Book Review “The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark”

Mr.. Stark uses a quantitative approach to explain his theories on how Christians could have gained so many converts without miraculous methods. This quantitative approach included the use of numerical projections based on historical documents and sociological propositions to produce his own prediction on how Christianity grew. He uses economic language is used to attempt to make sociological science accessible to the reader, and depicts converts as rational consumers making an Informed decision_ There Is a distinct academic style to his words, which can come across as linear and pretentious.Although he is not trained as a historian, Stark provides a sufficient historical context from which to understand the sociological information. Stark draws valid conclusions that should not be disregarded, but his style and format are not effective, as they do not truly cater to either a professional or non-professional audience. His emotional use of capitalized words, quotations, and Italics Is unnecessary and takes credibility away from his argument. The organization of this book does not follow a mall thesis, but Jumps around to countless propositions and ends without a succinct conclusion Rodney Stark was raised inJamestown, North Dakota. He started his professional life as a news reporter, but was quick to continue his education. â€Å"Following a tour of duty in the U. S. Army, he received his Ph. D. From the University of California, Berkeley, where he held appointments as a research sociologist at the Survey Research Center and at the Center for the Study of Law and Society†. He has since taught Sociology and comparative Religion at the university of Washington and Baylor university. He has published 32 books and more than 160 scholarly articles on subjects as diverse as prejudice, crime, suicide, and city life in ancient Rome. Most of his work has been with the study of religious sociology, and he has held various prestigious academic positions on boards re lating to the subject. â€Å"He also has won a number of national and International awards for distinguished scholarship†. 3 In The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark Is very clear about his professional training versus his historical interests throughout this entire book.He wants the reader to know that he is first and foremost a sociologist, and that his interest in including historical context is non- professional. In his preface, he writes, â€Å"I have always been a history buff, but for cost of my career I never really considered working with historical materials myself. I was content to be a sociologist and to spend my time trying to formulate and test sociology of religion†. The Rise of Christianity is a sociologist's theory on how Christianity became the leading power in the world.Stark wants his reader to know that he is not a historian, but adds historical information to give the sociological figures context. This is why he constantly reiterates that he is w riting for a non- professional audience. Stark begins by explaining the â€Å"arithmetic of growth†. This is a ERM he uses to explain to the reader that sociology has a lot to do with projecting numbers. In his first chapter, he establishes a probable growth rate at which Christianity could have grown to its size in population by year DADA.He projects what the population should have been based on historical accounts as well as figures from scripture, and uses references from other historians and sociologists to provide credibility to his projection. From here he explains that a steady growth rate of around forty percent per decade from the beginning of the movement would not have required great miracles to achieve its' large numbers by the year 350. Next, he presents his first reasoning for not only numerical growth, but the growth of influence and prestige in the Christian movement. He begins by refuting the claim that Christianity was initially a movement of the lower class es.He presents a few propositions about the value of converting to a new religion, and why it would have been probable for some early Christians to be prominent or wealthy figures in society. Stark explains that many of these conversions would have been Jews. He presents the social benefits of cultural continuity that specifically catered to Jews, as well as existing social networks among Jews and Christians. He uses social scientific theory to explain why it is probable that the mission to the Jews did not fail, as would have been previously thought.Christian doctrine paired with the plague ridden Roman Empire presented a favorable combination for making Christianity attractive to potential converts, and weakening the Pagan population. â€Å"Love thy neighbor as thyself†, a well-known doctrine directed Christians to tend to their sick during times of plague. Pagans â€Å"behaved in the opposite way†¦ Throwing them (the ill) into the roads before they were dead and trea ted unburied corpses as dirt†. This caused the disease to spread more deadly through the pagans.They left bodies in the open, spreading germs (which they didn't know existed) quickly. Pagans that were still alive were more likely to convert to Christianity, recognizing the strong community and more favorable philosophy. Starks next proposition for why Christianity spread so quickly had to do with its unique appeal to women, something paganism was lacking according to Stark. The sexual commitment of â€Å"husbands to their wives† was a new concept of this time. This was an ideology that was attractive to women, because of the lack of respect for women in pagan culture.Infanticide, abortion, and undervaluing the male life were explanations for Starks theory that Pagans lacked doctrines and values that would provide them with fertile women and an abundant population. Christian's marital commitment to one another, their value of the female life, and non-existent infanticide or abortion would have led to them having a significantly larger population according to Stark. Using these projections, he goes on to present numerical predictions that would have provided Christians with a larger population want to take refuge in the perceived safety of the Christian community.The Christians were well known to have grown mostly in urban settings, according to Stark. He paints a picture of what Roman cities what would have been like during the rise of Christianity, and the picture