History of the African Slave Trade

History of the African Slave Trade Although slavery has been practiced for almost the whole of recorded history, the vast numbers involved in the African slave trade has left a legacy which cannot be ignored. Slavery in Africa Whether slavery existed within sub-Saharan African Iron Age kingdoms before the arrival of Europeans is hotly contested among African studies scholars. What is certain is that Africans were subjected to several forms of slavery over the centuries, including chattel slavery under both the imperial Muslims with the trans-Saharan slave trade and imperial Christian Europeans through the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Between 1400 and 1900, close to 20 million individuals were taken from the African continent during four sizable and mostly simultaneous slave trading operations: Trans-Saharan, Red Sea (Arab), Indian Ocean, and Trans-Atlantic. According to Canadian economic historian Nathan Nunn, by 1800 Africa’s population was half of what it would have been, had the slave trades not occurred. Nunn suggests his estimates based on shipping and census data probably represent about 80% of the total number of people stolen from their homes by the various slave operations. Four Great Slave Trading Operations in Africa Name Dates Number Countries Most Impacted Destination Trans-Saharan early 7th–1960s 3 million 13 countries: Ethiopia, Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Chad North Africa Trans-Atlantic 1500–1850 12 million 34 countries: Angola, Ghana, Nigeria, the Congo European colonies in the Americas Indian Ocean 1650–1700 1 million 15 countries: Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar Middle East, India, Indian Ocean Islands Red Sea 1820–1880 1.5 million 7 countries: Ethiopia, Sudan, Chad Egypt and Arabian peninsula Religion and African Slavery Many of the countries who actively enslaved Africans came from states with strong religious underpinnings such as Islam and Christianity. The Quran prescribes the following approach to slavery: free men could not be enslaved, and those faithful to foreign religions could live as protected persons. However, the spread of the Islamic Empire through Africa resulted in a much harsher interpretation of the law, and people from outside the borders of the Islamic Empire were considered an acceptable source of slaves. Before the Civil War, Christianity was used to justify the institution of slavery in the American south, with most clergy in the south believing and preaching that slavery was a progressive institution designed by God to affect the Christianization of Africans.  The use of religious justifications for slavery is not confined to Africa by any means. The Dutch East India Company Africa wasnt the only continent from which slaves were captured: but its countries suffered the most devastation. In many cases, slavery appears to have been a direct outgrowth of expansionism. The great maritime explorations driven by companies such as the Dutch East India Company (VOC) were financed for the specific purpose of adding land to European empires. That land required a labor force far beyond the men sent on exploratory ships. People were enslaved by empires to act as servants; as agricultural, mining, and infrastructure labor; as sex slaves; and as cannon fodder for various armies. The Start of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade When the Portuguese first sailed down the Atlantic African coast in the 1430s, they were interested in one thing: gold. However, by 1500 they had already traded 81,000 Africans to Europe, nearby Atlantic islands, and to Muslim merchants in Africa. So Tomà ©Ã‚  is considered to be a principal port in the export of slaves across the Atlantic, this is, however, only part of the story. The Triangular Trade in Slaves For two hundred years, 1440–1640, Portugal had a monopoly on the export of slaves from Africa. It is notable that they were also the last European country to abolish the institution- although, like France, it still continued to work former slaves as contract laborers, which they called libertos or engagà ©s temps. It is estimated that during the 4 1/2 centuries of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, Portugal was responsible for transporting over 4.5 million Africans (roughly 40% of the total). During the eighteenth century, however, when the slave trade accounted for the transport of a staggering 6 million Africans, Britain was the worst transgressor- responsible for almost 2.5 million. (This is a fact that is often forgotten by those who regularly cite Britains prime role in the abolition of the slave trade.) Information on how many slaves were shipped from Africa across the Atlantic to the Americas during the sixteenth century can only be estimated as very few records exist for this period. But from the seventeenth century onwards, increasingly accurate records, such as ship manifests, are available. Slaves for the Trans-Atlantic slave trade were initially sourced in Senegambia and the Windward Coast. Around 1650 the trade moved to west-central Africa (the Kingdom of the Kongo and neighboring Angola). South Africa It is a popular misconception that slavery in South Africa was mild compared to that in America and the European colonies in the Far East. This is not so, and punishments meted out could be very harsh. From 1680 to 1795 an average of one slave was executed in Cape Town each month and the decaying corpses would be re-hung around town to act as a deterrent to other slaves.   