Duke of Edinburg Adventurous Journey Report Essay Example for Free

Duke of Edinburg Adventurous Journey Report Essay The Duke of Edinburg Adventurous Journey Report It all started on the cool morning of July 31. After a delay of about 2 hrs, we finally got on the Volvo AC bus after having our modest breakfast in OIS. I felt great; the morning fresh air always suited me. The bus passed effortlessly through the jam less Dhaka streets. Once it got to Savar, I began to notice natural beauty of the highest quality. There were all kinds of plants and shrubs and delicately colored flowers. The green carpeted Savar Golf Course was the main attraction of our journey from Dhaka to Aricha. After an hours delay at the Aricha ferry ghat, it took us another hour to cross the river. The other half of our journey from ferry ghat to Khulna was torturous. Amid the sweltering heat of the shrouded sun, the AC of the AC bus kept breaking down and we were not in a position to actually appreciate the natural roadside beauty. Everyone was sweating and cursing inside the bus. And no one had the heart of taking pictures or tuning to a song. So the first emotion upon stepping out of the bus was one of relief; no one would want to repeat a bus journey like that! We reached the quarter where we would be saying for the better part of the next 2 days. Every one of us felt disappointed on seeing the small building surrounded by the wild. Compared to BARD, this place was like a jungle. We spent an hour for settling in our room and washing ourselves up. Then we took a 20 minute walk and our journey for the day was put to an end. The next day was full of adventures. We took a 2 hr walk before breakfast. The highlight of our adventurous journey came right after that. We took a bus to Bagerhat to visit the Sathgombhuj Mosque. The guide there told us some part of the history of the mosque and also gave us an insight on where the name of the mosque derived from. After a brief photo-session we went to Khan Jahan Ali Mazar; there we sat near the edge of the lake and took a little snack break of singara and Frutica. Some half an hour later another bus trip took us to Chadmahal. The place is a gem hidden deep in the heart of Bagerhat. It looked like a great place for family hangout. Apart from anything else there is a zoo, an astounding 3-storey marble-studded building and an underwater entrance to the building. After our short visit to Chandmahal, we took our survey of the local people, as instructed and then went back to our resting place. After a day full of work, it was a bliss to me to get a quick shower and nap before the grand camp fire. Although most of the awardees were reluctant, the campfire went fine. I was honored to be given the chance to light the fire. From there on, we sang and Akter sir danced and overall the camp-fire was a success. After that we went to sleep. The next day, everyone woke up early and prepared to leave. We loaded vans with our luggage and hurried to the train station. No sooner had we got on the train, it gave its final whistle and started to move. The train journey was itself an adventure with one of the bogies going off-track soon after we passed a small station. All in all the adventurous journey was a memorable one and a few glitches along the way will not make it any less enjoyable.

Causes and effects of childhood obesity

Causes and effects of childhood obesity Childhood obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, and the condition is now obvious much earlier in life. Thirty years ago, less than five percent of children were considered obese. Todays figures put the number of obese American children somewhere between 12 percent and 15 percent! That translates into millions of children, preteens, and teens suffering from very adult conditions like diabetes and depression related to weight gain (Tessmer, Beecher, Hagen, 2006). Overweight and obesity in childhood are recognized to have significant impact on physical and psychological health. There are several causes that lead children to become obese. Childhood obesity is now considered a disease and is diagnosed by doctors. Not all children that watch television several hours a day or are inactive or just eat mal-nutritious foods develop obesity, many children get obese because of genes inherited from their parents. Some children become obese because of their lifestyle. For example, late-day or night eating, snacking and other behavioral behaviors have influence on the progress of obesity. Moreover, social and economic conditions are shown to have a significant relationship to nutrition and dietary intake. In addition, there are certain effects resulted from childhood obesity such as physical, mental, emotional, and social effects. Obesity in childhood is responsible of early development in girls and delayed development in boys. Its also found to be associated with numerous medical problems related to physiological, metabolic, and structural changes. What is more is that obese children are more likely to develop psychological problems. Physical, social, and mental well-being is considered health related quality of life. Low self-esteem and social discrimination can be noted in obese children due to physical limitations, feelings of isolation or loneliness, and teasing from class mates. Causes and Effects of Childhood Obesity Childhood obesity has become a worldwide epidemic, and the condition is now obvious much earlier in life. Thirty years ago, less than five percent of children were considered obese. Todays figures put the number of obese American children somewhere between 12 percent and 15 percent! That translates into millions of children, preteens, and teens suffering from very adult conditions like diabetes and depression related to weight gain (Tessmer, Beecher, Hagen, 2006). Obesity is defined as a disproportionate buildup of stored fat tissue when compared to other tissues. Childhood obesity is now considered a disease and is diagnosed by doctors. Children become overweight for a variety of reasons. The