Case 8-22 Essay Example Essay Example

Case 8-22 Essay Example Paper Case 8-22 Essay Introduction Group 11: Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh Mai Ngoc Tam Nguyen Lan Anh Case 8-22: Evaluating a company’s budget procedures 1. Identify the problems that appear to exist in Ferguson Son Manufacturing Company’s budgetary control system and explain how the problems are likely to reduce the effectiveness of the system. Ferguson Son Manufacturing Company has appointed Robert Ferguson, Jr. , the son of the president as the plant manager. He directed the company’s focus on budgetary control system. The prime aims of the system were reducing inefficiencies and seeking cost reductions. However, the results extracted from the conversation of Tom Emory – manager of the machine shop in the company’s factory and Jim Morris – manager of the equipment maintenance department shown the contrary consequences. Emory pointed out that every time they attained the budget the accounting department tightened it slightly. It means that the workers were req uired to perform tasks at a faster speed but still hold the quality!!! Further, the scheduling department being harassed by sales for special orders assigned too much things for machine shop. Of all, this was nothing more like unrealistic targets. All things were the same – equipments, number of machinists, while others were variable such as amount of rush orders, the requirement for each orders. It seems that the budget was a burden rather than a target. This could be seriously seen in various aspects of the issue. First, work efficiency had gradually reduced at an alarming level. Due to time limit, the period of machine setup and adjustment the frequency of which had been increasing parallel with the number of orders made the machinists annoyed and threatened to break the budget. Case 8-22 Essay Body Paragraphs Though, in fact, this step of process should be paid more attention as it decided all the following steps and even the quality of the products. What’s more, the coordination among departments in the company was less united as each just focused on reaching its target rather than the whole target of the company. For example, when the hydraulic press of the machine shop got broken down, the people from equipment maintenance department were nowhere to be found. At that time, they made the scheduled inspections of the forklift trucks. The reasons implied that it was scheduled and it would save more time than checking the hydraulic press. Finally, this could happily lead to each department fulfill the budget, however, â€Å"did the company ever increase efficiency and cooperation† was still in question. As a result, employee morale had to suffer quite a bit. The pressure and budget-based compensation system discouraged the two managers rather than gave them motivation. They w ere vague by the performance of their own department whether it did well or not. The way the top managers treated them when the budget had not been attained also made them disrespected, even though they turned out to be the most experienced staff in the company and had been distributing more than little to the current success of the company. Consecutively, the employees under the two managers’ line felt under stress. In the machine shop, craftsmen had an intention to quit trying reaching the budget. The others tended to do the jobs which required less efforts and time. Thus, budget could be easily fulfilled, while, in fact, nothing better was done. Moreover, people’s mere attention to the productivity caused a serious problem in the field of resources. The less united between machine shop and maintenance department, the more likely the machines got out of order. If the situation incurred for a long period, the quality of the product and even the long-term strategy of t he company could be harshly threatened. Idle time created from each time machine broke down also made staff got stuck. Plus, due to work efficiency, department managers found ways to waste more resources than expected. The thing was that no trace of this waste had been ever reported. Finally, quality diminishing was what department managers would give up in exchange for productivity. This could significantly damage the reputation of the company as well as make it lose trust from loyal customers. To sum up, the budgetary control system had its advantage of knowing in advance what was happening in each department. While instead of improvement, budgetary control system adopted in Ferguson Son Manufacturing Company had made the whole working process more worsened. 2. Explain how Ferguson Son Manufacturing Company’s budgetary control system could be revised to improve its effectiveness. Budgetary control system is an essential management tool that communicates management’ s plans throughout the organization, allocates resources, and coordinates activities. Besides, unwise system can have the negative effects on the performance of the company. Thus, it is vital to develop a compatible budgeting system which can assist managers in fulfilling long-term goals and strategic plans. First, drawn from the situation of Ferguson Son Manufacturing Company, it is pointed out that feasible targets play the first priority in designing the budgeting system. If the goal is too high as in the case of Ferguson Son Manufacturing Company, then, in the following steps, the whole process automatically gets into trouble. The company should be realistic when setting any benchmark among the periods of manufacturing. The conditions of equipment, employees, orders, sales, and the coordination among other departments should be taken into account to jump to the most suitable targets. These targets should be tailored to each department when considering how they affect each othe r during production. Moreover, the target setting not only depends on the