is not pretty. He specifically focuses on the city of Antioch, and describes a city with a life expectancy in the early twenties, no plumbing, cramped living quarters, crime, and constant natural disaster. Christianity told its followers that the chaos of the world was worth enduring, because your reward for your good work here will be in the Kingdom of Heaven.This theology, according to Stark, would have been especially attractive to inhabitants of Roman cities who constantly suffered. He concludes his final chapters by reinforcing his theory that the chaos and suffering during this time presented Christianity with a rare opportunity to grow from a cult movement to a world power. He emphasizes the gentle and kind Christian dogma, and how inhabitants of Roman cities and surrounding areas would have embraced that new kind of theology. He explains that Christian â€Å"virtue† was attractive, and this caused consistently high conversions.According to Stark, there was no need for miraculous conversion events to achieve Christian's scale of growth. The opportunity a disordered Roman Empire presented to he Christian cult, permitted a steady growth rate to continue through the first four centuries A. D. In his preface, Stark states that some of his chapters were written first as essays for scholarly Journals to see how an audience would react to his thoughts on the subject. This explains why the structure of his book is not fluid, and has no sense of continuity.He explains that this book was a bit of a hobby project for him to combine his profession of sociology with his love for history. â€Å"l am a sociologist who sometimes works with historical materials and who has, in preparation of this illume, done his best to master the pertinent sources albeit mostly in English†. His sociological conclusions are reliable and interesting, but his experience has mostly been science writing. Stark may need more practice writing to a non-professional audience to gain a sense of fluidity, and clarity.The format of this book is stimulating (for me, a person who loves scientific writing) half of the time, and the other half of the time it is difficult to read. An excerpt from his first chapter reads, â€Å"Since this book is a work of both history and social science, I have written it for a nonprofessional audience. In this way I can make sure the social science is fully accessible to historians of the early church, meanwhile preventing social scie ntists from becoming lost amidst obscure historical and textual references†.By stating that his chosen audience is nonprofessional, he gives himself the freedom to add in these unnecessary comments about sociologists being unable to follow textual references. Putting the sociological figures into historical context for Stark seems forced and slightly pretentious At the beginning of each new chapter, Stark clearly states his thesis, provides any previous propositions he may have had on the subject, and eaves little room for opposition.He provides ample sources of other historians and social scientists that are in agreement with his theses, but few refutations. Rodney stark provides a central proposition to this work in the first chapter, â€Å"Conversion to new, deviant religious groups occurs when, other things being equal, people have or develop stronger attachment to members of the group than they have to but it seems to be an enormously over simplified explanation of why p eople convert to new religions.He does not address any other possible reasons for making the hooch to convert to a new religion such as, connecting with the theology of a religion of which one has no social connections, having social connections in a religious group that are negative, but overlooking this fact to pursue individual growth within a religion, or having equally strong connections to individuals that associate with different religions, but making a choice to convert to a religion based on personal free-will.This main proposition that people only convert when their social connections inside that religion are stronger than connections outside of that religion mess more like one reason out of many, rather than the main proposition to tie in all other information. He makes very clear that his position is that, without strong social connections to members of a new cult, or sect, potential members will not make the rational choice to convert. Within this proposition, there are certainly many underrepresented converts. Mr..Stark excessively uses capitalized words, quotations, and italics to make his argument. Examples of this usage can usually be found in the first few sentences opening a chapter. His opening passage of â€Å"The Role of Women in Christian Growth† dads, â€Å"Amidst contemporary denunciations of Christianity as patriarchal and sexist, it is easily forgotten that the early church was so especially attractive to women that in 370 the emperor Valentine (Pagan) issued a written order to Pope Damascus requiring that Christian missionaries cease calling at the homes of pagan women.Although some classical writers claimed that women were easy prey for any foreign superstition,' most recognized that Christianity was unusually appealing†¦ â€Å"(p. 95) It is important that not only the emotional use of italics and quotations be cited here, but also the leading sentence. This sentence introduces this works next pitfall, which is that S tark brings up irrelevant topics to heatedly dismiss other scholars who he disagrees with.In the wording of the leading sentence mentioned above, Stark dismisses the unidentified contemporaries he refers to as denouncing Christianity as patriarchal and sexist. This disagreement is irrelevant in the context of this book, because he suddenly refers to Christianity as a whole (patriarchal and sexist) as opposed to the Christianity of the first four centuries A. D. In The Rise of Christianity hen Rodney Stark is citing historical documents regarding the four centuries A. D. It is clear to the reader that Christianity may very well have been the leading feminist religion in the year 370. It is irrelevant to rant about his distaste for contemporaries who think Christianity is sexist in general. William Grimes, writer for the New York Times, says it best in his review of another Rodney Starks, â€Å"The Victory of Reason†; â€Å"Mr.. Stark's pugnacity often gets the better of him. He is contemptuously dismissive. † References The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark

Philosophy Matrix

University of Phoenix Material Philosophy Matrix | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Historical Developments | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Principal Issues | |Field |Definition | |Schools Of Thought |Key Contributors | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Metaphysics |The study of being: The nature |Plato developed the theory of |Monism |Pythagoras |Metaphysics: Questions about the | | |of being and what |forms and introduced skepticism |Materialism |Parmenides |nature of reality | | |characteristics make up being |about reality.Aristotle coined |Idealism |Heraclitus |Nature of ultimate reality | | | |the word metaphysics. Augustine |Dualism |Zeno |Permanence and Change | | | |reconciled Platonism with | |Empedocles |Appearance and reality | | | |Christianity. Aquinas reconciled| |Anaxagoras |Nature of human reality | | | |Aristotle with Christianity.The| |Plato |Mind-body problems | | | |Scientific Revolution | |Aristotle | Freedom and determinism | | | |Intelligent design versus | |Plotinus | | | | |evolution | |Augustine | | | | | | |Hypatia | | | | | | |Aquinas | | | | | |Anselm | | | | | | |Descartes | | | | | | |Hobbes | | | | | | |Hume | | | | | | |Kant | | | | | | |Kierkegaard | | | | | | |Conway | | | | | | |Spinoza | | | | | | |Leibniz | | | | | | |James | | |Moral |The study of ethics: The |Aristotle develops a system of |Ethical skepticism Descriptive |Plato, |What is a moral judgment? | | |nature, criteria, sources, |ethics. Roman influence: |Relativism Egoism Hedonism |Aristotle |What is morally right or wrong? | | |logic, and validity of moral |Epicureanism and stoicism ethics|Epicureanism Stoicism |Epictetus, | | | |value |become Christianized The Age of | |Augustine | | | | |Reason. |Hildegard, | | | | | | |Hobbes | | | | | | |Hume, | | | | | | |Kant, | | | | | | |Bentham, | | | | | | |Mill | | |Social |The study of society and its |Greek democracy Natural law |Natural Law Contractarian theory|Augustine |How should | | |institutions, including what |becomes Christianized and is |Environmental philosophy |Aquinas |goods be distributed in a | | |would make up an ideal society. |seen as the moral law of God. | |Hobbes |society? | | |Environmental concerns Social | |Rousseau |Do people have natural rights? | | | |justice | |Smith | | | | | | |Taylor | | | | | | |Mill | | | | | |Moore | | | | | | |Rawls | | | | | | |Nussbaum | | |Political |The study of the state, its |Greek democracy Plato’s Republic|Democracy Constitutional Theory |Plato |What form of political state is | | |justification, and how to |Social contract Separation of |Classic Liberalism Marxism |Aristotle |best? | | |organize it ethically |power |Anarchism Libertarianism |Machiavelli |Can a government restrict the | | | | |Objectivism |Locke |liberty of its citizens? | | | | |Hegel | | | | | | |Marx | | | | | | |Nozick | | | | | | |Rand | | |Structuralism |The study of the rules and |Saussure app lied |Semiotics |Saussure Levi-Strauss |Study of the deep structure of | | |conventions of the language and|linguistics to epistemology. | | |language | | | |Levi-Strauss applied Saussure’s | | | | | |cultural mythology that govern |methods to cultural | | | | | |large social systems. |mythology. | | | |Deconstruction |The study of the assumptions |Derrida argued against |Free play of signifiers |Derrida |Seeks to expose assumptions about| | |about language, including the |structuralism. | | |language and multiple meanings | | |certainty, identity, and truth | | | |Literary criticism. | | |of text. | | | | |Eastern |The study of the philosophical |Vedic culture Travels of |Hinduism: Vedas, Upanishads |Siddhartha Gautama Buddha |Self-realization, Unity of mind | | |traditions of Hinduism, |Confucius and Lao Tzu Spread |Buddhism: Four Noble Truths, | |and | | |Buddhism, |of Buddhism from India to China |Eightfold | |Body, Harmony of man and | | |Confucianism, and Taoism. |& Jap an Spread of Islam |Path Taoism Confucianism Islamic| |environment | | | |transcendentalists embrace |philosophy | | | | | |Eastern thought Parliament of | | | | | | |World Religions begins spread f| | | | | | |Eastern thought in | | | | | | |America | | | | |Postcolonial |The synthesis of the |Colonization during the 18th and|Pan-African philosophy |Senghor |Social justice Preservation of | | |disciplines of philosophy with |19th centuries. As countries |African-American thought Latin |Hountondji |oral history and tradition | | |the |gained freedom, their thinkers |American thought |Tutu |Liberation of all peoples. | | |indigenous cultures of Africa, |sought social | |King | | | |the Americas, and Asia. |justice and recognition. |Hooks | | |Feminism |The study of the philosophical |First wave: Pioneers of feminism|Liberal Feminism Radical |Wollstonecraft |Equal rights | | |canon as reconstructed and | |Feminism Lesbian Feminism |Taylor |Moral theory and | | |revised to be inclusive of |Second wave: Activists from |Socialist Feminism Black |De Beauvoir |gender development issues Sexism | | |women and women’s issues. |1960’s to 1980’s |Feminism Post-feminism |Gilligan |and language.Revisiting other | | | |Third wave: 1990s to present, | |Chodorow |schools of | | | |including younger women for whom| |Irigaray |philosophy from a feminist | | | |feminism is an established | |Kristeva |perspective. | | | |Heritage. | |Cixous | | Directions: Complete the entire matrix and then write a 350- to 500-word response for each of the following questions: What is one example of how the global integration of cultures has affected contemporary philosophical thinking? A manner of analyzing globalization in historical standpoint has to do with the economic and social account of global affairs, and especially with the history of past stages of speedy boost in global trade, investment, communication, and authority. There have been more than a few such instance s over the past centuries that come to mind. Among is the export and investment explosions of the 1860s and the earlier part of the twentieth century are merely a couple of the more remarkable instances. (2000) The history of these early periods, and of the institutions with which they were connected, is of substantial contemporary attention.Nonetheless, international history has to be far more than the history of the affairs involving states in the context of their international relations, or their conflicts, or their invasions and domains. It is in excess of the history of exports and imports among countries. (2002) It is over a comparative history. It have to be a history of affairs involving persons and customs, as well as people who belong to quite a lot of diverse cultures all together or who shift among diverse identities, modes of speech, home nations, and even nationalities. Characteristics of Globalization Globalization, has acquired considerable emotive force. Globalizati on has its own meaning from different individuals.For some, globalization is a process that is beneficial, i. e. a key to the future world economic development and also inevitable and irreversible. Others regard it with hospitality even fear, believing that it increases inequality within and between nations or organizations, threatens employment and living standards and thwarts social progress. Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is a social change, an increase in connections among societies and their elements due to, among others, the explosive evolution of transport and communication technologies. The term is applied to many social, cultural, commercial and economic activities.