most common causes are genetic factors, lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating patterns, or a combination of these factors. Moreover, socio-economic factors have influence on children, which may cause a child to become obese. In addition, there are certain effects resulted from childhood obesity such as physical, mental, emotional, and social effects. Diagnosis of Childhood Obesity Only a doctor can diagnose children for obesity by evaluating adiposity, or how much fat a person has. Adiposity can be assessed using different ways, for example, by using an underwater scale, or by an MRI, but these methods are considered excessive and expensive. Another way of evaluating children for obesity is by measuring the distribution of body fat. Also, a chart called the body mass index (BMI) is used to optimally measure the amount of fat person carries most frequently to differentiate between just an overweight child and the one who is really obese. In addition to BMI and charting weight on the growth charts, the doctor also evaluates the familys history of obesity and weight-related health problems, such as diabetes, the childs eating habits and calorie intake, the childs activity level, and any other health conditions the child may have. Causes of Childhood Obesity After the child gets diagnosed as obese, the doctor will start investigating the causes that lead this child to become overweight. To begin with, there are several causes that lead children to become obese. First of all, many children get obese because of heredity. Because of some genes inherited from parents, those children have higher risk of becoming overweight. For example, not all children that watch television several hours a day or are inactive or just eat mal-nutritious foods develop obesity. Therefore, heredity has been found to have effect on fatness, distribution of fat on body, and response to overfeeding. It has also been suggested that heredity does not only concern the genes but also resulting dietary habits, food intake, and lifestyle, including physical activity level and spontaneous interest in exercise (Paˆ¡rà ­zkovà ¡ Hills, 2004). Moreover, mothers whom are overweight are found to born neonates that are less active and gain more weight compared to ne onates born of normal weight mothers, which suggest a preserving energy inborn drive. The information taken from genes can suggest that genetic factors can take role to determine the susceptibility of adding or losing fat in response to physical activity and diet. The life style of some children also plays a role in being obese. Some behaviors, present in certain children (late-day or night eating, snacking, etc.) ease the progress or persistence of obesity. Children spend several hours each day watching television, and eating lot of snacks that is high in calorie. Food is nothing more than easy to cook energy. The potential energy is measured by the calories that are contained in specific amount and type of food. A body needs a minimum amount of calories in order to perform its basic functions, and the recommended caloric intake for this purpose varies according to age, body frame, and activity level (Tessmer, Beecher, Hagen, 2006). Obese children do not show excessive appetite fo r sweet foods. Children and adults simply enjoy foods high in fat. Ice cream, cakes, and biscuits are all examples of high fat foods which are very popular among obese and non-obese people alike. Physical activity is important for achieving proper energy balance, which is needed to prevent or reverse obesity (Flamenbaum, 2006). Moreover, distribution of body fat is affected independently by physical activity which affects body weight. Last but not least, social and economic conditions have a significant relationship to nutrition and dietary intake. For example, as income increases, the type of the diet is going more likely to change in a persistent manner. In particular, the sugar, protein and animal fat intake increases, while the intake of vegetable fat, complex carbohydrates and protein decreases. Also, if the family has a higher income, there might be an increase in take away readymade foods intake which is high in fat content or an increase in intake of meat. The lower social s upport in low social class is associated with a high food intake and higher weight of children. Another study showed that children from low-income families who were exposed to less cognitive stimulation and who had an obese mother showed an increased risk of obesity independent of other demographic factors (Paˆ¡rà ­zkovà ¡ Hills, 2004). However, the general effect of these changes in consumption behavior with the high intake of total fat is the increase in the occurrence of obesity. Effects of Childhood Obesity As a result of the above, there are certain effects that might result in children from being obese. To start with, the physical effects in childhood obesity include, for example, the increase adult morbidity in men for gout, and in women for arthritis. Obese children are usually above average height for age (Dietz, 1993). Obesity in childhood is responsible of early development in girls and delayed development in boys. For women, menstrual problems in middle age are found to be associated with childhood. Men whom are overweight during adolescence have three times more possibility to develop gout when compared with men whom where normal weight. Furthermore, Obesity in childhood is associated with numerous medical problems related to physiological, metabolic, and structural changes. Its suggested that adult obesity developed from childhood may be more problematic than adult-onset obesity due to an increased risk of the metabolic syndrome (Vanhala, 1998). Obese children have a higher ri sk for developing hypertension, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Research shows that obesity in children, particularly during adolescence, persists into adulthood and is associated with an increased risk of many diseases including atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, cancers, respiratory