estimation from the accounting department but also refers to the consistent agreement from both department managers and top executives. How and at what frequency to raise the level of budget should be discussed thoroughly to avoid any unexpected objection from lower manager lines. As a consequence, by setting practicable goals, the company can improve the whole system which is built to reach those goals. What’s more, the cooperation among department in the company can be enhanced more as now they share the shame targets. Second, in more detail, responsibility accounting is concerned as an important part in implementing budgetary control system. The basic idea underlying responsibility accounting is that a manager should be held responsible for those items – and only those items – that the manager can actually control to o significant extent. The two managers in Ferguson Son Manufacturing Company with unclear border between their duties and disconnection among their tasks made the job more inefficient as well as produced more waste. Though, the fault was merely blamed on the supervisor of the machine shop. Thus, implementing appropriate responsibility accounting in the whole process control can aware managers of their duty and to what extent they should revise action to keep the job on track. Further, when responsibility accounting is put into a well connected network where one performance has an influence on the others, it will lead to more cooperation. It is required that each manager become more committed to their tasks and understands the reasons behind any discrepancies falling into their control. One thing that should be paid attention to is responsibility accounting aims for clear duty, more commitment and coordination rather than penalization for any unattainable budget plan. Third, paralleled with responsibility accounting is encouraging compensation system. It was not clearly mentioned in the case, nevertheless, we can draw out that, harsh punishment was implemented when one department had not fulfilled the budget. The pressure breeds hostility, tension and disappointment among staff. To fix this problem, any improvement in manufacturing performance should be appraised properly in the form of salary, position, etc. The top managers should express their intention that compensation system is designed to motivate employees’ job. It makes them see and correct the problems not blaming the problem on them. Fourth, the conflict between department managers and top managers stemmed from one-side target setting, therefore, self-imposed budget is necessary to tailor into the Ferguson Son Manufacturing Company’s budgetary control system. A self-imposed budget or participative budget is a budget that is prepared with the full cooperation and participation of managers at all levels. The beneficial points of this system can help the c ompany to fix some of its problems by enhancing motivation and creating commitment among employees as they understand what they need to do. Likewise, when the individuals at all levels of the organization together decide the goal, the decision will be more realistic and profound. Specific knowledge from front-line managers and strategic views from top executives will develop an integrated budget. In terms of resources wasting, the controlling or supervising process needs to be aware of. The company should establish a group of supervisors consisting of top-level and middle-level managers to regular check the performance of each department, how they use resources and in what way they coordinate with each other. The supervision should aim for tracking the problem and finding the best solution rather than a way to put pressure on front-line managers. When integrating all the methods above, employee morale and work efficiency will gradually improve. Thanks to that, the quality itself wil l be brought into full play. We will write a custom essay sample on Case 8-22 Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Case 8-22 Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Case 8-22 Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer

Command and control style of management

Command and control style of management Introduction The Command and control management method usually takes the form of a military management style. A manager- employee relationship is a mutual agreement whereby it should always be a â€Å"win- win† situation between the two parties (Linstead, Lilley, Fulop, 2009, p21).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Command and control style of management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When a manager assumes an unwarranted- commanding or authoritative stance with a junior employee, the subordinate staffs feels less respected and appreciated, and will acquire a reduced desire and self- confidence to contribute. Consequently, bottom- top communication will be reduced. This consequently reduces the manager’s capacity of making sound decisions, judgments and policies to the level of demeaning their perceptiveness to competency. Human beings work harder when they possess intrinsic motivation. This means that motivation comes when employees feel they are influencing organizational performance and decisions positively (Northouse, 2007, p12). The command and control style of management operates using intrinsic motivators that lean towards authority, threats, and monetary incentives. These motivations modes substitute employees intrinsic and natural motivation. A style of management that endows employees with a sense of ownership of their tools, methods, and results, as well as a good feeling of collaborating with and assisting fellow stakeholder (customers, co-workers, and suppliers) is a source of intrinsic motivation (Northouse, 2007, p13). Employees perform better because they enjoy how collaborative achievement makes them feel, as well