Religion, Rationality, and Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Religion, Rationality, and Violence - Essay Example According to research findings, religious violence or terrorism is a modern socio-political syndrome arising from the far-fetched religious thinking. This has vividly projected cosmic images of war. Religions have sought the restoration of order by the affirmation of life through the violence of cosmic war. Many schools of thought have held the maxim that for religion to do more good than harm in our society, then religion has to dress up the armor of temper of rationality and fair play that Enlightenment values gives to society. Religion qua religion is inherently violent; the Enlightenment must redeem it. Harrison, Everett F., ed. (1960) Christianity for example, has been known to have harbored the worst violent legacy the stretches back into the black age. Questions being pondered are whether Christianity should get the Enlightenment redress. The exposition of a religious Hitler can be depicted in most fanatical scenario’s perpetrated around the globe the most lunatical believers. Mother Teresa, with all her shortcomings, is a typical embodiment of what modern Christianity is contrary portraying. Harris, Harriet A. (2004). Religion Islam has been demonised as a rhetorical device, to try to persuade fundamentalist Christians. Harris brings out comparisons with the "terrorists" that Christian's are so afraid of. In so doing, Harris paints all of Islam with a rather broad brush and makes some serious errors of cause and effect. For example, he contends that Middle East terrorism is indeed because of religion and repeats the old propaganda about virgins in paradise, while completely ignoring class issues, imperialism, occupation and invasion, poverty, desperation, and political manipulation by Arab states for entirely secular reasons. Barthel, Manfred and Mark Howson, trans. (1982). The only evidence he offers in favor of his thesis is that the World Trade Center hijackers were middle-class and hadn't experienced political repression, a contention that he doesn't bother to defend and that also doesn't support generalization from al-Qaeda to all of Islam or even all of Islamic terrorism. He's way too eager to use a current political bogeyman to support a different argument and in so doing falls into the sloppy and simplistic reasoning that he's criticized through the rest of the book. Harrison, Jane. (1996) Harris does a good job pointing out the reasons why atheists find fundamentalist Christianity so absurd. The sections on Biblical inerrancy and on the Bible as a moral force are particularly good, although if one hasn't already realized that the Biblical text cannot support its supposed moral lessons without a great deal of strain and selective reading, I don't think Harris will convince. And that raises the strategic problem: Harris is preaching to the choir, will make those who already believe what he believes feel better about their beliefs, and is unlikely to make much impact with his supposed target audience. First, the basic argument over religion faces a communication gap before it ever reaches the level of argument and analysis. People don't tend to seek out polemics against their closely held beliefs unless they're just looking for reasons to get angry or ways to undermine an argument. Harris says that he's writing this book to provide ammunition, but while that ammunition can turn away or argue down evangelicals who are trying to convert an atheist, I doubt it ever does much to convince them their belief is wrong. Second, I think Harris misses, or at least fails to address, the basic reasons why people believe. His target is religious faith, but he's attacking it in the way that one would attack a scientific theory. Religious faith is not, in