disorders, gall bladder disease, infertility and several non-fatal but debilitating conditions (Flamenbaum, 2006). Obese children have approximately a threefold increased risk for hypertension compared to their normal-weight peers. The prevalence of obesity in children affected by diabetes was on average twofold from the age of 2 years onward compared to control children (Paˆ¡rà ­zkovà ¡ Hills, 2004). What is more is that obese children are more likely to develop psychological problems. Severely obese children recorded their quality of life with scores as low as children undergoing chemotherapy for cancer (Walker, 2005). Physical, social, and mental well-be ing is considered health related quality of life. Low self-esteem and social discrimination can be noted in obese children due to physical limitations, feelings of isolation or loneliness, and teasing from class mates, in example, which is frequent in young people who are obese. The age of onset of obesity, presence of emotional instability, and negative evaluation of obesity by others may predispose an obese person to a disturbed body image. These include during the formative years. Disturbances in adulthood are often commonplace in those who became obese during childhood or adolescence Depressed obese children are more likely to stay depressed all over adulthood. Prevention of Childhood Obesity The technique used to prevent childhood obesity is by keeping the weight from coming back. Such technique requires great effort as overweight is not just a hit-and-run problem, where the child can simply drop the weight and be free from obesity the rest of his life. Its always easy to get overweight than to lose weight. A child who lived a sedentary lifestyle with bad eating habits is at higher risk of getting back to such habits because such habits are just easy to follow. Its so a lot easier for children to sit at home and watch TV rather than going outside with others or alone to play. This is why parents, physicians, and nutritionists should sit together and set a plan for the child. The plan should include the restriction of fast food and soft drinks, limitation of time allocated for watching television or computer, and promotion of physical activity. However, this plan must be monitored and supervised by parents and a physician to ensure the elimination of any side effects that might occur from the prevention plan. Conclusion To summarize, childhood obesity is now considered a global epidemic. There are multiple causes that lead certain children to become obese. Genetic factors and environmental conditions play a great role in the early development of childhood obesity, but the condition varies in different countries. In addition, it appears that there are dangerous effects that result from being obese which can continue till adulthood. Therefore, parents should be aware of their children life style and the food they consume to avoid such health problems in their later adulthood. Moreover, the picture of the obese child as unhealthy, unfriendly and fat is best to prevent as early as possible. As for prevention of childhood obesity, it is also recommended that parents, physicians and nutritionists set together to set the proper plan. Nevertheless, there must be raising in alertness, consideration, and public understanding for the matter of childhood obesity

Gold :: essays research papers fc

Gold, nothing can compare to this precious metal. A symbol of wealth and prosperity, it has been a value for explorers and adventurers and a lure for conquerors. Today it is vital to commerce and finance; popular in ornamentation, and increasing importance in technology.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The nature of gold is diverse. The chemical element gold is a heavy, soft metal. It weighs nearly twice as much as lead. Shiny and deep yellow in color, gold is one of two metals, which are not gray or white when pure. Gold is the most ductile of metals. Properties of gold are: ? Symbol - Au ? Atomic Number – 79 ? Atomic Weight – 196.967 ? Electron Configuration - -32-18-1 ? Group in Periodic Table – 1B ? Density at 68 F – 19.3 g/cm^3 ? Boiling Point – 5,370.8 F ? Melting Point – 1,945.4 F ? Number of Protons/Electrons – 79 ? Number of Neutrons – 118 ? Classification – Transition Metal ? Crystal Structure – Cubic Facts: ? Date of Discovery – Circa 3000 BC ? Discover – Unknown ? Name of Origin – From the Old English word geolo (yellow) ? Symbol Origin – From the Latin word aurum (gold) ? Uses – electronics, jewelry, coins ? Obtained From – crust of the earth, copper ores Atomic and Chemical Properties: In it’s usual state – atomic mass number 197 – gold is stable. However, there are radioactive (unstable) isotopes of mass number 186 to 196 and 198 to 203. Gold normally exhibits a chemical valence of one or three.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gold is the “noblest'; of the noble metals (gold, platinum, palladium, and rhodium), so termed because of their inertness, or reluctance to enter into chemical reactions. Gold will not react with common acids but is attacked by a three-to-one mixture of hydrochloric and nitric acids. This combination is called aqua regia because it reacts with the so-called royal metal. Gold will not combine directly with oxygen, but oxides may be formed indirectly. Gold will also combine with the halogens (fluorine, chlorine bromine, and iodine) and with the cyanides.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The purity of gold is expressed in Karats (KT), on a scale of 24, or in fineness, on a scale of 1,000. Pure gold is 24 Karat or 1,000 fine. An alloy containing 75 percent gold would be described as 18- Karat gold or 750 fine. History:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  (Sanskrit Jval; Anglo – Saxon gold; L. aurum, gold) Known and highly valued from earliest times, gold is found in nature as the free metal and in tellurides; it is very widely distributed and is almost always associated with quarts or pyrite.