as feeling appreciated and valuable. This line of thought is known as the â€Å"psychological pay† principle. Command and control or top- down management style takes the appreciative feeling from them.Advertising Looking for essay on busi ness economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Research has reflected that individuals put more effort in undertaking tasks for people they respect, and possibly like. A manager ought to understand that the employees in the lower levels, who carry out all the manual labor, normally have a clearer perspective of the organization’s problems and challenges better than they can (Graetz, 2006, p26). A manager who has this fact in mind can obtain the employees’ efforts and support more effectively and easily in comparison to a â€Å"commander† with a mindset that he or she knows better than their junior employees can. This attitude and belief distances subordinates and mislays their respect, loyalty, and input. Worse enough, it may push them to undercut and sabotage the organization’s performance in mild ad mysterious ways, though unacceptable, just in their urge to revenge. Employees work in a dedica ted manner when they are not working under any threat. Some â€Å"commander† managers use mild threats to accomplish tasks (Northouse, 2007, p36). This may place employees in a condition where they do not foresee success. This can significantly kill an employee’s morale and work output. In addition, it does not only demotivate the employee affected, but also, for Co-workers who view the happenings, as they will dread facing the same predicament themselves. Employees actively and indirectly look down at a manger that they suspect or observe that he disrespects them and abusive (Graetz, 2006, p29). This will drastically reduce their work output, as they would be demotivated to work with the manager. Furthermore, it also results to employee turnover especially of the productive and experienced to other organizations within the industry, causing more damage to the organization. Unavoidably, once a manager acquires a negative image, it may consume much time and effort to re verse the perspective and employee attitudes towards the manager.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Command and control style of management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, a manager should put in mind that it could take a minute to damage self-image, and take years to mend the damaged image. Thus, disrespect subjected to a subordinate employee, even in private, poses an immense threat to a manger’s career. The risk of achieving a negative image is augmented for managers since; their subordinates look up to them for guidance, and they require them to be well positioned to accomplish tasks effectively and efficiently (Linstead, Lilley, Fulop, 2009, p42). In order to be successful in their roles and duties, managers are supposed to maintain a reciprocally affirmative and positive association with their employees. Command and Control Style of Leadership Assumptions First, there is the â€Å"divide and rule† concept, which focuses on dividing the organizational staff into two clusters: those giving direction and those following the direction (Northouse, 2007, p58). Secondly, another assumption is that the role of managers is to give employees instructions on how to undertake tasks, and the role of employees is to undertake the tasks directed to them. The third assumption is that the style values obedience and loyalty. The other assumption is that the style has the right to take an arbitrator role. The fifth assumption is that it gives significance to titles, assuming that with title brings about rank and privilege. Lastly, it assumes that titles bring about deference; this is belief that employee with minor titles will contradict those with major titles, and title alone is adequate to warrant the deference.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Characteristics Shared by Managers Whose Mannerisms Match the Command and Control Assumptions They make vital decisions individually within the department; thus, managers should be obeyed, as they reveal a representation of infallibility (Linstead, Lilley, Fulop, 2009, p61). In addition, the managers play favorites, and are the only distributors of sanctions and rewards, which are dispensed according to the manager’s pleasure or displeasure. Main Problems of Command and Control The command and control style aims at acquiring information to feed into the process of decision- making, though the employees in the lower level of the organizational hierarchy are only asked to supply raw data, and not required to suggest a course of action, since that role is left for command (Northouse, 2007, p64). The employees in the lower hierarchy level are thus informed on the local situation, and not about the wider picture, from which they are barred. The managers fear that if the minor emp loyees were aware of the wider perspective, this might alter their analysis of their direct environment. Secondly, the decisions of the commander depend on the second- hand or third- hand information. In spite of the fact that the leader or manager has his eyes on the wide picture, there are high chances that the commander may be misinformed on the vital facts on the ground (Northouse, 2007, p58). Another problem is that, it takes long before information made at the top management level is transmitted down the chain of command. The last serious problem is that command and control depends on a single individual’s judgment, that is, the commander. Thus, the possibility of success and failure depends on a single individual’s decision- making expertise and skills. There is a modern model of leadership style that has emerged. According to this mode, the management and control of modern organizations requires a higher level of consultation, collaboration, and