Compare and contrast the ideas about human nature in two theorists Essay

Compare and contrast the ideas about human nature in two theorists Hobbes and Locke - Essay Example Hobbes did not share the recognized assumption that man was a social animal by his nature claiming that society could not exist without the power of the state and proper government. Instead, he argued that motivation and particularly self-interest was the central factor that affected behaviour of human beings (Leviathan I 13). Although Hobbes developed a sophisticated system of such motives that included courage, honor, pity, compassion, and other, he strongly believed that self-interest played the key role while the other motives should be treated as supplementary or secondary. Premising from these assumptions, Hobbes developed his famous justification of morality based on self-interested actions (Leviathan I 6). Modern form of this theory, known as 'ethical egoism', postulates that a self-interested action should be regarded as a standard of good (Rachels, 2008). John Locke who had the religious sentiment Hobbes apparently lacked proceeded from the assumption of God's creation of man and, therefore, believed in the natural freedom of human being that included the right to pursue life, health, and property. Also Locke argued that human beings are social animal by nature and societies emerged as a result of the rational efforts of humans taken to protect themselves from adversities of living in the 'state of nature' (Locke, 1990). In other words, Locke believed that humans their natural state mostly kept their promises and obligations, while Hobbes denied any organization in the 'natural' society of men claiming that fear and self-interest were the primary motivators of human behavior. The dissimilarity of human nature views advocated by the two thinkers can further be illustrated by their treatment of political authority and modern nation-state. Legitimacy of authority is one of the fundamental questions in political philosophy. There are multiple issues and controversies involved in this major problem including the meaning of political authority, the distinction between political authority and political power, moral and legal aspects of political authority, and many others. Majority of contemporary political theorists consider that the state has authority in the descriptive sense. This means that the state maintains public order via creating rules and issuing commands that subjects generally obey due to the dominant belief that the state has authority to do so (Hart 1961). Locke and Hobbes explain the origins of such belief in entirely different ways. According to Thomas Hobbes, in prehistoric uncivilized times before any sort of government emerged, there was constant war with "every man, against every man" (Hobbes, 1668, p.12). Consequently, Hobbesian justification of authority logically followed from the total brutality of human beings in their natural state characterized by intolerance: submission to authority was the only way to eliminate the brutality and intolerance of the State of Nature (Hobbes, 1668). By contrast, John Locke believed that the original state of man was not as hostile as Hobbes thought. In Locke's opinion happiness, reason and tolerance were the core characteristics of the natural man, and all humans, in their original state, were equal and absolutely free to pursue things, considered as indisputable rights, namely "life, health, liberty and possessions"

Marketing Planning- Kit Kat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Marketing Planning- Kit Kat - Essay Example Companies give substantial importance to the desires and wants of the potential customers. Marketing Plans in the current economic system always succeed in a free market economy. The prices of the goods and services must be determined by the free forces of market demand and supply. Any state of disequilibrium in the market would be stabilized automatically by the free forces of market mechanism. Companies often adopt â€Å"go to market† concept that helps organizations to achieve unique value proposition to their targets. These propositions depend on the way the company focuses on its investments and business solutions. This strategy usually responds to whom, what, how much, how and where a company would operate and cater its services. Q 1.2 Nestle accounts a sale of over 1 billion Swiss francs from 29 major branded goods manufactured under it (Dibb, 2001). It is a giant food producing firm generating about 339,000 employments in the economy. Its assets are now worth 126.22 bi llion as estimated in 2012 (Qin, 2010).. Jamal and Prahalad in 1996 stated that strategic planning is not strategic; the future is assumed to be more or less same as the present. The planning must be subversive. The top managers are most resistant to change and they fail to provide people different responsibilities to manage changes. The senior managers should observe activists as positive. The organizations must always use all their knowledge to discover the unconventional ideas. Business strategies can often give surprises. The business strategies must be democratic (Kew and Stredwick, 2005). Therefore in the context of Nestle, Kit Kat being a common chocolate produced by the company, the focus should be on product quality. The company must enhance its quality so that it can uphold its reputation in the current competitive chocolate industry Q 1.3-1.4 There are various techniques of organizational auditing. Out of the major techniques this essay concentrates on the PEST technique of organizational auditing (Strauss, 2010). It means it would concentrate in the Political, Economic, Social and Technological aspects that affect the business of Nestle featuring its product Kit Kat. The success of a marketing plan largely depends on the internal working culture of a business firm; like the precise relationships between the top managers and employees at different levels. If a firm maintains a good financial and accounting system then they are likely to introduce successful marketing plans. The level of research and development also influences the competitive power of a business firm. The resources and capabilities of a business firm largely influence the extent accomplishment of marketing plans. Image and brand equity are also important determinants of a good marketing plan. The essay will now hypothetically assume a case study about Kit Kat’s business in China. The country has a socialist market economic system; thus sate excise strong control over the acti vities of the private organizations. If the Chinese government increases the level of taxes in chocolates; the company may be forced to increase the selling price of the product and thus will shift the incidence of taxation on the consumers. In such a situation the demand for the product would fall. Rather tastes and preferences of the consumers are changing and buyers who are empowered are demanding more from the products. The country accounts for a growth of about 10% in terms of GDP, thus the