Engagement Exercise Create and Explain your own Example Essay

Engagement Exercise Create and Explain your own Example - Essay Example In my capacity as an Asian, I would like to point out that I was introduced to a very good culture. All along, I have learnt to respect my culture and use it to define my religion, language, communications and relationship with other people. I always know that I should relate well with other people since my closeness with them can help me a great deal. Also important, is the respect, acceptance, understanding and appreciation of other people’s culture. Since my childhood, my parents have been telling me that I should be ready to respect other people even if they have different cultural beliefs from my own. One day, when I was in college, I met a man from a different culture. So, despite coming from a conservative community that restricts the relationship between people of different genders, I had to greet him without any fear. Also, I had to take my time to be close to him and discuss a lot with him. Even if I knew that this is something not accepted by my culture, I had to do it because of my colleague who comes from a different culture. It was a good thing to do because it showed respect and enabled us to communicate so well without any barrier. Since that day, I have been effectively communicating with people from different cultural backgrounds. My experiences demonstrate how the acceptance, understanding and tolerance of other people’s culture can be of great contribution to the communication process. This has made me to be an effective communicator who relate so well with other people. As a communication expert, I know that intercultural understanding is necessary for a healthy relationship between different people. Due to my free interactions, I have managed to learn different aspects of other people’s cultural traditions. This has enabled me to know how to use verbal and non-verbal communication strategies. At the same time, it has prepared me to be a critical listener who does not only lend my

The Process of Protein Purification Literature review

The Process of Protein Purification - Literature review Example Vaccines, gene therapy and replacement (such as that in insulin-deficiency) all have helped in improving health conditions, and have been based on good elucidation of structures, research on structure-function relationships, and establishment of protein purification specific to the amino acid sequence present. With this in mind, this particular study designed a protocol to purify and characterize the a synthesis of cytochrome oxidase (SCO)-1-like protein 3966 in Streptomyces lividans. As will be seen later, better understanding of SCO proteins is still warranted, as many potential functions of these types of proteins are unclear. Moreover, SCO is a vital enzyme as the cytochrome oxidase c, and in essence the electron chain transport of the mitochondrial respiration mechanism, depends on it. Initial studies of homologues in bacteria have been the usual first step in protein characterization. Many proteins in the eukaryotic cells have been proven to have functional and structural counterparts in bacterial cells. Because of the relative ease of bacterial replication and protein purification, it is thus a method of choice in conducting in depth studies of proteins. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE I. Protein Purification There are factors to consider in doing protein purification. ... There are many kinds of column chromatography, ion-exchange, affinity, and size exclusion are just some of the more usual protein purification procedures that may be done. Affinity chromatography uses antibodies for a specific protein as part of the column through which the protein solution passes. Although it is highly specific, it is more expensive and much harder to prepare. Size exclusion, on the other hand, depends on the differences of molecular weights of the proteins that are present in the solution. In general, proteins with high molecular weight are eluted fastest as they are not able to get into the small spaces of the column, making their path down the column less impeded. On the other hand, low molecular weight proteins still pass through the tiny spaces within the column, thus slowing down their descent. Although much easier to prepare than an affinity column, a size exclusion chromatography column is less specific, as different proteins of similar weigh are eluted out at the same time, despite them having differences in characteristics, such as the isoelectric point (Burgess, 2008).. For ion exchange chromatography, these beads are charged, thus attracting the oppositely-charged proteins present in the solution to be passed through the column. Depending on the objective of the experiment, the eluent or the bound proteins are collected for further processing such as concentrating. To get the proteins bound on the beads, salt solutions of graded concentrations are passed onto the column. As the concentration of the salt increases, the beads will more likely bind to the salt than to the proteins. Thus, weak ionic proteins are bound weakly

Dance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Dance - Essay Example According to Clive Barnes () called them the group the Israeli children of the American Dance. By having different directors at different times, the choreography kept changing time and again. This made some critics conclude that the dance group is probably popular due to their strengths but not their artistic frontiers. However, this changed from the year 1990 when Ohad Naharin was made the artistic director. He had started his dance career with the group and therefore was not a stagger to the group. He choreographed for the group and it was not long before he had a name for himself. With time this group won the hearts of many especially in North America where the group has taking several trips for the past eighteen years. Most of the dancers in this group are between the ages of eighteen to twenty four. The group has also managed to win several awards in America and is well known as an acclaimed dance troupe internationally. In conclusion, this dance group ensures that they deliver their work to satisfactory. They have extraordinary dancers who showcase their extraordinary skills to satisfactory. This is group is a true testament of the fact that hard work