employee empowe rment (Linstead, Lilley, Fulop, 2009, p66). The decision- making process ought to be brought nearer to the consumer and leaders have to support input and innovative ideas from the entire organization. The new model supports consultation such that contemporary managers and leaders are required to undertake continuous consultations with the entire organization (Graetz, 2006, p38). The consultations must result to a consensus prior to implementation of key policies. An organization that constantly seizes the opportunity to combat probable issues and challenges, which ensue from a new plan, has a higher chance of successfully implementing its plan. The success arises from the fact that the plan is not imposed on the employees, but rather they have imposed. A further pillar of the model is empowerment. Organizational managers and team leaders ought to be allowed enough space in choosing the best course of action within the entire strategy (Graetz, 2006, p42). Contemporary managers and l eaders ought to issue their teams the direction and goals, and then trust them to undertake quality verdicts for themselves. The contemporary leadership style also aims at shifting the decisions nearer to the consumer. In numerous organizations, the teams nearest to the consumer are best positioned to identify their needs (Northouse, 2007, p67). Contemporary leaders should set up systems to assure the requirements of all stakeholders are heard and involved in decision- making process in a sequential and structural way, as well as empower them to undertake fast and effective decisions. An additional pillar of the contemporary model is tapping organizational intelligence. The entire organization is more knowledgeable than the leadership and is an enormous resource of ideas and energy (Northouse, 2007, p58). Some contemporary organizations permit employees to influence the organizational direction by exhibiting their preference for various projects. Other organizations reward and encou rage entrepreneurial ideas from any stakeholder, and develop small ad hoc committees to explore and these ideas. The other leadership style is the achievement related style. This mainly entails instilling an inspiring purpose (Graetz, 2006, p56). A major source of enthusiasm and self- drive is a credible, clear and stimulating organizational function. This purpose is a â€Å"reason for existence† which in turn, interprets into a â€Å"purpose for being there†, which by far surpasses monetary gain. Every manager ought to underline precisely a strong reason for his unit. The purpose statement is impressive mainly because it was originated from a small company away from the attention of executives and professional wordsmith. In this style, the leader gives recognition to employees. Managers should ensure that all contributions made by employees are recognized, be they small or large. Workers have clearly stated repeatedly how much they treasure a compliment (Graetz, 2006, p59). However, the same employees are also apprehensive and distressed when the managers do not make an effort to express gratitude to them for a well-done job but are swift to condemn them for making mistakes. Instead of leaving employees contented, recognition augments their achievements, and pushing them to accomplish more. Moreover, another pillar of this style is communicating fully. Information in an organization ought not to be distributed based on â€Å"need to know†. This is normally a method of entirely, destructively, and unnecessarily, limiting information flow in an organization (Graetz, 2006, p62). Inadequate employee communication channels are one of the greatest causes of employee negative attitudes. Very few barriers should be placed in the organizational information flow in order to enhance employee morale and respect for the organization and senior managers. Follow- up on employees should be undertaken to ensure that they have clearly understood the messag e. One more aspect of this style is promoting teamwork. Most tasks require teamwork for effective accomplishment. Research has revealed that quality of group efforts in problem solving out passes the quality of work by individuals working separately. Thus, teamwork boosts employee motivation (Northouse, 2007, p70). Managers should group employees into self- managed teams handling matters such as scheduling, quality control, and costing. Such teams only demand little management efforts resulting to a favorable decline in management costs and layers. A manager requires undertaking careful assessment of the best combination of team players (Northouse, 2007, p71). Meanwhile, it is vital to develop an opportunity for cross- learning and variation of methods, ideas, and approaches. The manager should clearly inform the newly developed team of their role, the mode of its operations, and the organization’s expectations from them. Conclusion It has posed to be a complex task for the m anagement team to develop management systems that effectively encompass these principles. However, modern organizations are forced to drift towards that direction. The modern- day highly- knowledgeable and movable knowledge- workers cannot tolerate a ‘production line’ working approach. They continuously anticipate being asked for their contributions. A leader who is not tapping all the knowledge, skills, and experience of his or her Co-workers is wasting numerous talents, as well as failing to encompass employees in a combined effort to develop a high- performing and successful organization. Reference List Graetz, F. 2006. Managing organizational change. Milton: John Wiley Sons Australia. Linstead, S., Lilley, S., Fulop, L. 2009. Management and organization: a critical text. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Northouse, P. G. 2007. Leadership: theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.