Even after the abolition of the slave trade in Africa, colonial powers used forced labor- such as in King Leopolds Congo Free State (which was operated as a massive labor camp) or as libertos on the Portuguese plantations of Cape Verde or So Tomà ©. As recently as the 1910s, about half of the two million Africans who supported the various powers in World War I were forcibly coerced to do so. Impact of the Slave Trade Historian Nathan Nunn has conducted extensive research on the economic impacts of the massive loss of population during the slave trade. Prior to 1400, there were several Iron Age kingdoms in Africa that were established and growing. As the slave trade ramped up, people in those communities needed to protect themselves and began procuring weapons (iron knives, swords, and firearms) from Europeans by trading slaves. People were kidnapped first from other villages and then from their own communities. In many regions, the internal conflict caused by that led to the disintegration of kingdoms and their replacement by warlords who could not or would not establish stable states. The impacts continue to this day, and despite great indigenous strides in resistance and economic innovation, Nunn believes the scars still hinder the economic growth of countries who lost large numbers of populations to the slave trade compared to those which did not.   Selected Sources and Further Reading Campbell, Gwyn. Madagascar and the Slave Trade, 1810–1895. The Journal of African History 22.2 (1981): 203–27. Print.Du Bois, W.E.B., Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Saidiya Hartman.  The Suppression of the African Slave-Trade to the United States of America, 1638–1870. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2007.Gakunzi, David. The Arab-Muslim Slave Trade: Lifting the Taboo. Jewish Political Studies Review 29.3/4 (2018): 40–42. Print.Kehinde, Michael. Trans-Saharan Slave Trade. Encyclopedia of Migration. Eds. Bean, Frank D. and Susan K. Brown. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2014. 1–4. Print.Nunn, Nathan. The Long-Term Effects of Africas Slave Trades. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 123.1 (2008): 139–76. Print.Nunn, Nathan, and Leonard Wantchekon. The Slave Trade and the Origins of Mistrust in Africa. The American Economic Review 101.7 (2011): 3221–52. Print.Peach, Lucinda Joy. Human Rights, Religion, and (Sexual) Slavery. The Annual of the Society of Christian Ethics 20 (2000): 65–87. Print. Vink, Markus. The Worlds Oldest Trade: Dutch Slavery and Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean in the Seventeenth Century. Journal of World History 14.2 (2003): 131–77. Print.

Peer to Peer Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Peer to Peer - Research Paper Example Moreover, this is usually implemented in P2P systems. The significant solutions are provided for the present problems that are mentioned in P2P systems (RODRIGUES, DRUSCHEL 2010): Application state maintenance Application-level node coordination Content distribution In this paper, interesting techniques along with related example are discussed. II. degree of centraliztion In the stem design, the architecture of P2P system is characterized according to the presence or absence of centralized elements (RODRIGUES, DRUSCHEL 2010). The centralized P2P system may include a committed node controller that helps to manage a set of contributing nodes and control the whole system. For example, the membership as, well as the content index is maintained by the website posse by Napster. Moreover, the initial version includes Bit Torrent ‘tracker’ that helps to keep track of all the uploading and downloading content. Thus provides a set of nodes if connected by peer. The BOINC platform consist a website that help to maintain the membership and allocate other computer related task. The log in system, account management and payment is managed by the Skype that contains a centralized website. In order to transmit content or other computer applications, resource-intensive is utilized. In fact, centralized P2P system can give organic growth and plentiful resources. ... III. decentralization of p2p networks There is no devoted nodes are present that are critical for the operating systems in the decentralized P2P system. In addition, the decentralized P2P system comprise no inherent bottlenecks are present. Moreover, this shortage of devoted nodes prevents the system from potential attacks, failure and legal challenges from the hackers. The nodes contain abundance of resources, high availability and publicly routable IP known as super nodes in several decentralized P2P systems. The rendez-vous point for nodes is considered as extra responsibilities of super nodes. These nodes are present behind firewalls, storing state or keeping an index of available content. In the P2P system, the super nodes can enhance the effectiveness but also it is involve in failure of nodes. IV. Distributed coordination Repeatedly, a number of nodes within the P2P application need to synchronize their activities without having a centralized administration or control. For exa mple, the group of nodes that duplicates a specific object needs to be synchronized for the updates associated with the object. (Sianati, Abbaspour et al. 2011) One more example of a node that is seeking for a specific streaming content segment will be curious to identify the node that is received by that channel i.e. the channel that is within reach and that has adequate upstream bandwidth. In this study we will incorporate two different methods for this issue; the first techniques will be epidemic techniques in which information is scattered virally from the workstation. The second technique will be a tree based method in which distribution trees are constructed for dispersing the information (RODRIGUES, DRUSCHEL 2010). Our primary focus will be on the decentralized