Clash with the Hurricane- Personal Narrative Essay examples -- Papers

Clash with the Hurricane- Personal Narrative The sky darkened from the blue light sky, it turned suddenly to a dark black gloomy sky hovering with a mist cloud. I walked back into the car, seemingly it was going to pour down. Heavily, the wind blew. I turned to shut the windows, but, as I looked closer out of the window, huge clouds started fusing together which then created a huge immense hurricane. I could not believe my eyes, a hurricane was coming our way. I could not believe it, even though this was so dangerous and could have many damaging effects to the environment and to the people, but from a distance it was such a magnificent phenomenon. Heavily rain poured, hitting the ground like bullets from a gun. Luckily for me, I was in my car. ====================================================================== I tried to start the car but it wouldn’t work. I turned my head again towards the window, the death trap was seemingly getting even more closer. After many efforts of trying to start the car, the car would still now move. ============================================================================ ‘What a time for the car not to work I thought to myself’. I got out of the car and looked ahead. The treacherous whirlwind was closer than ever, people now started to notice and started fearing. At this point I was thinking only one thing, ‘Those damn weather reporters never told us that a hurricane was coming our way!’ ======================================... ... ‘The trees wavered like a stand full of supporters at a football match’ here he uses a metaphor/similes . Here he compares the trees to supporters at a football match. He does this probably sarcastically. â€Å"Heavily, rained poured, hitting the ground like bullets from a gun†. Here again he uses metaphor/similes. He describes the rain falling to bullets from a gun he does this so he can show how fast a painful the rain is falling on to the people and to the environment. He also again uses the word ‘heavily’ first. He does this so he can get his message through quickly and also so he can show the importance of the weather. Clash with the Hurricane- Personal Narrative Essay examples -- Papers Clash with the Hurricane- Personal Narrative The sky darkened from the blue light sky, it turned suddenly to a dark black gloomy sky hovering with a mist cloud. I walked back into the car, seemingly it was going to pour down. Heavily, the wind blew. I turned to shut the windows, but, as I looked closer out of the window, huge clouds started fusing together which then created a huge immense hurricane. I could not believe my eyes, a hurricane was coming our way. I could not believe it, even though this was so dangerous and could have many damaging effects to the environment and to the people, but from a distance it was such a magnificent phenomenon. Heavily rain poured, hitting the ground like bullets from a gun. Luckily for me, I was in my car. ====================================================================== I tried to start the car but it wouldn’t work. I turned my head again towards the window, the death trap was seemingly getting even more closer. After many efforts of trying to start the car, the car would still now move. ============================================================================ ‘What a time for the car not to work I thought to myself’. I got out of the car and looked ahead. The treacherous whirlwind was closer than ever, people now started to notice and started fearing. At this point I was thinking only one thing, ‘Those damn weather reporters never told us that a hurricane was coming our way!’ ======================================... ... ‘The trees wavered like a stand full of supporters at a football match’ here he uses a metaphor/similes . Here he compares the trees to supporters at a football match. He does this probably sarcastically. â€Å"Heavily, rained poured, hitting the ground like bullets from a gun†. Here again he uses metaphor/similes. He describes the rain falling to bullets from a gun he does this so he can show how fast a painful the rain is falling on to the people and to the environment. He also again uses the word ‘heavily’ first. He does this so he can get his message through quickly and also so he can show the importance of the weather.