What would be the effects on their markets in general and individual Essay - 1

What would be the effects on their markets in general and individual consumers in particular, of a temporary withdrawal of all media advertising by Dolce and Gabbana - Essay Example It will help in understanding how controversial advertisements reap in business profits. Theories of advertisement are discussed and practically assessed in the context of the impact of media publicity upon the consumer market of Dolce & Gabbana. Three controversial advertisements are analysed and labeled as image 1, image 2 and image 3 for making references to those ads throughout this paper. The temporary withdrawal of all media advertisements by Dolce & Gabbana can yield both positive and negative results. It will be an experimental phase, and a concrete prediction is impossible. Sales may boost up after offensive advertisements are pulled. From celebrities to the ordinary man, all are equally miffed by the luxury brand’s derogatory comments and image depictions throughout its history of brand ads. Withdrawal of ads will give an impression that the management has amended its ways and is respectful towards customers’ sentiments rather than bulldozing gender equality and nontraditional families. However, this is just one ideal scenario and the chance for this situation to meet success is rare. Advertisements have a massive contribution in constructing a brand identity, image, and global reputation. Withdrawal of media ads can prove disastrous, as the Italian fashion label has climbed the success ladder owing to its shocking advertisements. If their ad campa igns are normalized, then it will be no different from any other brand and end of controversy often suggest an end of discoveries. The impact of shocking and debatable advertisements will be investigated in dual dimensions: cultural and economic impacts. In the Dolce & Gabbana’s fall 2015 ready-to-wear show in Milan, the fashion brand had motherhood as the theme of the fashion show. It featured models carrying babies, children, and one who was heavily pregnant. This fashion house has been considering the family theme as central to its advertising subject since

Experimental work on the mechanical properties of concrete using Dissertation

Experimental work on the mechanical properties of concrete using recycled aggregates - Dissertation Example This paper illustrates that the main environmental problem in the world today is the disposal of waste material. In order to protect the environment, the consumption of natural energy is reduced while the consumption of waste energy is increased. This minimizes the amount of natural resources that is used which in turn helps in the conservation of natural resources. Every construction activity needs a lot of materials. Some of these materials include; sand, bricks, timber and mud. However amongst these materials, concrete remains the most important of them all. With respect to the environment and adaptability, the concrete that is used in any construction must satisfy all the environmental and economical needs of any given area. When we use recycled aggregate for construction then we are able to construct the environment while at the same time minimize the cost used in the construction process. The waste and by products of cement contain almost 75% of natural aggregates and so it is of greater importance as natural aggregates. When we talk about recycled aggregates here we mean; slag, waste from power plants, used concrete, quarrying and mining wastes, waste glass and many more. There are lots of demolished concrete that is left without use in demolished sites as well as construction sites. These concrete wastes provide are the main source of recycled waste that we will look at their strength. Cement (Portland cement) History Portland cement is the main type of cement that is used in making concrete in construction site. Its fine powder is produced by grinding clinker and some limited amount of calcium sulfate. It was developed in the early 19th century in Britain from natural cement. The name is derived from Portland stone, a building stone that was used during the same time. The origin of Portland cement is believed to be from Aspdin Joseph. He was a brick layer from Britain Leeds. One of his employees Johnson developed a production technique which resulted i n hard and fast drying cement. The cement also had high compressive strength as compared to other concrete. As days passed, people started to prefer the Portland cement to the roman cement which had been in use for many years. In 1843 Aspin’s son William made a version of this cement which was improved. He named it patent Portland cement though it did not have patent in it. He later moved to Germany to improve cement making and came up with Portland cement. In 1878 the German government gave a standard for Portland cement. Hydration When Portland is mixed with water and it reacts with it, a process called hydration, this mixed with sand and some gravel produces a synthetic rock, which we call concrete. This concrete is very essential in today’s world as electricity and water. During the hydration process, four main types of minerals are always present. They include belite, alite, aluminate, and ferrite. The addition of water causes an exothermic reaction to occur, afte r this reaction, (C3A) reacts with water forming aluminum gel. This gel in turn reacts with any sulphates in the mixture to form ettringite. The