Review of Capital State Arena Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Review of Capital State Arena - Coursework Example The theatrical lighting system needed for the arena was important because it would be installed in a way that it would light different events; hence, displaying different moods. The committee involved in the lighting of the arena understood that there was a need for the lighting console of the new facility. Therefore, they had to come up with a plan that would make the arena sell during the off-season where no sports were being held (Moser, 2006). However, a lighting console that can change moods, and accommodate different event was computer controlled and the lease rate was at $2,000per day in addition to the operator expenses. The products that were available for the committee were from three different companies. They included the CAE who manufactures Leprecon LP-3000, ETC manufactures of ETC Obsession II and Strand who manufactures Strand 520. The service providers provided a dealer network information, specific information about each console and a warranty repair station list. Therefore, with this information the committee had the expertise of choosing the correct lighting console for the arena. Various features were identified in the three consoles that seemed similar. However, to help in the decision-making process a list was provided to indicate how the committee should select the console. Where the console should be user friendly in the sense that, the programming of the console should only have few keystrokes; hence, eliminating the need to have a technician employed on retainer to keep the system on. It should be accessible to the theatre department where it can be used a teaching aide, especially when it is not in use. The console should be inflatable and the software should be upgradable. This is because today the consoles are computer driven and for that reason, they should be flexible to ensure that they accommodate upgradability. The console should be manufactured in the United

The Social Determinants Of Health Health And Social Care Essay

The Social Determinants Of Health Health And Social Care Essay We will look at the effects this communicable disease has on the wellbeing and health of individuals infected and their family members. You will see regional, national and global issues, we will be able to identify the causes of HIV and look at what steps have been put into place to help reduce and prevent levels of HIV cases. There are encouraging signs that show changes in the epidemiological direction of this maturing pandemic. Background I met my client through a friend whose father had died from Aids. For the purpose of confidentiality I will follow the Nursing and Midwifery Council code of conduct (NMC, 2008) I will not use my clients real name and will refer to them as Mavis. I will discuss how HIV had an effect on Mavis and how this disease changed her life. When I first met Mavis she was aged 43 but her story started when she was aged 29. Mavis was a young South African women, she was happily married with one daughter. Mavis and her husband were both successful in business, this job took her husband away from home quite a lot; he would travel to various locations across Europe and Asia. Tragically in December 2002 Maviss husband was killed in a car crash, at this stage Mavis was not aware how her life would change drastically. It was arranged for Mavis to marry her deceased husbands brother, she explained to me that her family suggested this was best for her and her daughter financially, Mavis was shocked and appalled, she did not want this marriage to go ahead. Mavis fled her native Botswana and arrived at an Airport within the United Kingdom in January 2003, immediately Mavis was stopped by immigration control, Emotions were running high for Mavis throughout the day, how she could return after fleeing, what could she say; what would happen to her. At around 4pm that day Mavis collapsed and was taken to hospital were a series of tests were taken, she was later diagnosed with suffering from Tuberculosis. After two weeks of being on medication more tests were taken, at this point her life would change forever. Mavis was later tested and diagnosed with HIV which stands for: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (Weller, 2009) which affects the human being; the virus attacks and terminates the immune system. Viruses such as HIV are unable to grow or reproduce on their own. The virus targets the immune system and weakens the defence system, they need to infect cells that belong to a living organism which allows them to copy themselves and pass out into tissue fluid and blood and infect other host cells, the disease then spreads though the body. HIV has affinity cells that contain a protein called CD4 in their membranes. These cells are known as T- lymphocytes. Once these cells are infected their number is reduced which causes T-cells to be suppressed affecting immunity (Ross. Wilson, 1990). HIV can be passed on immediately after becoming infected, symptoms vary depending on the stage of the infection, many people are most infectious in the first few months of contracting the virus, and at this stage many infected individuals are unaware that they have HIV. In the first few weeks after the initial infection individuals do not experience any symptoms but some may experience flu-like symptoms and possibly develop a rash, The only way for an individual to find out if they are infected with the virus is for them to be tested (Bupa, 2010). Mavis cried out, how this could be, I was a good faithful wife, the only explanation for her contracting HIV was from her husband, but she could not ask him for answers as he was now deceased. Doctors explained to Mavis what drugs were available and that this would be for life, they suggested a combination she should try, Maviss immune system became resistant to the first combination; doctors then put her on a second combination which she also became resistant to. With the third combination Mavis suffered serious side effects and was eventually put on a fourth combination. Social determinants of health and well being Stigma associated with HIV/AIDS is a worldwide issue and can have a huge impact on the social determinants of the individuals health through prejudice, abuse, maltreatment and negative attitudes directed at people living with HIV and AIDS they may receive poor treatment in healthcare and education settings, be shunned by family, peers and the local community (Avert, 2013), individuals