Chinese-Middle East foreign policy :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Karl Schroeder   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Policy Update:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  China-Persian Gulf   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  China’s biggest issue in the Middle East is securing the oil and gas that they will need with their continued economic growth. China has attempted to cultivate domestic oil production, but their demand for oil has continued to increase exponentially and it is clear that China will continue to need more and more Middle Eastern oil. China has made a number of big moves to help secure oil in the future. In September of 2004 China signed an agreement with Kazakhstan to establish an oil pipeline worth 3.5 billion dollars. Then in November of 2004 China signed a mega-gas deal with Iran that is worth 100 billion dollars, which could increase by up to another 100 billion. This deal entails the annual export of 10 million tons of Iranian liquefied natural gas for a 25 year period. The deal also gives China’s state oil company participation in projects such as exploration, drilling and pipeline services. The export of liquefied natural gas requires special car go ships and Iran is currently adding to its small fleet with continued expansion in the future. Many thought that China’s pipeline deal with Kazakhstan would user in a new era of Chinese foreign policy and help give China a big economic push, it is clear that this agreement was only the beginning for China’s economic expansion in the world. It is difficult to comprehend or predict the economic, political and strategic importance of this deal. It is clear that this deal was a major blow to Bush’s economic sanctions on Iran. China’s cooperation with Iran has extended to political issues as well. After the natural gas deal China said that they would be unwilling to refer the issue of Iran’s nuclear program to the Security Council. This cooperation has been beneficial for both states, China was able to secure oil and gas for the future, Iran gets political support of a major power. China also began cooperating with Saudi Arabia in the 1990s; in 1999 t hey signed a strategic oil cooperation agreement opening both states to future economic cooperation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oil is China’s greatest interest in the Middle East, the Middle East benefits from economically by providing China with oil, but many of the Middle Eastern states also want to purchase arms from China. China has moved more and more into arms sales as they have attempted to modernize their military and utilize their military build up.

The Euthanasia Debate

Euthanasia is the practice of voluntarily ending a life to relieve pain and suffering (Euthanasia. com/definitions). The act of euthanasia differs from the act of murder in that the person who will die makes the decision to end their life. In the case of murder, the person does not wish to end their life, but anther person intervenes to bring about their death against their wishes. Euthanasia is categorized as active and passive (Euthanasia. com/definitions). Passive euthanasia means failure to provide life prolonging medical treatment and letting a disease take its natural course without intervention. Active euthanasia means to take measures to end a person’s life (Euthanasia. com/definitions). When the topic of euthanasia is discussed, active euthanasia is typically to what is being referred to. The debate over whether euthanasia, particularly physician assisted suicide, is acceptable is a debate of global concern. Both sides of this debate have clearly defined positions. One side feels that assisted suicide is a form of mercy killing, and under certain conditions patients have a right to assisted suicide if it is their wish. However, others clearly oppose euthanasia, claiming that regardless of the circumstances, to end someone’s life early is wrong. The following will explore both sides of the euthanasia debate. Proponents The Netherlands and Switzerland were the first countries to legalize assisted suicide for those that were suffering from a painful or deadly disease (Pollard). The issue is hotly debated, and jurisdictions around the world switch back and forth continually on the issue. On the pro side of euthanasia, it is recognized as a right of the terminally ill in order to end their suffering. It is considered to be a basic human right to die with dignity (Maisie). Proponents of the right to euthanasia propose that the right to die is a natural extension of a person’s right to make their own decisions on any other topic regarding their (Maisie). The concept that a person has a right to decide whether their life has value to them or not is considered to be a basic human right (Maisie). The right to take one’s own life by suicide is considered to be unacceptable in many cultures, therefore it is looked down upon as culturally unacceptable. However, suicide differs from euthanasia in that a person does not have a condition that would shorten their life, or place them in unbearable pain that is not expected to cease (Euthanasia. com/reasonsforeuthansia). People who commit suicide would have hope for a better quality life if they receive help (St. Clair, 2009). Those who consider euthanasia are exercising their right to end their own suffering. Doctors are at the center of the euthanasia debate. They are in a position where they have an oath to do no harm. Preserving a life of suffering against the wishes of the patient, or ending that life can both be considered doing harm (St. Clair, 2009). Patients have the right to refuse any medical treatment that is against their wishes (Maisie). It is considered to be contradictory to disallow them the ability to end their life in order to end suffering (Maisie). Many of those who support euthanasia do so on the basis of preserving human rights and dignity. Opponents However, those that oppose the