Evaluate the impact of the internet on business Essay

Evaluate the impact of the internet on business - Essay Example Internet alone has been able to change the marketing strategies of several businesses and social media is one internet outlet that has really contributed heavily towards the evolution of new marketing activities. Electronic business which is often titled as e-business is a term used to refer to the huge range of business operations that are conducted online and these activities take place between stakeholders of a business that are located within and outside the organization (Columbus, 2000, p.240). One of the first organizations to define the concept of e-business was IBM. They stated that e-business is the alteration of significant business operations with the utilization of internet (Garbade, 2011, p.20). The term is even used to refer to kind of exchange or transaction that may take place between different parties through the means of internet and is quite different as compared to the traditional way of performing business activities in which the physical presence of both the buy ers and sellers used to be required. The success of e-business and the benefits of e-business to organizations can be realized through the e-commerce sales figure of $343 billion experienced by US businesses documented during the period of 2012 by Plunkett Research (Plunkettresearch.com, 2013). The importance of use of internet in marketing activities have been recognized as Plunkett Research figured out that during the period of 2012, 24% of all marketing activities conducted by US organizations was through online channels (Plunkettresearch.com, 2013). On the other hand are those who believe that internet has negatively impacted the world of business and measures should be taken to counter these negative impacts. This writing will argue that internet has more benefits to offer than disadvantages and if used in the appropriate manner, it can help business flourish. Body E-business has assisted businesses in reaching their target market in various methods and has even assisted busine sses in increasing their market shares with limited amount of investments. According to Boone, the internet has made it possible to reach various customers in several ways that were unknown to businesses before it evolution and the main benefit that has been identified by Boone is that internet has made it possible for businesses to cater to the needs of customers throughout the world (Boone, 2012, p.105). This means that internet has eliminated boundaries that divided countries from countries and restricted businesses to cater the need of limited number of people. The opponents argue that although internet has helped businesses cross domestic boundaries and has allowed even small scale businesses to operate in the global world, this feature of internet has increased the competition for local businesses and local businesses are shutting down due to their failure to compete. In my opinion, this is not necessarily a disadvantage and is rather an advantage for local businesses and has helped them in realizing that they need to operate in a much effective and efficient manner if they have to survive the competition. Internet has even assisted organizations in decreasing their expenditure on advertisement and marketing and this feature has even lead to increase in the power of the multinational organizations. Internet based advertising and promotion is almost free of cost. Basic level internet marketing such as creation of blogs and creation of WebPages on Facebook does not cost organizations a dime. If

Role of Knowledge for Meaning and Purpose

Role of Knowledge for Meaning and Purpose â€Å"The whole point of knowledge is to produce both meaning and purpose in our personal lives.† To what extent do you agree with this statement? Curious mind, has a zeal to understand what is going on in the surrounding , let it be a natural event or phenomenon or people around, this understanding developed is what I assume frames the basis of knowledge. To quench this thirst provides the necessary fuel required to move on in personal lives. Knowledge provides the purpose and meaning to lead ones personnel life , while saying personal life I mean, the life of a person as guided by him or herself under his or her own instinct, in very own way-not forcefully guided by others rather willfully adopted to lead the personnel life. The question is how a person will drive his life in a specific way? One of the obvious answers could be by having knowledge of what is best for him. This leads to discuss the reason and emotion as the two Ways of Knowing, supported by the Areas of knowledge fueled by ethics and Natural sciences. The essay will try to understand how the reasoning charges the emotion to lead life in a particular way under t he umbrella of Natural sciences in an ethical way, by considering the logical arguments related to it with the help of examples as far as possible. While emotion is