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Issue of Gender and Racial Discrimination in the US - Essay Example Overly, despite these drastic demographic changes, the  connotation  of citizenship and the ability to treat or cure various germ and contagion related chronic infections were consistently blamed on the foreigners. This article’s key structure, therefore, revolves around three periods of immigration historical events, which include the 19th Century at around 1924, an era of retrenchment period of 1924-1965, and 1965 that was marked by an outrageous immigrant’s domination into American society (Markel & Stern, 2002). An outstanding quote in this article towards the understanding of feminist studies is, â€Å"If the relevant authorities and anti-immigration advocates found that one immigration classification is the most objectionable, they will soon mitigate every drawback in the United States associated with immigration† (Markel & Stern, 2002). This article presents racial discrimination, diseases and significantly the meaning of public change in feminist studies. This article beyond any reasonable doubt draws on archival registers in California’s Imperial Valley in the years 1940. These events resulted in the arrest and deportation of various groups of Mexican workers, some of whom presented themselves passionately as human rights union activists. These workers had entered the country legally and had inhabited the United States for many years. According to the immigrants’ officials, they rendered these activists â€Å"likely to become a public change† LPC, which was unlawful in America as a deportable offense (Natalia, 2010). According to me, I am in agreement with this author’s main points of argument. Firstly, immigration is one of the factors that have affected the American economic growth for quite a long period. In the 1940s, United States border patrol agents experienced intriguing migrato ry records into America. This experience, in turn, spearheaded the deportation proceedings for Mike Gutierrez, who acted as the president of a Congress of Industrial Organisations (CIO) local.

Foundations of Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

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Different kinds of festivals Essay Example for Free

Different kinds of festivals Essay In a year we have celebrated different kinds of festivals.Sometimes,we do celebrate festivals following our religion.Different religions have different festivals to celebrate.Festival are celebrated in a grand way and gives much joy. The same thing goes for me.I am a Hindu and I celebrate many festivals.The best festival I have ever experienced is Deepavali.Deepavali comes on the month of November and it is usually on the second week of the month.Deepavali is known as the festival of lights for the Hindus. Last year,my family and I celebrated Deepavali at our grandparent’s house.After we woke up,we had to take an oil bath which was massaged from the head down to our toes.Then, we wore our new traditional clothes,dhoti and sari.We got ready to go to the temple near the house. The priest in the temple made a special offering and prayers to the God on this special day. After prayers in the temple,we went back home.A fe w minutes later,my relatives and neighbours came to our house.My grandmother served them with scrumptious traditional food.For instance,murukku,vadai,and tose.They really enjoyed their food and they said it was very tasty. Before the guest left the house,my grandfather gave them â€Å"ang pows†.I was really shocked because throughout I know only Chinese gave â€Å"ang pows† during their festival,Chinese New Year but I never knew that Indiansdid that too. Then, it was time to take our lunch.My father prepared some banana leaves to use as plates.It had really a different taste when eating from a banana leaf.It really potraits a traditional style. In the evening,we packed our things to get ready to go back home.We really missed our grandparents because they were the only ones who celebrated Deepavali in a special way. Among all the Hindu festival,I think the last Deepavali was the best festival I had ever experienced.I like the way they celebrate the festival with lighting up lights around their house.It shows that our life always brightens with ha

