Thursday, December 19, 2019

Compare And Contrast Kantianism And Utilitarianism

or Minson Dr. Kegley PHIL1119 19 December 2017 Final Essay: I Kant and Utilitarianism Ethical systems are patterns of thinking people employ when questioning an action’s morality. Two of these systems, Kantianism and Utilitarianism, were designed to take the benefits toward society into account through logic. These systems have a major difference. Kantianism focuses on the universalizability (this should be a law that everyone follows) of the intent, Utilitarianism focuses on the result of the action. For example, imagine a Bob, a senior citizen, was crossing the street at an intersection and Tim decided to take the time to help them get to the other side a little faster. As Tim is helping Bob, a driver runs the red light. Tim is fast†¦show more content†¦It took several people to hold down his atrophied, 85-pound body during the tankings. Then they took him back to bed, where he screamed until, exhausted, he passed out. All the while, he begged, Please let me die. Both hands were amputated, leaving just enough thumb for him to grasp a fork or the handle of a coffee cup. He must use his tongue to dial the phone. The skin that wasnt burned was sliced for grafts. The only undamaged skin left is on the bottoms of his feet. When he really wants to feel something, he uses his toes. His ears were damaged. His eyes became infected and had to be removed. In a way, his blindness has been a perverse blessing. It keeps him from seeing how people respond to his face. But medical and legal professionals say Daxs life is functional, worth preserving. Dax’s case involves two main ethical questions. The first question is: should the farmer have given him a gun. Kantian Ethics say no, don’t give him a gun. Everyone faced with excruciating pain should not kill themselves to make it go away—especially without knowing the facts first. Utilitarian Ethics agree. The pain experienced right now does not outweigh the unknown amount of potential pleasure. The next is: Should the doctors have given care to an individual who didn’t want it, but would dieShow MoreRelatedThe Ethics Of Virtue Ethics925 Words   |  4 Pagesdeontological theories. In this essay, I will contrast and compare virtue ethics to utilitarianism, ethical egoism, and Kantianism to demonstrate these differences. There is one fundamental aspect of virtue ethics that sets it apart from the other theories I will discuss. For the sake of brevity and to avoid redundancy, I will address it separately. This is the fundamental difference between acting ethically within utilitarianism, egoism, and Kantianism. And being ethical within virtue ethics. TheRead MoreConsequentialism And Consequentialism : Virtue Ethics, Consequentialism, And Deontology1200 Words   |  5 Pagesone’s moral principle. And under the normative ethics, there are three categories of ethical frameworks: virtue ethics, consequentialism, and deontology. In this essay, I will more concentrate on consequentialism, especially utilitarianism, and deontology to make compare and contrast analysis of each other and how each case works differently and causes divergent result in the same scenario. Both consequentialism and deontology is underlying the action-based theory, a traditional approach to focus totallyRead MoreHuman Rights And International Relations1572 Words   |  7 Pagessovereignty has become a sacred cow, but not one worth worshipping.† (p.105). Although he recognises some may retort such external interference could stifle an internal â€Å"democratic right to criticise and influence policy†, he insists â€Å"there is a false contrast being drawn between what a fundamental morality demands and what a genuinely democratic procedure would select as basic rights to be protected.† He believes if all people in a society were genuinely and fairly consulted there would not be â€Å"real disagreementRead MoreThe Bhopal Tragedy23347 Words   |  94 Pagesis for sure not sufficient in cooperating with the hazardous working environment. The personnel management policy led to the flight of skilled personnel to better and safer jobs. They were replaced by uneducated workers. In the nutshell ,the true contrast is not one between a computerised system and the existing one .However the problem is the design of Union Carbide Bhopal plant do not meet from the safety point of view . 2) What caused the pressure to build up in the tank? In reality, the content

Wednesday, December 11, 2019

The Allan Enterprise

Question: Imagine that you are a consultant who has been called into assist by providing evidence-based solutions to help resolve the issues and help to increase productivity. Answer: Background of the Problem: The Allan Enterprise operates as marketing and sales firm that works with one main and two supporting branches in other locations. The firm comprises of various departments within the organization which compensates the individual employee as per their designated role within the workplace. The company is facing problems regarding the compensation and productivity as they provide salary in accordance to the productivity of various departments (Schunk et al. 2012). The Sales team is compensated through salary and common pay structure while graphic and website design is paid by salary and IT department is paid hourly. Thus, it creates a problem for the management towards effective production as well. The Allan Enterprise thus implements effective strategies towards motivating more employees towards the organization and helps further in improving the economic growth of the business as a whole. The various challenges faced by the departments further led the business to affect the productiv ity and thus making alert towards the business regarding the challenges towards the organizational success in the market (O'Neil and Drillings 2012). The sales manager as well face challenges in managing the sales team due to lack