a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from ones circumstances, moods or relationship with others, Reason is the cause, explanation or justification for an action or event, reasoning and emotions are closely connected, the decision making relies on emotions, this implies that life is guided by reasoning and emotions, reasoning helps us to foresee the consequences and to judge if the action makes sense, yet what ‘makes sense’ depends upon the emotion. People do not practice any activity without active or passive purpose. They don’t waste time and energy purposelessly specially, a regular exercise of getting knowledge for more than a quarter of their life,Struggling in schools and colleges- investing money,time andenergy. There is Reason behind;true,sometimes the knowledge has a direct and well known purpose whereas sometimes the academic knowledge has some passive purpose but all these knowledge are meant to shape the life of the gainer and struggler for knowledge. The quest of finding the fact about malaria, a deadly disease was, to understand the reason the cause, and its cure, it took long time before the facts got established and a possible treatment was discovered leading to the invention of the medicine.Was this without a purpose? Was there an emotion attached behind, to save the whole human kind? I opine, the pain and sufferings of the patients may have fuelled the research to some extent as well. The natural science and its knowledge are all full with reason and purpose behind all scientific discoveries and inventions and endeavor. True, while trying to find out something purposefully people get extra, even un-associated knowledge of some other type or class which may or may not have an immediate use and purpose in their eyes, for the time being.But the graphic detail of it, remains saved in their mind and is utilized somewhere else in due course of time. or even if unutilized the knower is well aware of the latent information, to keep this piece of work in his brain, so as to utilize it some other time thus, knowledge has two forms namely an active and passive knowledge. It may also be noted that sometimes reason gets defeated by emotions attached to the purpose, a child’s repeated demand of cold drinks while suffering with cold and flu is accepted by father, at this point the knowledge question is, why this acceptance? Possibly, not because of reason but emotion! Talking about the natural science, why do scientists invest their time and brain in new research? Without, any point in their brain? Then what do they do sitting and observing? Till when and why, answering these questions frames the overall purpose of them being there. And these are the knowledge question as well, any new research cannot be carried out in physics or chemistry or biology unless there is a reason behind it, the people from management studies and sciences know it much better, when they say that the most important work for a successful activity is: setting the Goal breaking it into small achievable targets, and then working for the sake of those targets.One by one, to finally achieve the goal, and thus sort out the overall purpose. Scientific research are also done in the same fashion, by setting up goals breaking it into pieces and sequential steps, all forming important steps to reach a solution of the problem, a big tunnel cannot be made or a big mountain cannot be br oken or brought to ground without any purpose. Knowledge establishes facts and information are devised from this fact to help understand life and surroundings in a more refined way which thus provides a better living environment. Now the question is what if there is no purpose behind any peace of quest and there is no curious mind working behind a given idea or set of ideas, will the brain still be working will their still be an idea or creativity from nowhere? Where to start for what when how and many more questions will stand still without any straight or creative answer. So how the quest will take form and why?Another important point worth mentioning out here is the famous instant from Sir Isaac Newton’s life when he wandered as why the apple is falling down on the ground and not going up once it is broken from its branch, which leads to the famous and useful theory of gravitation. This incidence was not only once occurring rather a routine natural process that no one actu ally cared so no purpose and meaning for the people from normal walk of life, so a wandering but purposeful wanderer is needed to really bring meaning and purpose, to shape up knowledge. Or is there any counter claim? Supposing that Mr. Newton was sitting and thinking or dreaming something else at the time of this falling apple, paying no attention to this phenomenon of nature, then what would have happened? The answer is, whatever but not the theory. Ethics is another important area of knowledge which needs to ponder under this debate of knowledge meaning and purpose. Human coordination towards other humans and towards the nature is another philosophical area, which never works without any relationship between purpose, meaning and knowledge. How an ethical rule is defined and or established unless the raw material, a piece of past experience or a smallest of fact is available