right to die do so based on fears that it might be abused, and become a form of legalized murder (Maise). Concerns arise over legal heirs who might promote euthanasia for financial gain, or perhaps doctors who would hasten a death in order to receive an organ transplant (Maise). Opponents bring up many scenarios that would make the bioethics surround the issue even more difficult to resolve. For instance, would a mental illness be considered sufficient emotional pain to justify euthanasia, or would the person be considered to be incapable of making a rational decision in this regard (Hershey)? There are many such issues that weigh into the decision of whether to consider euthanasia to be a reasonable course of action. How to assess whether a person is actually competent to make their own decision when they are under the influence of heavy pain medication is another issue in the euthanasia debate (Hershey). The arguments by both proponents and opponents are largely hypothetical. The circumstances of each case make it difficult to generalize and create effective policy regarding the issue. Both sides have valid points. The arguments of both proponents and opponents are supported by hypothetical situations and scenarios that have come into existence. This makes the issues surrounding the development of uniform legal and moral policies about euthanasia so difficult because of the many different circumstances. The issues surrounding euthanasia are highly emotional and highly personal. In conclusion, the central debate that is at the heart of the euthanasia issue can be reduced to that of human rights. If the person decides to end their life and they have no hope of recovery, then the question shifts from care to whether or not they have a right to end their own life. They have a right to make other medical decisions about their own care, and they have the right to determine if they wish to be resuscitated if they should go into cardiac arrest (Patients Rights Council). They can make a living will and determine if they wish to have life-saving or even life-preserving measures should they become brain dead (Patients Rights Coucil). However, the issues regarding assisted euthanasia are complex and both sides viciously defend their position.

From Regional Star to Global Leader Essay

Yang Jianguo was recently promoted from country manager for China to global head of product development at a French perfume maker named Deronde. He had been country manager for the China operations, having been promoted from his job running a lab that had produced two hit scents in the Asian market. The company’s CEO, Alain Deronde had chosen Jianguo over three other rising stars. Yves Saurac, one of the three rising stars, was the vice president of the company who everyone had assumed to get job instead of Jianguo. Yves was also close friend with the CEO’s family but Jianguo succeeded in the competition. Jianguo was eager to succeed in his new role in Paris. There were several issues to deal with in the first place. The company’s best prospects were in emerging markets, yet consumers in China and many other Asian markets found the Western scents unpleasantly strong. Sales were weak in Latin America as well. Given that after decades of double digit growth, Deronde’s market share was also sliding. Jianguo had no doubt that he had some winning ideas, but they seem to be falling on deaf ears. During the Jaingguo’s pitch at the board meeting, everyone at the meeting felt unease about Jiangguo’s idea pitch. Members of the executive team, for their part, find Jianguo to be largely indifferent to their input. Those other board members, including the three rising stars kept opposing to Jianguo’s ida pitch. He was getting nowhere. Jianguo’s first pitch to board members turned out to be very disappointing. Those three are competitor, but they had known each other for years and as a result, they also shared degree of trust. When, three of them had a moment to connect privately, Yves expressed his earnest concern about company’s future and how Jianguo avoid talking to him about the issue of connecting Eastern and Wes tern culture. Problems at hand indentified – what needs to be changed As the world embraces the global economy, modern corporations might need to promote diversified management staffs in order to keep pace in the emerging market economy. Thrusting onto the world stage, Jianguo Yang became a new  generation regional managers in French perfume company. Even he equipped with intimate knowledge of local market and local Chinese management skill but differences in national and corporate cultures within the same organization can pose significant hurdles in a new environment. Different attitudes and behaviors of new colleagues might make him a hard time to work and get familiar with. The persuasive argument and strong communication might help someway but the most importance is to understand the diversified peers’ culture and adapt to it. Making the transition to the global arena can be challenging so can Jianguo make the transition? And what should Jianguo do? Analysis of causes From regional star to global leader, from a Chinese local manager to a multi-national executive, a lot of things have changed for Jianguo. It seems, on the surface, it is a good thing. But this transition period is actually very tough to handle. It is very easily to change into a bad thing. Jianguo is facing a turning point. The teammates wouldn’t like to cooperate with him. His superior has some misunderstanding towards him. He was uninvolved in strategic thinking, feeling frustrated and confused. In fact, his problem is resulted from three aspects. First aspect is the cultural difference. Jianguo came from China. In Chinese companies, the main organization structure is hierarchy. What does it mean? It means that employees report to his direct head. Department employee reports to department manager. Department manager reports to general manager. Leapfrog report is definitely taboo. The logic is