Formalist and Expressionist Concepts of Art Essay

Formalist and Expressionist Concepts of Art - Essay Example Clive Bell argues this point by stating that â€Å"to appreciate a work of art we need bring with us nothing from life, no knowledge of its ideas and affairs, no familiarity with its emotions† (cited in Warburton 10) This contention accurately depicts the â€Å"art for art’s sake† attitude taken by many artists and art critics subscribing to more formalist frameworks, which eschew the importance of representation and context in art production and art appreciation but judge the value of an art on its coherence, composition, and masterful use of forms.  The influence of formalism on artists and their work is particularly evident in the paintings of the old masters. Caravaggio’s fourteenth-century masterpiece â€Å"Bacchus,† for instance, which shows the ancient diety as a drunken young man in a reclining pose, is interesting in the formalist sense not because of the artists’ impressive ability for representation but for the manner by which th e painting itself draws attention to the contours and shapes of the human body, as well as the contribution of the colors used by Caravaggio to lend warmth, depth, and meaning to his work. In the painting, Caravaggio uses the traditional techniques of portraiture to present to present a well-composed, balanced picture of Bacchus trying to cover his naked torso with drapery while offering a goblet of wine either to the painter or to the painting’s viewers. This is achieved through the use of a color pallete dominated by muted red and green hues that direct the viewer’s attention to Bacchus’ face .... The influence of formalism on artists and their work is particularly evident in the paintings of the old masters. Caravaggio's fourteenth-century masterpiece "Bacchus," for instance, which shows the ancient diety as a drunken young man in a reclining pose, is interesting in the formalist sense not because of the artists' impressive ability for representation but for the manner by which the painting itself draws attention to the contours and shapes of the human body, as well as the contribution of the colors used by Caravaggio to lend warmth, depth, and meaning to his work. In the painting, Caravaggio uses the traditional techniques of portraiture to present to present a well-composed, balanced picture of Bacchus trying to cover his naked torso with drapery while offering a goblet of wine either to the painter or to the painting's viewers. This is achieved through the use of a color pallete dominated by muted red and green hues that direct the viewer's attention to Bacchus' face and t hen leads it to the hand offering the goblet. Likewise, Caravaggio uses mostly rounded shapes and contours that heighten the sense of organic, flowing quality of Bacchus' body, the wine, and the drapery. Caravaggio also creates depth by utilizing color techniques to create a sense of space within the painting using contrasts between light and dark colors. It is through the use of these elements that Caravaggio's picture of Bacchus becomes a thing of value in the formalist sense, since it is through the interaction between the forms in the painting that the artists' rendering of the deity evokes aesthetic feelings in the viewer. On the other