Attrition in Pharma Industry Essay Example for Free

Attrition in Pharma Industry Essay Insights of attrition rate of Medical representatives in Pharma companies and innovative ways to improve them. Overview: Attrition refers to the reduction in staff and employees of company by normal means. The primary focus is to present the high attrition rate seen in the pharmaceutical market industry, its causes and controlling strategy for retention of Pharma sales representatives. Though attrition is a natural phenomena in all industries, Indian Pharma marketing industries is worst plagued by it. After IT and BPO, Pharma marketing industries experience the greatest rate of employee leaving the company for various reasons. While global Pharma marketing attrition rate is 10-12% per annum, the rate of employees who leave the organization in India is 25 -30 %. The attrition is more prevalent in the middle and junior management level, due to which majority of the companies have understood the criticality of talent management. Retention is always a big challenge for any organization in today’s time frame. Indian Pharma companies have started paying attention towards the retainment and management of the Medical Representatives to gain key and valuable employees back into the company. High attrition rate of MR happens due to following reasons: 1) External factors The demand of fresh talent is more. The companies are looking for fresh talent to incorporate new ideas but the supply is very less, career view point of many young people to join as MR is just to prevent the ‘Stop Gap’ in their career path. The demand-supply imbalance leads to significant efforts to retain and attract a skilled Medical Representative. This has led to higher salary hikes in the Pharma sector than most other sectors .This is clearly a challenge in an industry which is very knowledge and relationship driven. 2) Internal factors It has been observed that many MR leave their job during the first 3 months itself due to the reasons like they were not serious about their job, They were overqualified and lost interest in their job, They might even be under-qualified and felt bogged down by the challenges of the job, They lack motivation, feel less growth in career path, Monotonous work, limited  training and development opportunities, wor king environment as well salary and compensation becomes an important issue in some cases etc. Now to meet the global competitiveness; Pharma companies have transformed their survival strategy to competitive strategy as a result there is huge pressures on the shoulder of medical representatives for higher secondary sales achievement and thereby constantly poking the field force which eventually leads to attrition. So the people change organizations frequently. Similarly poor management is also one of the key factors responsible for leaving the organizations. There is a popular saying â€Å"employee leaves the boss not the organizations. â€Å" Poor management includes lack of support to the employee, lack of transparent career growth ladder, adverse relation between the boss and subordinates, lack of motivation. Psychological relationship between leaders and employee is very crucial for sticking of employee in a particular organization. Thus, Organization culture also plays a significant role in sticking of Pharma sales representative in the same company for long run. Retention of the talented employees is always the most important agenda for any company to grow. Sometimes monetary benefits can help as by recent survey it was shown that more and more medical representatives are moving in insurance, telecommunications etc as they are paid double in those sectors but only monetary benefits are not sufficient to retain them it ultimately becomes a hygiene factor in talent management. Thus looking for new methods for attracting, motivating and retaining them becomes very important. Being the first line manager few suggestions to reduce attrition rate: 1. Treat employees as you like to be treated:  Treating and handling the employee with appreciation and care is most necessary. While addressing or pointing out their problems they shouldn’t be criticized and rather should be explained in a courteous manner. The sales representative undergoes a lot of pressures and tensions regarding the achievement of targeted sales so, they should be motivated continuously and should be dealt in same manner as the first line manager or other seniors would like to be treated. Incentives like give free monthly travelling passes, movie tickets, etc. can be given. 2. Ask employees for their opinions and implement the good ideas: Having equal contribution from the entire sales force representatives can have an impact over representative’s mind that their ideas and thoughts are valued and are taken into consideration when need arises. Having certain schemes for bringing about certain new ideas to increase the sales level should be implemented, this shall bring about a flow of innovative ideas and also execution of those ideas will bring about a sense of dignity among employee. 3. Reward those that go above and beyond the call of duty: Certain incentives can be granted when a particular sales representative works excellently and achieves sales beyond the targeted levels. There could also be certain cases when an employee performs or outdoes something which wasn’t achieved by any employee in the company before, for that he should be acknowledged well and should be awarded like salesman of the year, highest target achiever, fastest target achiever, etc. and they should be felicitated in front of the whole company instead of felicitating through emails. 4. Take very good care of your star performers or someone else will: Taking good care of star performers is very essential. Their qualities maybe unique and selling strategies might be very effective. Interacting and making them comfortable about their job shall retain the employee in the company and chances of him leaving the company for another might reduce to some extent. If they are performing really well incentives like foreign trips, etc. can be given. 5. Communicate with your staff: Sales peoples sometimes feel that the company doesn’t care enough for them. So, the higher level executives can make a point to interact with them at a time and get a knowhow about what problems they are facing on the field and other certain issues. First line manager should always communicate through all the sessions with each employee and have discussion regarding all the sales meet and problems related to those the sales rep might’ve had. 6. Hold skip level meetings to make sure that you’re Managers/Directors  are treating their staff correctly: Skip level meetings by higher ups can bring about more peachy feeling in the employee they might feel the concern and guardianship from top executives. This shall further charge and motivate them for the tasks they perform. 7. Build career planning for each employee: If employee wants to pursue further education the company can help by providing him admission in collaborated institutions- tailor made courses as well as sponsoring its education thus meeting the need of the employee which motivates him as well as help the company in retaining him. 8. Bring about job rotation and more growth opportunities: Giving growth opportunities like promotion and assigning certain new functionalities in the job shall increase the overall knowledge about the sales rep and also he won’t feel monotonous about the work he’s been performing. This shall give in-depth knowledge about other functions in the company and shall thereby increase the understanding of the employee about working of the other sectors in company. 9. Making them feel like family member: The employees of the company should be treated as the assets and they must be treated like a family member. Salesperson job is mostly to work out of the company, in such cases wishing them on their birthdays, anniversaries, etc. can be done. Also, paying visit or giving condolences to the MR on death of his family member can make him feel concerned and a part of family. 10. Optimizing target policies: Instead of having fixed monthly targets, the sales targets could be designed individually by looking through their past month performances. Depending on that each month the targeted sales could be increased or optimized depending upon past months performance. This shall bring about an upscale in sales level too. Conclusion: Thus for retaining MR the first line manager should focus on each and every step right from the recruitment, to training and development, rewards and appraisals even fulfilling the needs of MR as all of these steps play a crucial role in motivating and keeping him attracted towards his job.