Fedex Essay Example for Free

Fedex Essay If you were the HR Head of a major competitor of FedEx: a) List down the 3 HR practices which you would emulate of FedEx. Explain reasons for the same. Ans) * Leadership Evaluation And Awareness Process (LEAP) This policy gave FedEx’s Non-Managerial Employees an opportunity to seek Managerial Positions. LEAP created the chance for Non Management Employees to try out their Managerial Skills. LEAP helped Employees of FedEx check whether they were capable of managing Organizations or not. It also gave a chance to FedEx to check out the leadership and managerial skills of its internal Employees. * â€Å"Guaranteed Fair Employee Procedure† (GFTP ) Via â€Å"People –Service-Profit â€Å" (PSP) Philosophy – One of the major HR practices which made FedEx a success story was the Guaranteed Fair Employee Procedure where all type of Employee Grievances were taken care of. The philosophy of â€Å" People-Service-Profit† where Employees were kept before the company’s profit making motives lead to more motivated employees ,leading to more profits in the long run . It was believed that people before profits were would lead to more efficient work on behalf of the employees to the customers , thus strengthening the brand image of FedEx. * Succession Planning Executive Education (SPEED) – The SPEED program introduced at FedEx were done mainly to give feedback to the high level employees reporting directly to the CEO or to the top management of FedEx. Feedback was given periodically n order to rate the skills and promotability of the people who were likely to replace them in the near future. Such Employees were suggested which areas they needed to work on to improve their skills for their new positions some years down the line. b) If you had to attract top Talent from Fedex, what would be your strategy for this, assuming compensation and role were not the key factors for attracting talent from Fedex? Develop your response based on the case study (identifying areas where Fedex may not be as good) and state your assumptions, if any. Ans) To lure top Talent from FedEx, we can go in for the following strategies: * Fringe Benefits * Perks * Job Enlargement And Enrichment More Exciting Job Opportunities Q2. Based on the industry FedEx is in and on the nature of its business, list down 1 or 2 competencies which you think are core to the organization (across functions and levels) and which are essential for employees to possess in order for the organization to succeed. Justify your answer suitably Ans) * Recruitment Focusing on Entrepreneurship The recruitment style followed by FedEx is to hire people who have a mind for new Entrepreneurial ventures. They have to be creative in nature and have the ability to think out of the box. This Recruitment strategy has worked well for FedEx. * Employee Centricity and Retention – FedEx Core Competency lies in the fact that all the Employees are treated equally and every grievance are taken care of. No stone is left unturned to see to it that all problems faced by employees are always addressed to before the company objectives. Q3. What do you think would be the top 5 measures the CEO of FedEx would want his HR Head to measure and report on an ongoing basis.

The effects of flood damage on everyday life

The effects of flood damage on everyday life Flood is usually an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land and the inflow of tide onto land. Floods are the most frequent and costly natural hazards, causing almost 90 percent of all the damage related to natural disasters. Floods usually cause large-scale loss of human life and wide spread damage to properties. This damage is known as flood damage. Unimaginable damage will be caused to agriculture, thereby affecting the United States planning and this will upset its financial budgeting, thereby slowing down the economy as a whole. The effects of flood damage can be categorized into three types, namely, primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary effects of flood damage include physical damages like damage to bridges, cars, buildings, sewer systems, roadways, and even casualties like people and livestock death due to drowning. The primary effect of floods is due to direct contact with the flood waters. The velocity of water tends to be high in floods and consequently, discharge increases as velocity increases. Because of excess rainfall, the rivers and streams flow with higher velocities wherein they are able to transport larger particles like rocks as suspended load. Such large particles include not only rocks and sediment but during a flood it could also include large objects such as automobiles, houses and bridges. Massive amounts of erosion during the floods can undermine bridge structures, levees, and buildings causing their collapse. During floods, water will also enter human built structures causing water damage. The flood damage to houses include ruining of furniture, damage to the floors and walls of the house and damage to any other item that comes in contact with the water. Automobiles on the roads get stranded in the floods and they get carried away by the flood waters or water enters into the automobile, which results in damage that cannot be easily repaired. The flood water carries sediment as suspended load. As the flood waters recede, the sediments get deposited and things and structures including the interior of buildings usually get covered with a thick layer of stream-deposited mud. Farmlands affected by floods face a huge loss as they usually result in crop loss. Livestock, pets, and other animals are often carried away by the strong currents of the flood water. Humans who get caught in the high velocity flood waters often get drowned. Among the secondary effects of flood damage are the disruption of many essential services like gas and electricity. Flood damage also includes the contamination of the drinking water supply, if sewage treatment plants are flooded. This poses a greater threat because this may result in disease and other health hazards, especially in under developed countries. The public transportation systems may also be disrupted during floods, resulting in shortages of food and other supplies. Tertiary effects of flood damage are generally long-term effects like the location of river channels that may change because of flooding; fewer new channels will develop, leaving the old channels dry. Farmlands with crops get destroyed by the sediment deposition caused by the floods. People may not be able to make it to their workplace due to disruption of services. The floods may also result in destruction of wildlife habitat. Although floods have some advantages, if we look at it in a broader perspective we can conclude that largely, floods cause havoc to life and property of mankind. By following various preventive measures the effects of flood damage can be reduced to a great extent.