Am I A Leader Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Am I A Leader - Essay Example I learned of the essential theories to become a leader from the academe and from contemporary experiences. It is one’s personal contention that that there are persons born and destined to become leaders. In my case, I realized it is a process encompassing developmental stages in one’s life span. As babies, parents provide assistance in personal care and needs. Through one’s personal development, children get to stand and walk on their own. We learn to exercise our sense of autonomy. There were times when there was the persistent conviction to negate our parents just to do what we want. In this stage of life, leadership of a growing child was clearly exemplified. It is a type of leadership involving the primary care giver and the child. Leadership is thereby recognized as the process of influence in other people to achieve a certain goal. At this stage, the only goal that one has is the gratification of needs, realized through either good or bad behavior. It seems that even as a child, one learned to influence and become a leader in simple ways. The first time we pursued academic endeavors, the start of the leadership process focus on enrichment. Through school plays, group activity, participating in discussions, and joining school organizations, leadership enrichment is reflected. We came to have peers that influence us or we get the chance to influence them. Leadership is clearly expressed and felt when friends and acquaintances ask one’s opinion regarding outfits, assignments, perception, and even fun activities and endeavors. Colleagues begin to value one’s opinions with regards to group perception. I became more competitive in the latter part of academic life. I joined different organizations and performed responsibilities concurrent with higher accountabilities expected of my position. I came to enjoy different social interactions from both genders. One became more focused on achieving higher grades because of the belief that as a profound influence to others. It manifests some form of power and authority. I envisioned to be more responsible, committed, and become a role model. That was the stage of my life that I felt that I truly became a leader. Qualities of a Good Leader But what are the qualities of a good leader? Did I have that power to lead? According to Warren Bennis (1990), managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing. Leaders are persons with character who strives for excellence. Leaders do not command a group to achieve excellence; rather, they are engaged in achieving excellence. One sees what is desired and goes after it. One attracts followers because of the will power, determination, energy, drive, and willpower. Of course, to be a leader, trust is the most essential thing. Trust builds good relationships between the leader and the follower. Since a leader influence a group of people, one must be inspiring and must show the confidence in ac hieving identified goals and endeavors. A good leader is acknowledged to treat others fairly; should display empathy and sensitivity to other people’s values, beliefs, and emotions. In a leader’s journey to reach identified goals, insurmountable amounts of stress are expected to be overcome. The leader must have enough courage to surpass challenges and be creative in dealing with trying situations. Until now, I am thinking of qualities that I exhibited

Organizational change part i Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organizational change part i - Essay Example All stakeholders have to be involved in the change process for it to be effective. There are various types of change depending on which part of the organization needs to be changed. The most critical part of organizational change lies with the leaders. An organization’s leaders have to manage the change through planning, assessment and evaluation and have to ensure that every stakeholder in the organization buys in to the ides of change and is involved in it (Cole, Harris & Bernerth, 2006). Despite change being recognized as an inevitable and necessary evil in almost all spheres of life, organizational change poses a lot of challenges to leaders. Effective management of organizational change takes four main steps namely; recognizing the need to have effect the change, planning for the change, training staff with regard to the impending change, and getting support from the employees and other stakeholders during the change process (Cole, Harris & Bernerth, 2006). The first step involves conducting a systematic diagnosis of the organization as it is currently so as to identify the need for initiating change and determine the organization’s ability to manage the change. Planning process involves determining the objectives of the change as well as outlining the procedures to be taken when effecting the change. At the end of the change process, it is necessary to conduct an assessment of the whole process to determine if the objectives were met. Organizational change can be said to be successful if it meets its objectives and the benefits of the change are realized by the management and employees of the organization (Cole, Harris & Bernerth, 2006). Successful change also improves communication among employees and other stakeholders. Health care organizations have also encountered numerous challenges that have often forced them to change in one way or another so as to effectively treat patients (Rashid, 2007). Changes in lifestyles have led to emergence of new diseases while technology has made treatment of some diseases much easier. Healthcare organizations need to adopt technology and also support research so as to discover better ways of fighting diseases. This requires a change of strategy, mission, and mode of operation or human resource. In some cases change may be needed in all aspects of the organization (Rashid, 2007). Readiness for change is one of the issues that change management experts have focused on in the recent few years by recommending strategies that organizations need to take in order to be fully prepared for change. Readiness for change is a very crucial concept in healthcare given the ever changing nature of treatment. Healthcare organizations have to be strategically positioned so as to meet the demands brought about by change (Rashid, 2007). An organization’s readiness for change depends on various factors such as organizational culture, flexibility of the organization’s policies, and the abi lity of leaders to manage changes in the working environment. Managing change in a healthcare facility is not different from other organizations. The leaders have to be very assertive and proactive in steering health organizations in the right direction. This requires constant assessment of the current level of operations in the organization and determining what needs to be done so as to help improve treatment of patients. Departmental heads