are afraid to see a doctor or seek treatment leading it to be a silent killer, the fear of stigma allows the epidemic the ability to devastate societies around the world (un.org,2008). Individuals with HIV can experience stigma and discrimination In healthcare settings such as receiving access to facilities, HIV testing, and a lack of confidentiality and most detrimental being refused medication. This can often be fuelled by ignorance of HIV transmission routes (Nelson, 2012). Everyone is entitled to a fair and respectful treatment of healthcare, treating someone less favourably because they have HIV it is illegal this is identified in 2010 Equality Act (legislation.gov.uk, 2010). In South Africa HIV is known as AIDS, this is down to lack of education with this virus, this region carries the greatest burden of the epidemic. The World Health Organization claims that advanced stages of HIV is AIDS, once an individuals immune system has broken down it progresses to AIDS; AIDS is the later stages of HIV. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; progressing from HIV to AIDS can take between 10 and 15 years to develop (WHO, 2011). In 2010 1.8 million people died globally from AIDS the figures were 1.5 million adults and 250,000 children (Avert, 2011) however; this is all dependant on the social determinants of health Lifestyle, gender, sexuality, income, age and employment can affect an individuals health, someone who is undernourished will progress from HIV to AIDS quicker than someone with a healthier lifestyle. Currently the highest levels of individuals affected are black African migrants, Section 21 (1) (a) of the 1948 National Assistance Act required Local Authorities to provide support and accommodation to those who are in need of care and attention (legislation.gov,2013), but in 2009 the House Of Lords changed this ruling, if individuals do not need care and attention they are not entitled to extra support to qualify for the entitlement you need to meet certain criteria: such as requiring supervision when going outdoors, help with domestic chores and administering medication (nat.org, 2009) Effectively this will cause issues for the individuals diagnosed with HIV leading to poverty, unemployment and further health complications. Trends in illness and disease and epidemiology HIV is amongst the worlds leading infectious killer which has claimed around 25 million lives over the last three decades. USAID states that since the pandemic began more than 60 million people have been infected with HIV (USAID, 2011). In countries such as, Africa, HIV rates are significantly high. In the Republic of South Africa around 11 per cent of the population are HIV positive (Delvin, 2010), the magnitude of this pandemic is shocking. Although the global prevalence of people infected with HIV is stabilising the actual percentage of people living with the virus is increasing yearly. At the end of 2010 33.3 million people were estimated to be living with HIV worldwide this represents a 27% increase over the last decade when rates were 26.2 million individuals. (Avert, 2011). Globally the number of new infections has been decreasing over the last few years, this is due to developments in treatment and testing of the virus especially in developing countries as testing and treatment is becoming more of a reality, nevertheless there are still parts of the world were new diagnoses are increasing (WHO, 2011), progressively more people are living with HIV. These numbers have risen in every region of the world over the last 10 years displaying a decrease in mortality rates. In 2010, 91,500 people were living with HIV in the UK, thirty years after the start of the epidemic, according to the Health Protection Agency at least 21,000 people were unaware that they had the infection. It is predicted that over 100,000 people will be living with the infection by 2012 (HPA, 2011). Globally 34 million individuals were living with HIV, 3.4 million were children and 13.3 million were men the highest rate at 16.8 million was women. Diagnosis of heterosexual individuals in 2010 was reported at 37% (190) cases and these individuals stated they had acquired HIV through sexual intercourse. Out of the 190 people, 44 stated that they had become infected in the UK (23%) and 66 (34%) said they contracted the virus in Africa. (THT, 2011). Homosexual diagnosis in the UK in 2010 was 244 cases which were acquired through men having sex with men, 176 stated that they had become infected in the UK. In the North West in 2010 People aged 30-34 were the most common age group to be d iagnosed with virus. (THT, 2011) In the UK homosexual men who have sexual intercourse with other men are the highest risk group for contracting the virus the second group most affected is those that have migrated from regions such as sub Saharan Africa, 1.3 million People died in Africa from HIV in 2009. This is a decrease of 17% since 2004; this is due to better access to treatments. In Eastern Europe and central Asia HIV prevalence currently has the largest regional increase. Overall the epidemic in these regions continues to rise. The highest rate of cases is amongst adults, globally, the rate of adults living with HIV is 0.8% (WHO, 2011). In 2010 there were 6,660 individuals diagnosed with HIV in the UK. According to the Terrance Higgins Trust at least 680 people died in the UK from HIV in 2010; however these figures are well below the peak year of 1995 when figures reached to 1,723. Dr Valarie Delpech a consultant epidemiologist stated that HIV can be treated and that early diagnosis can lead to longer life expectancy (WHO, 2011). Figures of people contracting HIV in the UK now exceed those of people who contracted it abroad. In the UK at least 43% of people diagnosed with HIV live in south, this figure was previously higher, the biggest increase in the last 10 years occurred in the East of England, the West Midlands and the North East. The HIV virus is growing in North West England, the region