H.R.Gigers Alien Essay -- Fim Movies

H.R.Giger's Alien "Hollywood's conception of extraterrestrial life was pretty much limited to either whimsical little green men or clumsy bug-eyed monsters. In a gritty future, Scott brought to life Swiss surrealist H.R.Giger's terrifying biomechanical beastie: an acid-bleeding, razor-toothed, overgrown cockroach with an ugly practice of gestating its offspring in human hosts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Suddenly, space was a pretty scary place to be." (Schwarzbaum, 27) In 1979 an alien was born. Before 1979 the movie "Star Wars" showed the vastness of space where men and women fought among themselves for control of the universe. The aliens that were present in such movies were nothing more than secondary actors. These types of aliens were never truly frightening and the concept of extraterrestrial life as a threat to us was never believable. The movie "Aliens" presented a conception and perception of design of extraterrestrial life that was different from anything else. This movie introduced many revolutionary concepts; the two most prominent of these are the female heroine and the new design for a terrifying alien life form and its surroundings that gave a less perfect view of space. What makes the movie "Alien" so terrifying is the concept that life in outer space is pure evil. Before 1979, most movies portrayed aliens as friendly creature that came in peace and wanted to help humanity. This new Alien was so different and had revolutionary special effects; that the creation of an alien creature won an Oscar for "Best Achievement for Visual Effects" April14th, 1980. The creator and designer of the alien creature was H. R Giger, born in Born in Chur, Germany, 1940. H. R Giger’s revolutionary designs and the publishing of the book Giger’s "Necr... ...ective that is still being used in Science fiction movies today. Bibliography Internet Site www.hrgiger.com  © Copyright 1996, H.R.Giger Movies Alien: Directed by Ridley Scott. 20th century Fox, 1979 Planet of the Apes: Directed by Franklin J. Schanffner. 20th Century Fox, 1968 Star Wars: Directed by George Lucas. Lucas films Ltd, 1977 This Island Earth: Directed by Joseph M. Newman. Universal International Pictures, 1954 War of the Worlds: Directed by Byron Haskin and George Pal. Paramount Pictures, 1953 Magazines Entertainment Weekly, Lisa Schwarzbaum. Volume 3 Issue #454, October 1998 Books Bonnie J. Dow. Prime-Time Feminism Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996 Clute, John. Science fiction : the illustrated encyclopedia. London; New York: Dorling Kindersley; Boston: Distributed by Houghton Mifflin, 1995.

Hurtful Love and Foolish Hope in Death of a Salesman Essay -- Death S

Hurtful Love and Foolish Hope in Death of a Salesman A father is an important role model in a young man's life; perhaps the most important. A father must guide his children, support them, teach them, and most importantly, love them. In the play Death of a Salesman, written by Arthur Miller, an aging salesman of 63, Willy Loman worked all his life for his children. Happy and especially Biff, his two sons, where his pride and joy and his reason for living. Willy tried as hard as he possibly could to provide for them, to support them, to mold them into men; but he failed. Willy's greatest fault, perhaps, was his inability to see his sons for what they really were. Biff and Happy were never destined to be great men, yet Willy always believed in them. Although Willy's hope is touching, it is also foolish. Willy Loman's blind faith in his son Biff's abilities destroyed Biff's sense of moderation and modesty. Despite Biff's obvious incompetence and mediocrity, Willy vehemently refused to accept his son's failure to "make the grade." Biff "stole himself out of every good job since high school!" (131), yet Willy cannot accept that his son is a "dime a dozen" and declares that Biff is merely failing to spite him. "I want you to know...where ever you go, that you cut down your life for spite!" (129). By blaming Biff for his problems, Willy clears himself of all guilt. Willy cannot realize that it was his ineptitude as a father that created Biff's character. If Willy was a little more aware of his son's situation, his true character, Biff may have realized sooner that he was not "a leader of men." When asked whose fault it is that he never accomplished anything, Biff answered "...I never got anywher... ...r looked up to was nothing more than a "fake", and Biff lost all reason to his life. Everything that Willy taught him was destroyed on that one night. Every rule, every piece of advice, was nulled by that one act of adultery. Willy Loman tried his best to be a good father. He encouraged his sons, he worked all his life for them, and he tried to help them in any way he could. The only problem was, although his heart was there, Willy just wasn't a good father. Willy did his best to raise his sons, but tragically, the more he tried, the worse they became. Ultimately, Willy failed as a father, but he did try his best. He loved his children, in some cases, too much. He loved them blindly, and never once questioned their greatness. Although love like that is touching, it also harmful. Willy's delusions of grandeur for his sons hurt them more than it helped them.