Comparison a work of art Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Comparison a work of art - Term Paper Example Though the place portrayed is in shadow, it is not dark, on the contrary, it is light enough to see elegant detail, and it is the sunlight splashing on the water outside of the secluded shadow that is overly bright and impossible to make out. This all combines to show a place in nature as protective, walling you in, making you feel comfortable, and safe from the outside world. The second painting has nearly the opposite effect. The painting, rather than being in the position of someone who is in a secluded, shaded space, takes the perspective of one out in the beating sun. Here extremely bright light is shown to be the norm, with everything in the bright sun being visible and detailed, and things in the shadows being somewhat less. The ratio of shadow to sun is also inverted, as this painting portrays a miniscule amount of seclusion and protection in an open sea of defenselessness. The trees being the only point of shade of shelter in the entire field of view gives the viewer the impression that they are in an unimaginably vast place, and completely exposed. These two paintings both use light and shadow to give sense of protection or exposure, respectively, and in doing so give two completely different interpretations of nature, one as a secluded place that protects from the outside world, and the second that shows how exposed and vulnerable one can be in

New Market Expansion Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

New Market Expansion - Term Paper Example The company holds approximately 40,000 acres of rare-earth elements in various parts of the U.S including Colorado and Montana. The rare-earth minerals have been an important resource used in most advanced technologies, particularly clean-energy technology such as that used in energy-efficient cars as well as hi-tech products such as mobile phones, hard disk drives, digital music devices as well as the telecommunication sector including fiber-optic technology (U.S. Rare Earths, Inc., 2013). Additionally, these minerals have been used as in water purification treatments as well as radar devices and global navigation (U.S. Rare Earths, Inc., 2013). Therefore, this industry is highly valuable in terms of the usage of these minerals, and therefore, is highly rewarding as well. As noted by researchers, China is currently the single source that is enriched with these minerals and supplies 90% of the world’s supply of rare earths (Bloomberg News, 2013). As per China’s policy, exports of rare earths have been decreased with government plans to hoard up critical minerals. The Government of China seems to be taking active interest in this booming industry with the intention of developing particular types of â€Å"permanent magnets (Zhang, 2011)†. ... On the other hand, China’s recent move to cut exports critical to Western technologies seems to signal the government’s intention to give priority to the locals. This could threaten our ability to secure contract with the Chinese firm Xinhua which has been established for over 15 years in the field. Nevertheless, this industry provides the opportunity for lucrative profits as international prices of rare earth minerals are expected to rise (Market Watch: The Wall Street Journal, 2013). These prices are expected to increase for another two years or so. This demonstrates strong economic activity boosted by technological advancements and industrial demand. Owing to the critical political significance of this sector, the Chinese government is taking active interest in this industry by dictating policies for the exploitation of these rare minerals. The mounting political significance of this sector has led the government to maintain a great deal of ‘secrecy’ reg arding recent developments in this sector and, therefore, gaining the trust of the government as well as Xinhua will be a challenge. Despite various challenges, there is strong basis for entering into the Chinese market. In light of this, a joint venture arrangement shall be held with a local Chinese Rare Earth firm Xinhua. Considering that the company is dominantly Western in nature, this expansion shall mark a dramatic cultural shift in terms of the work practices and management style. For this purpose, it is useful to analyze the Chinese culture using the â€Å"high context† and â€Å"low context† classification. High context cultures have been typically defined as those whereby individuals use non-verbal