population is approximately 6.9 million people according to Online Statistics (ONS, 2011). In the US and Europe there are currently more than 20 antiretroviral drugs which are approved for the treatment of HIV infection, there are also many new HIV drugs undergoing trials. (Avert, 2011). Access to antiretroviral treatment in some parts of the world is still limited due to a lack of funding, antiretroviral drugs keep the levels of HIV low in the body, this allows the immune system to recover and work more effectively. Antiretroviral drugs allow HIV positive people to live a healthy life and increases life expectancy. The drugs provided need to be taken daily, individuals who are infected will need to take the drugs for the rest of their lives. Avert (2011) suggests that individuals should Adhere to HIV treatment as it is highly important for their health and wellbeing; if individuals do not follow the guidance given they increase the chances of the drug becoming resistant (Avert, 2011). Structure and functioning of health and social care systems and teams NHS Primary Care trusts (PCTs) currently have a responsibility for HIV healthcare, according to the Department of Health; PCTs will be abolished in April 2013 (DH, 2012). Once the PCTs are abolished these will be replaced by locally clinically led commissioning groups (CCGs) and will be overseen by a new national NHS commissioning board. The local government will commission HIV prevention and sexual health promotion,STI testing and treatment, sexual health services including HIV testing, community contraception and family planning and the NHS commission will run HIV prevention campaigns and take care of HIV treatment and care (Kelaart, 2012). The latest report from WHO, UNICEF AND UNAIDS in November 2011, suggests that sustaining investment in HIV/AIDS over a longer period will have global benefits and progress will be made with prevention and treatment of the virus the report indicates that there was a 15% reduction of new infections over the past decade and a 22% decline in aids related deaths in the last five years due to better access of services. Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of the World Health Organizations HIV Department believes it is now very possible to get ahead of the epidemic, he states the level of momentum we are at has taken the world ten years to achieve (WHO, 2011). Globally there is improved access to HIV testing and counselling. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) helps to improve the health and wellbeing of infected individuals; however there is still work which needs to be done. Many countries are already showing a substantial level of efficiency in managing HIV programmes; such as South Africa who reduced their drugs costs by at least 50%, this was achieved by an initiative that was implemented by WHO and UNAIDS in 2010 which launched; Cheaper, simpler and easier HIV treatment and diagnostic tools. They intend to Develop new guidance on the use of Antiretroviral drugs for prevention and treatment, Use a range of different approaches to reduce the risk of infection. An improvement of womens rights and ensure adequate access to contraception will all be vital in tackling the female HIV epidemic. (WHO, 2011). The contribution of the health care professional to the provision of health and social care A report produced by the Health Protection Agency (HPA, 2011) called for a universal testing on HIV after it identified that one in five people who visited an STI clinic did not accept a HIV test, the HPA want to ensure that no one leaves the STI clinic without being tested. The HPA ask that in areas where the virus has a high prevalence patients registering new with GPs and entering Hospitals should be tested using the universal testing this would help with late diagnosis and ensure that patients receive the treatment and care they require (HPA, 2011). Public Health Minister Anne Milton announced that over the next three years there will be an  £8 million investment to help build on previous work by the Terrence Higgins Trust and Family Planning Association (FPA) (DH, 2012), this investment is aimed to drive down HIV infections and help improve peoples sexual health. HIV prevention is vital, This investment will be split between Terrance Higgins trust who will receive  £6.7 million to continue their campaign and work on HIV prevention which saves lives and money, social determinants of health can be addressed, national campaigns for gay men and African communities can have a vital impact and access to HIV testing can be expanded and the FPA will receive  £1.13 million which will be used to reach the public and health workers through there specialist comprehensive sexual health information service. Conclusion Most sexually transmitted infections can be avoided by practicing safer sex (e.g. using a condom); also by having fewer sexual partners will help lower the risk of infection. HIV can have a huge impact on patients who live with this virus, there are many factors that affect the patients quality of life; not only their physical health, it also affects mental health and social wellbeing. The label HIV can influence the way others act towards the infected individual. HIV is included in the Equality Act 2010, this Act protects people living with HIV against discrimination in employment, education and housing as well as access to services and goods (aidsmap.com, 2012). Contracting a sexually transmitted infection has a large psychological, physical and social impact on infected individuals and their families; this can be down to discrimination and stigma especially towards adolescents, drug users, homosexuals and asylum seekers. This can cause problems when it comes to prevention and treatment. In low and middle income countries at least half of the infected people are still unable to access ART; this is down to lack of information and education and the fact that many of these individuals are unaware that they even have the HIV virus.