The Largest Brands Of Cadbury Chocolate Brands Marketing Essay

The Largest Brands Of Cadbury Chocolate Brands Marketing Essay The Cadbury product range addresses the needs of each and every consumer, from childhood to maturity, from impulse purchase to family treats. For example an analysis of the gift sector highlights the importance of developing innovative products to address specific markets. Cadbury designs products to coincide with Christmas, Easter,Valentines, Mothers and Fathers Day and other calendar landmarks.Cadbury use marketing strategies such as the Choose Cadbury strategy to encourage a link between chocolate and these events ensuring there is a Cadbury chocolate product suitable and available for every occasion.Ex.celebrations 3.With the launch of Cadbury Land in July 2000, in a separate building to the rear of the site, and the complete replacement of the play area with a state-of-the-art themed play area, Cadbury World had achieved a shift in appeal to encompass the entire age range from 0-90 and beyond.Feedback from visitors in 2001 indicated that the attraction hadshifted from a very adult profile, to a strong child profile. The improvements made to the attraction since 2001 have been of more adult interest in order to re-address this balance, whilst more recent additions and improvements have attempted to be cross-generational. 4.Consumer Trends Good business and good values go hand-in-hand at Cadbury. They approach consumer  trends with a commitment to put actions before words and to respect and protect the long history of trust they have with their consumers. 5.Listening to consumers Listening to customers and consumers is fundamental to the business success its something they do every day and it helps to offer products that are safe, delicious and enjoyable. They talk to their customers the people who sell their products to the people who consume them to better understand consumer trends. Cadbury also deal directly with consumers and have substantial resources at the business unit level to listen and respond to consumer queries and complaints. 6.Responding to consumer needs The issues of food and balanced diets are now high on the consumer agenda, along with product quality and safety.  Cadbury use their intuition and consumer insights to understand consumer needs and issues and they demonstrate their responsibility by taking appropriate action to ensure they create tomorrows business today. They will continue to give consumers the great tasting products they love in a variety of different formats, recipes and sizes.  Research plays a large role in their innovation agenda, exploring opportunities for new products, product enhancement and packaging and are always checking that their recipes and ingredients are right for todays consumer. 7.Purple Goes Green The Cadbury Purple Goes Green initiative launched in July 2007 sets a vision for their company to tackle climate change.   They intend to shrink their global environmental footprint by cutting their energy use, reducing excess packaging and managing water use. They are setting new targets which build on the commitments they have already made in their CSR report. Cadburys environmental programme has been in place for around 15 years and corporate responsibility has always been at the heart of their business. Promotion mix A Radio Promotion with stations such as 98FM and BeatFM where the prizes consisted of hampers with all you need for a night-in: Snaps; DVDs, slippers and gift membership of screenclick.com. Advertisement during prime time shows on TV. Product Placement: Samples were sent to Faircity for display in the shop or possibly for evening scenes in homes. Samples were also given to major interior design trade shows for placement ontables in living room displays. Point Of Sale (POS): Naturally, given that the product is sold in retail outlets, in-store marketing support was also developed. This consisted mainly of attractive floor units, shelf headers and glorifiers to give standout in-store. Decorations: Christmas tree decorations given to support the creative image of Cadburys. Core purpose behind PROMOTION 1. 