supposed to be like this. However, in French companies, they mainly worship flat organizational structure. It is totally a different picture. The term â€Å"Leapfrog report† never exists under this circumstance. The General Manager welcomes every single employee to report direct to him. For Jianguo, as a Chinese, he doesn’t know that. So when he found his French employees leapfrog reported to his head instead of him. The conflict turns up. He didn’t feel well. He held bias and misunderstanding towards his employees. Besides, in Chinese culture, the employees get used to move under the team  head’s order, which is identified as top-down organization style. Jianguo gets used of this mode. He never listened to his subordinates suggestions. Instead, he intended to give orders. In French, the organizational style is bottom-up. You listen and you make decisions. Secondly, it goes to role difference. Jianguo was once a Chinese local manager. Now he is a global company’s executive. The role has changed, with a lot of things following. In the past, his decision making was mainly on intuition, experience and anecdotes. Now, his decision should be based on strategic thinking and data, which means more scientific and logic. In the past, his leadership type was transactional, which means he was a task driven manager. Now he should become transformational, which means he has to inspire his team members, to listen to them and to communicate to them. Also the focus and the political wisdom are different now. I got a table to illustrate as follows. Thirdly, it has to go to the ineffective communication. Jianguo might be a smart guy based on his outstanding achievement in the former position, and obviously he has a lot of good ideas for marketing in the new position. But  he did really a bad job to promote himself and his ideas. His colleagues didn’t buy it. He never initiates a deep talk with his subordinates. He doesn’t know what kind of people he is working with. He never listens to them patiently, given that he seems too eager to prove his capabilities. He shows no respect to his teammates. What was worse, he never penetrates his ideas to his superior. He didn’t know what kind of character his superior was and what kind of marketing direction he was in favor of. During their meeting, Jianguo failed to notice the fact that the superior felt unease to his idea. Jianguo just focused on his own idea and himself. This ineffective communication may ruin his career. Evaluation of the actions in the case Jianguo was not dynamics enough to acclimate himself to new working role and multicultural environment. Working culture and environment in French company would be definitely different and beyond what he had anticipated. Being only one promoted he probably could not rely to the colleagues who feel betrayed as much as he would do in the previous role. Jianguo had many options to deliver some quick wins and demonstrate his value so the colleagues could make themselves look bad by becoming his enemies. So now the leadership and communication skill would play important role if he would like to keep pace in his career development further. To succeed, Jianguo had to make some changes in his beliefs and behavior. Approaches to solve the problem The problems encountered in this case can be viewed from two aspects: the aspect of Jianguo Yang and the aspect of the organization. Jiangguo Yang should make some changes to fit the organization; meanwhile the organization should also make some change for further development. In this case, three experts give their commentary advices, which mainly on the aspect of Jianguo Yang. However, in our approaches to solve the problem, the aspect of the organization will be the main part. There are two reasons for this. First, fairly speaking, for Jianguo Yang, the experts have already given some very good advices, which we don’t want to challenge on. Besides the truth that the advices are really practical and effective, at least we think so, these experts are very experienced and insightful. They are Katherine Tsang, the  executive vice chairman and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank in Shanghai, Mansour Javidan, the dean of research and the Garvin Distinguished Professor at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona, and James Champy, the chairman of consulting for Perot Systems and a coauthor of Reengineering the Corporation (Harper, 1993). Mansour Javidan is also the president and chairman of the board of the GLOBE research project. He has lived or worked in 22 countries. Second, we think characteristics of an organization, such as organization structure, organizational culture and organizational change, are no less important than the humane issues in a company. This is also an very important topic in Organizational Behavior. Before we moved on, we should notice that they did notice the side of the organization. Although the three experts are all focusing on the side of Jianguo, one expert, James Champy, mentioned some about the organization. He said that â€Å"Deronde International needs to adjust as well. If the company is serious about making a global move, Alain should take his whole team through some sort of cultural appreciation and immersion process. Culture begins at the top, and in this company the executives seem comfortable stereotyping anybody who doesn’t look and speak the way they do. It’s no surprise that Alain’s direct reports aren’t comfortable with Jianguo. I’m not entirely optimistic about Deronde’s chances for transformation, however. Company cultures and behaviors don’t budge easily – especially if the CEO has more of an appetite for foie gras than for change.