Battle of the Bulge - A World War 2 Battle :: World War II History

Battle of the Bulge - A World War 2 Battle The World War Two was a very severe war. There were many battles that were fought during it. One of the biggest land battles was Battle of the Bulge. (http://helios.) The battle took place on December 16, 1944 under cover a very dense fog which was very difficult for the army to see. (Danzer et. al. 744) These conditions are hard to see in but to stage of the biggest land battle in the history of World War Two, it was truly an astounding event and a very tragic memory. The battle was fought in a heavily forested Ardennes region of eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg (http://www.mm.) The fact that the battle was fought in a heavy forested area, with the conditions of the fog made the battle more dangerous, because the sight was poor and there was no clue where the opposite army was hidden. The Battle of the Bulge was a very vicious battle that had taken place. The battle included 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans and 55,000 British. (http://helios.) More than one million of the worlds' men fought in this battle. It claimed 100,000 German casualties, killed wounded or captured, 81,000 American casualties, including 23,554 captured and 19,000 killed, 1,400 British casualties and 200 killed. (http://www.mm.) This was a massive amount of people to be killed in one horrible battle in the world's history. The Germans led by Hitler went westward, they captured 120 American GI's near Malmedy, they herded the prisoners into a field and shot them with machine guns and pistols. (Danzer et. al. 744) This was a very vicious thing that the Germans had done to the US GI's. The American troops led by Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe led the troops to Bastogne, a city of Belgium, were badly surrounded and our numbered by the Germans, that is were the American troops were demanded to surrender. (Danzer et. al. 744). In the end there were 800 tanks lost on each side, and 1,000 German aircraft lost as well. (http://www.mm.) This was a lot of machinery to have lost Hitler could not replace all the things he lost, so he had nothing left to do but to retreat. The way the battle had ended had the feeling of it being unfinished. The allies were credited in holding the Germans back. (http://helios.) This was a good thing because the Germans lost most of their resources, and the most important of all things, time.

Group decision making essay Essay

Introduction. Managers in today’s business environment are faced with numerous often-unplanned events that require decision-making. In the past it was more common for a manager to decide the course of action individually or within formal groups. Important decisions in the business circle are now deemed too risky or important to be made entirely by one person. A manager must seek the right advice from several different sources. Today it is often common for many managers to seek involvement from lower level employees in the decision making process whenever it can be done. However it is not always possible just to ask a colleague what they should do. Most decisions will require a process of a greater degree of subordinate participation; these decisions can be made through a variety of different ways such as committees, task groups, departmental participation and so forth. It is said that making decisions in a group allows for every angle to be looked at and every possible idea to be created with every decision from a group offering the best solution this method of decision making. However like many techniques it has its positives and negatives.It can be time consuming and may not offer an answer to the problem that satisfies everyone. This essay hopes to discuss both the advantages and disadvantages of group decision-making using several theories and some real life case studies. We will see how participation in decision-making affects companies decisions; we will look at several helpful models i.e. vroom-jago model and all referencing it to real life situations and quotes from famous persons in the field Circumstances Of Group decision. Managers as part of their job are faced with many decisions in which they have to undertake, it is up to the managers themselves to decide in what kind of way they want to make the decision and solve the problem. However groups can offer an essential feature in decision making for an organisation. As Coghlan points out: â€Å"Membership of teams and groups shape perception and participation in organisational change.. Groups and teams play a key role in the process of planned organisational change. The change process typically involves teams in the organisational’s hierarchy responding to the change agenda and adapting to it in terms of its tasks and processes† (Coghlan) Coghlan statement clearly leads us to believe that groups are critical in making important direction changing decisions for the company. Evidence supports this statement and we will look at this a little later as we discuss the advantage and disadvantages. First we will look at how managers come about making the decision to use group participation. A manager may decide to use group decisions in several circumstances and the contingency model by Vroom and Yetton as well as the Vroom and Jago decision model can prove useful in helping management decide when to encourage group participation. In he contingency model by Vroom and Yetton there are five key management styles as described by Vroom that a manager can undertake to make decisions. This is shown in appendix 1. We can see from this that the amount of participation that a manager involves in a decision varies greatly. It would not be logical for managers to always  involve group decision-making on smaller problems such as whether to refund a customer (if it was something worth 10) this would be a waste of time and resources for the company and could easy be dealt with on the stop with a programmed decision by the staff. Group decisions as described by Coghlan can be very useful for important or company changing problems or opportunities. It would not be wise to let one person decide whether to invest 4 billions pounds to merge with another company. This