2.BUILDING PRODUCT AWARENESS: To showcase a newer product or an expanded product line. 3.CREATING INTEREST: Sales promotions are wonderful when it comes to generating interest.Cadbury creates the interest to buy chocolates during festival seasons like CHRISTMAS,EASTER,DIWALI etc. 4.INCREASE DEMAND: Besides building product awareness, the best way to use promotions is to get customers to buy your product .Special packs offered by Cadbury on special occasions increase their demand. Pull or push strategy and why: Cadbury promotes its products mainly using pull strategies creating demand during special occasiones or festival seasones.Consumers always ask their retailers for the product, the retailers will ask the wholesalers, and the wholesalers will ask the producers. Using a pull strategy alone would not reach all the desired consumers.So push strategies to push the product down the distribution channels;this involves persuading retailers to sell the product is also used by Cadbury. Critical appraisal The success of the Cadbury brand can be seen in how its image is continually maintained over time. Identifying brand values, and matching these to consumer lifestyles in specific market segments can help develop a clear advertising message. In previous advertising messages quality and taste were emphasized. Cadbury is now building on this through its Choose Cadbury strategy to underline the feeling a premium brand can bring to its customers.The Cadbury brand has proven itself to be a leader in a highly volatile and competitive market with players like Nestle and Hersheys because it has successfully established, nurtured and developed its umbrella brand and growing portfolio of products.So the promotion policy of Cadbury is working in a positive way for them.

Changes in Family Relationships between the Sixteenth and Nineteenth Ce

Between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries there were several factors which affected family relationships. The most influential of these factors are geography, economic conditions, and religion. While geography and economic conditions certainly played a role in the dynamics of family relationships, many believe that religion had the greatest impact on family relationships. Religion controlled almost every aspect of family relationships from marriages to divorce to the treatment of women and children. In medieval times up until the eighteen hundreds, marriage was based on a variety of factors. Among these factors were economic gain, and for upper class families and nobility, building alliances. While these were the factors that helped decide who married who, religion determined if the couple was eligible to be married as well as other aspects of the marriage. Prior to the 1215, there were a lot of gray areas when it came to marriage and divorce. While some believed that all marriage required was an exchange of vows between a man and a woman, others believed that the exchanged must be followed by consummation, while still others believed that there must be witnesses present for the marriage to be valid. At this time the nobility were using marriage as a strategy to gain land, power, and alliances by marrying, divorcing, and remarrying. These marriages were often destructive and led to wars. In order to avoid so many wars the church stepped in and put regulations on marriages and divorces. In 1215 the Fourth Lateran Council constructed the criteria that must be met in order for a marriage to be valid. This criteria included a dowry, published wedding announcements, and for the wedding to take place in a church. Around ... ...ffection for children. Parents thought of their children as individuals and thus gave each new born its own name. At this time parents also began giving their children more freedoms than before. Also during this time the church began to relax its control over individual families and allowed them more privacy. This simple shift in religious doctrine caused the development of a new way of thinking in which children were appreciated and seen as different from adults. Although there were many factors that impacted family relationships between the fifteen hundreds and eighteen hundreds, none were as influential as religion. Any small shift in the interpretation of religious doctrine could result in massive changes in family life. From the development and rise of Protestantism to the Puritan view of children, religion often caused revolutions in family relationships.