† However, this comment is not very practical and detailed. Now, let’s talk about why the organization needs to change and how. The value of Jianguo is not fully used in the company. Reasons are already talked in the former part. However, we need to see his values and that is the reason for the company to make some change to fully use the potential of its employees. Jianguo’s value can also be proved in James Champy’s comment. ‘In my experience, in a family-run business, loyalty and comfort trump other considerations. Look at Ford Motor: Young Bill Ford was not ready to run that business. The company has continued to lose market share, but the family seems to be comfortable with a trusted person at the helm. So I was surprised that Alain had chosen Jianguo. It would have been so much easier to choose Yves, whom he knows and trusts. Yet Alain seems to have made a clever strategic choice. Presumably, he sees that in a recession, Deronde’s prospects for growth lie primarily in emerging  markets. Jianguo appears to be connected to the young Chinese consumer, and Alain evidently has the smarts to connect the dots.’ Having known all the facts above, what changes should the company make? The bureaucracy form both sides, Chinese and French, should be reduced. Although the bureaucracy has some strength, such as functional economies of scale, minimum duplication of personnel and equipment, enhanced communication and centralized decision making, in this case the inefficiency of communication is large due to the bureaucracy in the minds of people from both sides. The weaknesses of bureaucracy are subunit conflicts with organizational goals, obsessive concern with rules and regulations and lack of employee discretion to deal with problems. Here is an example for this. â€Å"Jianguo began with a quick review of the ideas he had pitched at lunch the day before and then launched into his proposal for a line of skin care products aimed at young men. He thought he had the perfect spokesman: Olympic hurdler Liu Xiang. â€Å"Will people know who he is?† Yves asked. â€Å"Outside China, I mean?† He looked around the room. â€Å"Yes, China matters, but let’s not forget that most of our customers aren’t in third world countries.† Jianguo moved on without comment. â€Å"Before we can even start talking about new products for these markets,† How can we change the organization? We want to use the Lewin’s Three-Step Change Model. The three steps are unfreezing, movement and refreezing. There are two forces, driving forces and restraining forces. Driving forces are forces that direct behavior away from the status quo. Restraining forces are forces that hinder movement from the exiting equilibrium. Unfreezing is to change efforts to overcome the pressures of both individual resistance and group conformity. Refreezing is stabilizing a change intervention by balancing driving and restraining forces. What we learned from this case From what we discussed above about this incident in the case, we learn quite a lot about how to face an issue like that, how to analyze it in terms of organizational behavior theories. On one hand, we can see that the organizational behavior issues commonly exist in the organizations and this kind of issues are not only important for healthy development of the organizations but also complicated and very sensitive. On the other hand, to avoid this kind of thing happen, to solve this kind of things, both the  organization and the person mainly concerned should make efforts. For avoiding, the organization or the superior should take more responsibilities. The whole organization should cultivate a more flexible mechanism of decision making under the situation of such a big but necessary high-level personnel change for company’s strategic movement. As a superior, it must consider carefully and completely about the problems probably confronted with before making such a decision. First, Pay attention to cultural difference. In this case, due to the existing cultural difference, he should create some chance for Jianguo, to let him own the working experience in different cultural, like working in the overseas branch or in the department with different cultural atmosphere. Second, do enough preparation for promotion. Appointing the person to assist the superior whose position he will be promoted to or make his job rotated in different departments or branches should be a good preparation for promoting him. Third, cultivating a teamwork spirit is important to become a good leader. For solving the problems, the person mainly concerned, like Jianguo in the case, should take more responsibilities. First, he should analyze the cultural difference, the role difference and make an effective and efficient interaction with his colleagues. In other words, he should change himself according to this new environment, and make achievements which can help him get higher trusted by his opposites. In mutual trusted circumstance, he can promote his idea more easily. Second, he must started to learn more about the market, and convince others with scientific research, like doing field survey, get learned more accurate figures, which can improve his ideas and make his arguments more supportive and persuasive. Last but not least, he should find a breach to reverse negative trend, and this breach is Alain, who promoted him to such a position. Alain can consider this whole issue on a higher position and in an all-round manner. The consensus between such two main persons involved definitely would help the whole issue move towards the better direction. In conclusion, this kind of issue is caused by three problems, including cultural difference, role difference, and ineffective communication. So, to deal with this issue need to minimize cultural difference, minimize role difference, and improve communication. The solutions we mentioned above along with the suggestions given by three experiences persons in the case, should make good sense, and solve the  problem the company faced in the case. In current situation, the most key person for dealing with this problem is still Jianguo. Only if he deals with this issue in the ways we suggested above, be patient, and get co-operated by Alain, it is believable that he can change the current situation and realize the original strategic intension they expected successfully.