to the genuine thinkers in this field?Human mind starts working in an active way only with an input of purpose so in here if the main purpose and the meaning are missing from the whole fury of knowledge then nothing as knowledge takes shape. While wandering through wild purposelessly people get involved in watching the plants and trees with highest degree of curiosity only if they have interest in watching and gaining some active or passive purpose behind it others may find interest in watching animals or birds out there. Now if their interest is towards human and ethics the perspective will be different then someone interested in animals and animal protection as compared to someone else who is interested in the delicate balance between all these factors and the new ethical theory or principle formulated will be different from all these theorist and philosophers of ethics. Having said this, we may discuss the academic knowledge as acquired by the scholars at school and colleges, they will have better approach towards their studies, if they have the knowledge and understanding behind their subject of endeavor, if they know the real reason behind the struggle in studies, they will excel in their field as compared to those who are trying to study just for the sake of studying. This is the reason why preface and introduction to the book is written, and written to be placed on the front page. Students undertaking professional qualification always record high percentage of passing out as compared to those who are pursuing a general academic course where the pass percent is comparatively low. Thus to sum up knowledge is always acquired with a purpose and meaning in life and not in vain , I fully agree with the statement, and personally gaining knowledge for me is only possible if there is direct and indirect purpose leading to the meaning in life. This provides the necessary fuel and zeal required to continue the endeavor and struggle towards the successful assimilation of knowledge. Bibliography: References; 1) https://www.google.com/search?biw=1366bih=622noj=1sclient=psy-abq=the+meaning+of+Emotionoq=the+meaning+of+Emotiongs_l=serp.12..0l9.94867.104530.1.110389.8.7.0.1.1.0.989.3221.3-1j2j0j2.5.0.msedr01c.1.61.serp..2.6.3222.WSAznehMuh8 2) https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Reasoning 3) http://www.theoryofknowledge.net/areas-of-knowledge/ 4) http://www.theoryofknowledge.net/ways-of-knowing/ 5) Eileen Dombrowski, Lena Rotenberg,Mimi Bick. 2007. Theory of knowledge , Course Companion Oxford University Press.

No Title :: essays research papers

The advance in telecommunications will not cause people to be dependent on their computers and alone in a world of billions. Rather, it will open up new avenues in democracy and will help people involve themselves more in the democratic process. Computers can simplify voting, create less biased views of world events, and encourage more political awareness. Going to the polls could be a thing of the past. A click of the mouse could instantly register your vote. Furthermore, nationwide results could be instantly tabulated, to increase voter participation and decrease costs. The main argument against on-line voting is security. The national computer system could be hacked into, but this problem could be rectified with a secure computer system like that used by the Department of Defense. Another potential problem is multiple votes. A simple solution is to use personal identification numbers, such as social security numbers. While these arguments are valid, they can be easily solved in order to maximize the benefits of an on-line voting system. It is often predicted that by the year 2000, 5-10 corporations will control most of the worlds important media. This concentration of ownership raises concerns that the information citizens receive from the media may be censored or biased in favor of the owner corporation. With the Internet, you can receive news almost instantaneously from eyewitnesses. You eliminate the middle man who can censor the news and color the truth. A problem with news on the Internet is credibility, which is a problem in all media. Whether in a newspaper or magazine, on television or the Internet, information should always be verified by other sources. Despite this, the timeliness and breadth of Internet news can lead us to being more open and informed voters. Computers also aid democracy by providing a unique venue for increased political awareness. Many politicians and political interest groups have websites that provide a wealth of information. With Internet â€Å"chats†, you can get to know your local government officials and air any subjects that concern you. Also, anybody can now e-mail the President and other high ranking officials. All this makes the bureaucratic process less impersonal and gives us a convenient and better way to know the people and issues in our political life. These advantages in telecommunications have created the possibility of a more direct form of democracy, or "electronic city-state." The United States could become a country where every citizen votes over the Internet on every law . This will not happen, however, because most congressmen would vote against an "electronic city state" as they