is a case when it would be wise for the company to go for the style as vroom described as decision style â€Å"GII† i.e. where you share a problem with your subordinates as a group and implement any solution that has the entire support of the group. The Vroom and Jago decision model goes onto produce a decision tree for choosing a appropriate decision-making method.This decision tree allows the manger to move along the branches by answering the questions at each point. This leads to one of the five decision making styles as described in the Vroom Yetton model. However it has to be said that this model as well as models in general are neither right nor wrong they must be seen as guidelines or as a reference. However the Vroom-Yetton, Jago model must be seen as a useful tool in the aid of decision-making although it is not perfect. Looking at appendix 2 we can see that the model looks a little complex however once you reach the starting point QR we can see that the model is simply a set of high, low yes, no answers that guide you to an eventual decision style. This model has been criticized as being not perfect. However it is not possible for me to say these critics are not right or wrong only this model is neither. However support is growing for this model as more examples of its uses come to light. Advantages, Disadvantages To Group Participation. In today’s empowered work places managers involve all workers in decision making as a rule rather than choice. However companies must understand that  participative decision-making does has its disadvantages as well as it obvious advantages. It is seen that in business two heads are better than one. This can be true in some circumstances as it offers an advantage in terms of offering a boarder perspective to establish the problem and sort out its causes and effects. It also enables the company to have more ability and facts at its disposal therefore allowing for greater scope to sort out any potentially tricky problem. Group discussion leads to the evaluation and correction of possible decisions, plus group discussion also helps to back up and support a decision that an individual may not wish to take on his or her own due to the risk involved. And finally group discussion allows for more satisfaction from the workers, as they feel involved with the project and decision that their work place is taking. Group decisions however can tend to be time consuming, everyone must be consulted on the problem and then they must all find the time to jointly diagnose the problem and decide a solution. Groups may also have the problem of not using the best solution for the problem, although the group discussion allows for more ideas some members may not agree on the best solution and therefore a comprise solution will have to be used to gain group wide acceptance. A boarder instant of this would be the risky shift phenomenon, this suggests that instead of groups taking fewer risks and making safer decisions the reverse is often the case. There is a tendency for groups to make more risky decisions than an individual may take. Another point is that people inclined to make risks are more influential within the group than say the more conservative members, therefore good ideas could be lost. Group think is another problem that must be considered within a group. Group  think tells us that pressures on individual members to conform and reach consensus mean that minority or unpopular ideas maybe suppressed. Members who oppose the group are stereotyped as being weak, stupid, and argumentative. As People may not wish to question any ideas of the group, bad ideas may filter through. One other big problem to group think as see we see in the example of Napster is that it can lead to a inherent morality of the group which in turn can lead to members to be convinced of the logical correctness of what it is doing and to ignore ethical or moral consequences of decisions ( more harsher examples of groupthink would be Pearl harbour, Vietnam, Mullins99) The final problem is people do not feel the same sense of responsibility for group decisions or their outcomes. â€Å"A decision which is everyone’s is the responsibility of no one†(Mullins,98) An example of disadvantages of group decision-making and group think can be seen by www.napster.com. Even when it was clear that their practice of providing free mp3’s of the latest musical material was wrong they decided as a group in the face of the courts to continue their practice. This was because their group norms supported them doing so and that they were the most sought after website on the Internet. However group members of Napster had to compromise all their values so as to keep dissent and as there was no clear reasonability everyone agreed to this illegal practice. If some members would have voiced their concerns and beliefs earlier in the process and put an end to the practice before the courts took over they could have save themselves much time and money. However lets go back to advantages of group decision-making and look at the techniques used to promote it and stimulate creativity. Management have realized that encouraging employee participation in solving problems can be extremely advantageous toward the company. Frontline workers are constantly in touch with the needs, wants and concerns of the companies customers, it allows them fuller insight into how to possibly solve problems  that concern the company’s consumer base. When I first worked at Matalan they operated a system by where you could post any ideas you had on how to improve the operation of the store and its service to the customers. If you idea was put into practice you would receive a financial reward. This system received many replies and allowed for many improvements to be implemented around many Matalan stores. There are many different ways in which can pursue employee participation. The most common and well-known participation tool would be brainstorming. Brainstorming is a decision-making technique in which group members present spontaneous ideas and suggestions for solving the problem concerned. It allows any ideas regardless of how impractical they may seem. This in turn hopefully promotes freer and more creative thinking. Brain storming works on