of time to assist the team of 18 sales representatives as well. The Graphic designer also faces problems regarding the poor quality of work which need to be reworked as thus affects the efficiency of the employees as well (Petri and Govern 2012). The Web design is also facing the challenge regarding the meeting of a weekly target which further delays the launching of the website. Moreover, the web designer also faces and added challenge regarding a meeting of currently frustrated clients. They also need to face risk regarding the abandonment of current campaign as well. However, the IT department as well faces problems regarding the slow internet connection due to lack of information by the sales team or poor website formation. This further adds challenge for the employees to work overtime which affects the profitability of the business as a whole. Symptoms of Problem: The company is facing problems in various sectors of the workplace which further lead to affects the profitability of the company as a whole. The sales team did not meet the target due to technical issues and thus also led the manager to face the challenge in handling the sales team in the market as well. The graphic design also faces challenges regarding the rework of the poor quality of the design which further affects the potentiality of the employee as well (O'Neil and Drillings 2012). The web designer is facing challenges in the launching of the website due to failure in meeting the daily and weekly targets. The IT department as well faces the challenge regarding poor website formation and overtime which further affects the profitability of the business as a whole. The symptoms regarding the problem thus help in providing the awareness towards the business which further helps in motivating more employees towards the organization. The problems of the business also affect the effi ciency of the employee which further affects the productivity of the business as a whole in the market. Potential Source of Problem: The sales team faces the challenge regarding the customer complaint due to the technical issue which adds to the challenge of slow down on ad-design. It further adds to lacks of motivation towards the sales manager and affects the sales team as a whole. The graphic designer is a salaried employee and thus, the working hours is between 8-5p.m. The designer face challenges due to rework of poor quality of work which further affects the productivity and efficiency of the employee as well. The website designer has also salaried employee but due to lack of target meet the launching of the website gets delayed as well. The IT department also faces challenge and difficulties regarding the overtime issue (Bratton and Gold 2012). The IT cannot meet the target due to poor website formation and lack of knowledge by the sales team. The overtimes further affects the Allan Enterprise to cut the cost effectiveness of the profit margin of the company as a whole. Analysis: The business needs to implement effective strategies that help the various departments to overcome the challenges and led the business towards the development as well. The various effective theories might include: Performance Appraisal Strategy The performance appraisal strategy might help the various departments to get more motivated towards the organization which further helps in increasing the productivity of the employee within the workplace (Majchrzak and Markus 2012). This further helps in developing the profitability of the organization as a whole. The performance appraisal helps in motivating the employee and also rewarding the productivity of the employee. This helps the business to improve the productivity and further led towards sustainability in the market as a whole. Motivation Strategy The motivation strategy further helps in motivating more employees towards the company (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). This further helps in completing the assigned task within a stipulated period and helps in increasing the productivity and profitability of the company as a whole. The motivation strategy helps in improving the organizational structure and also helps in increasing the growth rate of the business as a whole. The employee also increases the potential and efficiency through various effective motivational theories that further led the organization towards the development. Reward Strategy The reward strategy within the organization also helps to motivate more employees towards the workplace (Majchrzak and Markus 2012). This also helps in improving the potentiality of the employees and helps in increasing the productivity of the organization as a whole. This further helps in overcoming the challenges faced by the business and helps in gaining competitive advantage as well. Identification of possible interventions: As it is evident that Allan Enterprise is highly focused on the motivation in order to operate the operational practice within the three branches in a smooth fashion, the company cannot take drastic action. Drastic action might have the possibility of hindering the smooth cooperation of three facilities of Allan Enterprise. On the other hand, the organization needs a motivational direction which will guide the employees to get the most necessary success for the organization (Schunk and Zimmerman 2012). The organization may enhance the productivity of the organization by encouraging the overtime hours. The overtime hours will eventually enhance the productivity without developing any kind of problematic approach. The overtime hours will be highly capable of reducing the stress and pressure from the employees. The employees will be able to therefore produce qualitative work and increase the productivity. However, the organization needs to organize an evaluative framework, which will focus on the quality of the job. The assessment will be effective for identifying the true potential of the employees by the