Law enforcement and women Essay

There has always been a stereotype separating men and women. Such as, women are not efficient enough to have a job in law enforcement and men are. Many people do not agree with this stereotype or have a different opinion towards it which can cause a disagreement between genders. The majority of people who disagree with women being in law enforcement are men. Morgan Summerfield, a yahoo contributor says, â€Å"Law enforcement has traditionally been a male dominated field and as such may have been slower than others to accept females into its ranks.† Men do not accept women in law enforcement because the believe women are the â€Å"weaker sex† (1) and belong at home with their children or attending to their family or house duties. Summerfield also says, â€Å" Male domination in law enforcement and the idea that force and strength are required, reinforces the belief that women are unable both physically and mentally to do the job.† Travis county, Texas, Sheriff Margo Fraiser disagrees. Fraiser says, â€Å"We’ve been learning our whole lives how to deal with things without having to resort to physical strength and physical violence. I think the thing we most bring in is the ability to handle situations without ever having to lay hands on.† Sure, women might be the â€Å"weaker sex† (Summerfield 1) when it comes to physical activity but that does not mean we can not be the â€Å"stronger sex† (Summerfield 1) in other aspects of law enforcement. Just as there are people who disagree with women in law Martinez 2 enforcement there are also people who believe women are capable of being good candidates for a role in law enforcement. Morgan Summerfield from yahoo contributor is one who sees both sides to this stereotype even though she disagrees in some ways she also agrees.  Summerfield says, â€Å"Women and law enforcement do mix, in fact they are a necessary, if sometimes missing, ingredient.† In support the Christopher commission agrees with Summerfield. The Christopher commission investigated the beating of Rodney G. King in 1991. In conclusion, they reported, â€Å"That women officers did not employ excessive force as often as their male counterparts. Male and Female officers interviewed for the report said they thought women were better skilled at defusing confrontations with suspects through verbal communication.† Due to the results of this investigation Mayor James K. Hahn agreed that women brought the department a good name. Hahn says, â€Å"I think for too many years we were trying to fight the battle with one arm tied behind our back. We weren’t taking advantage of the tremendo us number of qualified women who could make that contribution to the department.† There are many people who agree with women in law enforcement who are disappointed in the lack of female presence in law enforcement. They want females for a reason and that is because women do contribute something to law enforcement that men can not. That is the sense of understanding towards female victims. Atia Moazzema Shammi, from women feature scene says, â€Å"The lack of female presence in the law enforcement machinery is of significance since the police administration suggested recently that female police should investigate crimes of violence against women. In many cases, women victims are too shy to talk to the male policeman – a fact that comes in the way of fair investigation.† Even though there are people who believe women should not be allowed to have a job in law enforcement. They should mot base that on what men believe about women. If women are strong enough and meet the requirements for the job they should have the right to have a career in law enforcement. If women are just as passionate as men are in law enforcement, what makes them different? Besides, the opinions of others. As Hilda Munoz, from the Los Angeles Times says, â€Å"We want to have a few scarred knees; we’re going to fall down few times. We have a right to fail like males fail.† If males can fail at something they are good at or enjoy doing women should also be able to have the chance to fail. Women in law enforcement is always going to be a stereotype that might not be able to change. Men are always going to believe women are too weak or are not physically or mentally prepared for a job in law enforcement. There is also going to be those who see the qualities that women have and only women can bring to a job in law enforcement. There is always going to be many different views, thoughts, and opinions on women in law enforcement. Works Cited 1. Munoz, Hilda â€Å"ON THE LAW; Working to Get More Police Officers; Women have made significant progress in several levels, but their numbers in law enforcement remain disproportionally low: [Home Edition].† Los Angeles Times 30 May 2003: B2 . Print . 2. Shammi, Atia Moazzema â€Å"Feminising Law Enforcement.† Womens Feature Service 14 Jan 2002: (NP) . Print.