involving everyone, and encouraging communication, listening, and information sharing in the hope that it maximises ideas/possible solutions to problems and also minimises the risk of overlooking any points of the problem under question. An advancement of the brainstorming technique is the Delphi technique this is based on anonymous inputs from individual members of the group and then management assess the responses until a consensus is reached. This can be time consuming but overcomes the limitations of brainstorming and the systems of group think. Now Lets take for example many common marketing departments; it is now commonplace for them to have basketball hoops, televisions, computers games, and other stimuli within the room. Management hope this will promote a relaxed environment within the group in the hope that it will allow for more creative thinking and brainstorming within the marketing group Other techniques used for group decision making include signing a devils advocate. The devils advocate challenges the assumptions and assertions made by the group to prevent any premature consensus. (Daft,00) This it hopes  forces the team who created the idea to solve the problem to examine and explain any risks that maybe associated with it. Another similar approach would be multiple advocacy. Multiple advocacy, involves several advocates and allows for the presentation of several different points of view on the idea in question. It allows minority and unpopular opinions, decisions are therefore based on solid augment and the understanding of all the pro’s and con’s. Conclusion. As we can see there are circumstances where group decisions are more necessary than others and it is up to the managers to decide which situations would be best to involve group decision. Although the decision of when to involve group decisions is entirely up to the manager there are models available such as vroom to help give guidance should they need it. Group participation offers a variety of different advantages for solving problems and tasks. It allows for the group as a whole to participate toward solving the task and allows for more creative thinking than would be given by an individual. Groups cover all angles of a problem and enable any ideas to be looked at in detail before being implemented. However like all good things it has its disadvantages. Group participation includes such problems as groupthink and risky-shift phenomenon. These tell us that support can be given to ideas just to enable group harmony or because individuals don’t wont to gain a reputation. It also includes the point that people inclined to take risks are more influential within the group. Whatever the disadvantages and advantages of group participation and performance, groups will always form part of the pattern of work organisation. It is merely a matter of judgement for the manager as to when, and how best, to use groups in the execution of work.

How The Mind And Body Are United Based On Rene Descartes ...

Introduction In this essay, I will discuss how the mind and body are united based on Rene Descartes’ argumentations in The Meditations Of First Philosophy. First, I am going to introduce a few of Descartes’ arguments and his position on the matter. Then, I will pick the most questionable argument and put it up against logical reasoning with evidence. Finally, I am going to conclude how the 17th-century philosopher proposes a fallacious argument which interferes with his Cartesian dualism theory. The Position Rene Descartes believed in what is known as â€Å"substance dualism†. Substance dualism means accepting the view that things come in material and immaterial forms. In The Meditations of First Philosophy, Descartes wishes to convince the†¦show more content†¦P2) Anything that I can conceive must also be logically possible. P3) If it is possible for A to exist without B, then A is not identical to B. C) I, a thinking thing, cannot be identical to my extended body. As it can be seen, the propositions state that if we can conceive of two things as distinct, then it is logically possible for them to exist as such. As an example, Rene can conceive of an entity which does not have a body, but not an entity with the absence of a mind. This very argument was the second point to proving Descartes’ distinction between body and soul. Finally, Descartes’ third dispute for the distinction of mind and body, ‘The Divisibility Argument’, lies in Meditation VI. He reveals his thoughts by saying: â€Å"I perceive that there is a big difference between the mind and the body insofar as the body, by its, nature, is always divisible whereas the mind is evidently indivisible† (Descartes, 2003: 67). He explicitly states that it is easy for him to imagine the body, a material substance, being split into parts. However he cannot imagine the mind, an immaterial substance, as having parts. Further on, Descartes heavily relies on Leibniz’s Law to construct the argument. Leibniz’s Law, also known as ‘Indiscernibility of Identicals’ proclaims that there cannot exist two identical substances with differing properties. Descartes’ argument can be simplyShow MoreRelatedBranches of Philosophy8343 Words   |  34 Pagesbetween truth, belief, and justification. †¢ Ethics, or moral philosophy, is concerned with questions of how persons ought to act or if such questions are answerable. The main branches of ethics are meta-ethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics. Meta-ethics concerns the nature of ethical thought, comparison of various ethical systems, whether there are absolute ethical truths, and how such truths could be known. Ethics is also associated with the idea of morality. Platos early dialogues includeRead MoreLogical Reasoning189930 Words   |  760 Pagesrelevancy should attract readers. Stanley Baronett. Jr., University of Nevada Las Vegas Far too many authors of contemporary texts in informal logic – keeping an eye on the sorts of arguments found in books on formal logic – forget, or underplay, how much of our daily reasoning is concerned not with arguments leading to truth-valued conclusions but with making choices, assessing reasons, seeking advice, etc. Dowden gets the balance and the emphasis right. Norman Swartz, Simon Fraser University