performance appraisal system. The organization will thus able to properly reward the employees with a greater efficiency. The reward system for the qualitative work will further progress the quality of the production (Delgado and Dickerson 2012). The employees will be encouraged to provide a greater level of qualitative as well as productive output from their working hours. This way the employees will not be put down by extreme level of stress along with work load. In this context the reward system will effectively increase the inclination towards the quality work amongst the employees of All an Enterprise. Success of Previous interventions: The previous intervention has the most important potentiality to achieve the desired success for Allan Enterprise. The motivational encouragement has been proved to be the most crucial factor of success for any kind of organization as well as team (Latham 2012). In this context the motivational factors will be able to drive the quality as well as figure of productivity in a successful fashion. John the graphic designer of Allan Enterprise will be able to reduce the workload by working overtime hours. This way he can produce 10 ad designs of great quality in a single day for Allan Enterprise. This will highly increase the productivity of the organization as it will therefore reduce the number of reworks. It will eventually reduce the work load of John in a significant manner. The quality assessment framework will effectively force him to produce the qualitative work (Chen et al. 2012). However, the reward system for qualitative work will be able to raise his motivation as well. Similarly, Lorayne the web designer of Allan Enterprise will be able to take benefit to overcome the tremendous workload due to the extra work hour. At the same time, the reward system will drive her to produce level one websites. In a similar fashion Jeya will be able to uplift the motivation of the sales team with this effective motivational as well as reward system. This way the sales team will be inclined to acquire potential client for the company. Design of group-level intervention: First of all in the group level interventions the sales team will be operated with a tremendous extra work hour motto. The sales team will be remunerated for the extra working hours so that they can provide extra effort for selling the websites. The qualitative assessment framework will determine the potentiality as well as associated profit scope from the client. On the basis of these factors the sales personnel will be rewarded (Perogamvros and Schwartz 2012). Secondly, John the graphic designer will be allowed to work extra hour in order to reduce his workload. In addition to that the qualitative assessment will be able to ensure the working quality of the graphics. At the same time, Lorayne will have enough time to meet her allotted target with the benefit of overtime hours. The qualitative assessment framework will check for the level of quality for the website design. Lorayne will be able to get the benefit of the rewarding system with an enhanced website design. In addition to that, the performance appraisal will be proved to be highly effective for reducing the rework so that the organization can turn the entire time towards the fresh production. Evaluation of group level intervention: In order to achieve instant result from the intervention the organization would have to keep in mind that the any drastic measures will hinder the motivation of the employees (Landy and Becker 2012). In turns it would eventually affect the operations between three departments. At the same time, the organization also perceived that the motivation can be key factor for attaining the solution of the organizational issues. In order to encourage the motivation along with enhancing the production and quality, the reward system and reduced work load will be the most important factor. In the context of sales group the organization would be focused on allowing them extra working hours in order to enhance their productivity. Extra working hours will eventually encourage them to put extra effort to acquire most impressive sales figure for the organization. In addition, the potentiality of client will ensure the reward on the basis of guideline of qualitative assessment framework. However, the organization must focus on the factor that the employees does not exploit the extra hours by working slowly so that they can acquire extra hours. The hourly assessment system will serve the purpose to indulge on the monitoring of working speed of the employees. Similarly, the graphic designer will be able to get the benefit of reduced workload and produce qualitative work. The qualitative work will enable John to get reward as well. In similar fashion, Lorayne will be able to produce quality website designs and gain the reward for her enhanced work. This framework will therefore enhance the productive along with quality without hindering the motivation amongst the employees. Summary: The Allan Enterprise operates efficiently in the market. However, it faces certain challenges in motivating employees more towards the business. This also led the various departments to face challenges in handling the sales team, graphic designing team, IT department as well as regarding the launching of the website as a whole. This further led the business towards facing challenges regarding the website formation as well as technical difficulties within the workplace which affects the efficiency of the employee as well. Reference List: Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014.Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers, 12(1), pp. 66-72. Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2012.Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave Macmillan, 43(2), pp. 56-62. Chen, C.X., Williamson, M.G. and Zhou, F.H., 2012. Reward system design and group creativity: An experimental investigation.The Accounting Review,87(6), pp.1885-1911. Delgado, M.R. and Dickerson, K.C., 2012. Reward-related learning systems.Biological psychiatry,72(2), pp.134-141. Landy, F.J. and Becker, W.S., 2012. Motivation theory reconsidered.Research in organizational behavior, 12(1), pp. 28-32. Latham, G.P., 2012.Work motivation: History, theory, research, and practice. Sage, 32(2), pp. 55-59. Majchrzak, A. and Markus, M.L., 2012. Technology affordances and constraints in management information systems (MIS).Encyclopedia of Management Theory,(Ed: E. Kessler), Sage Publications, Forthcoming, 55(1), pp. 32-45. O'Neil, H.F. and Drillings, M. eds., 2012.Motivation: Theory and research. Routledge, 32(1), pp. 66-72. Perogamvros, L. and Schwartz, S., 2012. The roles of the reward system in organization. Biobehavioral Reviews,36(8), pp.1934-1951. Petri, H. and Govern, J., 2012.Motivation: Theory, research, and application. Cengage Learning, 12(1), pp. 44-56. Schunk, D.H. and Zimmerman, B.J. eds., 2012.Motivation and self-regulated learning: Theory, research, and applications. Routledge, 22(1), pp. 43-48. Schunk, D.H., Meece, J.R. and Pintrich, P.R., 2012.Motivation in education: Theory, research, and applications. Pearson Higher Ed, 22(1). pp.32-45.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

A critique of the film Lost and Delirious from sexual minorities’ perspective Essay Example Essay Example

A critique of the film Lost and Delirious from sexual minorities’ perspective Essay Example Paper A critique of the film Lost and Delirious from sexual minorities’ perspective Essay Introduction Bringing forth the intensity of her French-language movies but still maintaining aspects of conventional English movies, Director Lea Pool’s maiden English language venture represents a sound, if somewhat cloyingly romantic, over-earnest film. While the film could be criticized for being overwrought with growth, discovery, adolescent love and passion in the confines of a girls’ residential school, its overall impact is bolstered by commendable lead performance from Piper Perabo, which, alongside the film’s erotic moments, should help win new audiences. Adapted by Canadian screenwriter Judith Thompson from Susan Swan’s novel â€Å"The Wives of Bath,† the movie is Lea Pool’s first experience working from a script she didn’t write herself. While most of the successful lesbian movies of previous years, including â€Å"Go Fish,† â€Å"The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls in Love† and â€Å"But I’m a Cheerleader,à ¢â‚¬  taking a light-hearted approach, Lost and Delirious marks a return to more sober Sapphic drama of the years gone by. Lost and Delirious, released in 2001, stars two young actresses in lead roles – Piper Perabo (as Pauline Oster) and Jessica Pare (as Victoria Moller). The two girls are roommates in a modern and liberal residential school. The film begins with Mischa Barton (as Mary Bradford) joining the school. She was to become the third member of the hostel room already shared by Pauline and Victoria. Mary (nickname ‘Mouse’) confronts a shock of sorts early next morning, when she discovers that her roommates are not just friends, but a couple. To her credit, Mary displays tact and maturity in handling this delicate situation. By not showing any discomfort while interacting with her room-mates, Mary acquires their confidence and friendship. While Mary was disconcerted at first, she soon gets used to the groans, whispers and cries of pleasure emanating from the bed at the other side of the room. The director presents the feelings of love between the two teenage girls in a realistic manner. As can be expected from adolescents, they display a lot of passion and affection for one another. This harmonious existence, although surreptitious, comes to an abrupt end, when Victoria’s younger sister barges into their room, when they are both sharing the same bed and lying naked underneath the sheets. We will write a custom essay sample on A critique of the film Lost and Delirious from sexual minorities’ perspective Essay Example specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on A critique of the film Lost and Delirious from sexual minorities’ perspective Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on A critique of the film Lost and Delirious from sexual minorities’ perspective Essay Example specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The hard-kept secret soon spreads like fire across the campus and the couple attracts strange looks and hurtful comments wherever they go. A critique of the film Lost and Delirious from sexual minorities’ perspective Essay Body Paragraphs Victoria, who comes from a religious and conservative family, is scared of the consequences when news of her homosexuality reaches her father. She’s fine with being perceived a rebel, but being outcast from the securities provided by mainstream society isn’t something she would accept. So she hastily breaks-up with Paulie and finds a boyfriend in order to convince everyone that she’s straight. Paulie, on the other hand, is totally flummoxed by this change and this drives her toward the deep end. In behavior that is both symbolic and practical, she is shown fencing until she’s exhausted, and devoting her energies to the predatory spirit of her pet raptor. Even during classes, she expresses her anguish and disappointment, though passionate recitals of Shakespearean sonnets, apparently addressed to her classmate Victoria. It now becomes a little predictable where the plot is headed. The director’s sensitive handling of her young characters more than compensates for the familiar material and the occasional slipups, like the gnomic pronouncements of the school’s Native American gardener Joe. When Victoria sets out to prove to her school that she is a regular heterosexual girl, she accomplishes this through two things; first a fast-track romance with a school-mate called Jake along with abrupt severing of