. In particular it is common for members of an extended family to spread themselves out in terms of professions and influence. Some will go into government, others into the military, perhaps others join the clergy, and some may even become anti-government oppositionists. Families will attempt to marry their children into powerful families as much for their own sake as for the son or daughter. The general aim for the family is to extend its influence into as many spheres as possible. As younger members mature, older members of the family are expected to help them with jobs, introductions, and financial support. This is not considered corrupt or nepotistic, but is seen rather as one of the benefits of family membership.