intimate contact with Pauline. The latter devastates Pauline completely. Pauline, who comes from a dysfunctional family background and had not been loved by anyone else before, is completely shattered by this rude and sudden indifference shown by Victoria. With every rebuke from Victoria, Pauline obsession only gets stronger. In a moment of utter desperation, she even asks Mary to cut off her (Pauline’s) hair, so that she will look like a boy and may hence win back Victoria. Pauline also displays volatile behavioral problems with her peers and her teachers, causing them much concern. The film shows the steady decline in Pauline’s state of mind in the context of her pet raptor’s domestication. With movie ends on a tragic note, with Pauline’s irrepressible obsession for Victoria, taking the former to abyss. Although this movie follows the line of numerous boarding school sex-dramas that have preceded it, director Lea Pool offers something unique to the audience. While it is nearly fifty years since the civil rights movement and the feminist movement in the United States, it is a sad reality that sexual minorities are still condemned for abuse and ostracized by peers and parents alike. While the headmistress of the school (who is rumored to be a lesbian herself) shows some empathy and understanding of Pauline’s turmoil, a majority of her mates make fun of her. From the director’s point of view, the approach has been a compassionate one. It is as if, the film maker is attempting to bring awareness among the audience about the difficulties faced by sexual minorities in twenty first century America. The director has to be commended for her detailed and passionate portrayal of homosexuality. An interesting aspect of the film is its depiction of gender stereotypes, which comes across as very rigid. For instance, the film illustrates how the parents, school administrators, other students and the society at large erect invisible boundaries on adolescent sexual freedom. In other words, teenage girls in the supposedly modern educational institution were punished for deviating outside of their designated stereotypes. Such restrictions are applicable to boys as well as girls, as is evident from the film’s narrative. It is also interesting to note that the Headmistress Miss Vaughn and teacher Miss Bannet show admirable patience and understanding when dealing with Paulie’s frequent outbursts. Also, these ladies don ’t hold any stereotypical expectations of the girls, with regard to their behavior, sexual orientation, etc. Miss Vaughn tolerates Paulie’s outbursts because she is cognizant of her situation and how she is struggling with feelings of not belonging, not being loved and her intense sexual feelings for Victoria. Having said that, Miss Vaughn and Miss Bannet, were also not spared from gossip, as their closeness is perceived by the girls as arising out of their homosexuality. Hence, there are plenty of instances in the movie where we see negative stereotyping of the homosexual girls. There are some other merits attached to the film’s cinematography. For example, the film vividly and accurately illustrates how the home, school and the larger society imposes implicit restrictions on sexual expression. In other words, young girls in the residential school were expected to follow stereotypical roles that are decided for them beforehand. Whenever, they deviate from prede fined cultural norm, they encounter huge challenges. This doesn’t apply only to the girls. Even the boys who befriend Victoria in the movie are shown to be heterosexual, suggesting that this particular sexual orientation is the default one. That these implicit social rules are conflicting is a suitable cinematic juxtaposition, as neatly demonstrated by the scene of the formal dance on Parents Day, where the girls’ behavior differs completely when they dance with adults as when they dance with their peers. Also, the viewer gets a feeling that the girls are putting up an artificial show just in order to please their parents and conform to social norms, consistent with their gender stereotypes. Hence, it can be asserted that the film accurately portrays the problems posed by such rigid concepts as gender stereotypes. It may also be said that if movies such as this are seen by more straight people, then the number of instances of gender and sexual stereotyping will reduce. But sadly, for lesbians and other sexual minorities, it is a poignant reminder that remedy for such rigid stereotyping has not yet arrived. To extend upon gender stereotyping seen in the film, let us take a close look at some of the reactions of other support characters toward Pauline and Victoria, after their homosexuality comes out in the open. Through all this emotional chaos that both girls go through, it is Mary who lends a supporting hand to the troubled girls. Displaying a maturity and understanding that is beyond her age, Mary serves as the confidante for both Victoria and Pauline at a time of high drama. This kindness on part of Mary is all the more admirable given her own issues with her father. With Pauline’s mental stability ever on the decline, she does everything she can to redeem her friend. Victoria, on the other hand, treats the break-up in a matter of fact way, which comes across as cruel. Nevertheless, she is better able to adapt to the changed circumstanc es; although her sudden embrace of heterosexuality seemingly lacks credibility. The character of gardener Joe Menzeis (played by Graham Greene) also shows some understanding of the situation and tactfully advices and consoles Mary. He also does not seem to be a judgmental sort of person. Baring one particular girl, who mentions to Pauline that â€Å"So what, this is twenty first century!† is the exception to the rule. Most of her peers, sadly, seem not to have culturally oriented themselves with the times they live in and still hold on to a biased and distorted perception of homosexuality.