Essay on What Does the Minimum Wage Do

Essay on What Does the Minimum Wage Do Essay on What Does the Minimum Wage Do? Essay on What Does the Minimum Wage Do?In many countries, there exist minimum wage standards which secure the employees rights to receive a pay covering at least basic needs. In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act securing minimum wages was enacted in 1938 (Henderson 52). As inflation and recessions affect the economy, minimum wages are adjusted. However, such increases put more pressure on businesses and might have an adverse impact on employment. There are both supporters and opponents of minimum wage increase. The key thesis of this paper is the following: minimum wage should be increased to ensure that workers can sustain their basic needs.The increase of minimum wage will lead to a notable improvement of the quality of living of those people who live below the poverty line and close to the poverty line. In the United States, the proportion of such people is around 25% (Belman and Wolfson 67). Therefore, the increase of minimum wages will reduce social inequality and improve well-being of the poorest households.Furthermore, the purchasing ability of these households will increase; taking into account the number of such households, these changes are likely to have a positive impact on the economy. In addition, those people who chose not to work because of high costs of transportation and accommodation might start looking for jobs after the increase of minimum wages (Neumark and Wascher 30). These changes might slightly increase the rate of employment.The opponents of minimum wage increase state that the raise will lead to the growth of unemployment as businesses will slash jobs. In reality, businesses will indeed have to reduce costs, but the weight of low-paying jobs in overall business expenses is low, so companies will be more likely to reduce the pay for white-collar jobs or slash operating costs in some other ways (e.g. optimizing their supply chain, reducing waste, etc) (Tucker 14).One more argument in support of the minimum wage is the fac t that the raise will urge businesses to improve performance in order to optimize costs. Therefore, businesses will be encourages to reduce inefficiencies due to the increase of minimum wage. Therefore, it is recommended to increase minimum wage in order to support workers who have low-paying jobs and to achieve a slight economic boost.

Free Essays on Seasonal Affective Disorder

Introduction: In the recent years interest in seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has grown dramatically. The disorder, also known as winter depression, has a recurrent pattern of fall/winter onset and spring remission. Since the beginning of contemporary investigation into SAD, it has been compellingly related to seasonal change in sunlight. Historical Overview: Observations that affective illnesses are sensitive to seasonal and environmental influence was key to ancient theories about the origins of disease. In 460-370 B.C. Hippocrates taught that â€Å"it is cheifly the change of seasons which produce diseases, and in the seasons the great changes from cold to heat,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p. 13). In the 4th century A.D. Posidonius summarized the views of many ancient physicians when he noted that mania is â€Å"an intermittent disease, which proceeds through a periodical circuit†¦.It repeats itself once a year or more often†¦..Melancholy occurs in autumn whereas mania occurs in summer,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p.14). There are many early desriptions of patients who were probably suffering from SAD. According to Norman E. Rosenthal, one of the earliest noted examples of individuals with seasonal affective disorder are from the 17th century. Ann Grenville (1642-1691), suffered for numerous years from â€Å"regularly recurring winter depressions and summer manias,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p.14). In 1825, the French psychiatrist Esquirol described a male patient from Belgium who for three consecutive winters had suffered depressive episodes, which lifted in the spring. The psychiatrist advised the patient to spend the following winter in Italy, and his winter depression resulted much milder (Partonen, p.3). In 1946, the German physician, Hellmut Marx, recognized winter depression in four men during an Arctic winter and even described the overeating that often accompanies the condition. Marx identified the lack of light as a... Free Essays on Seasonal Affective Disorder Free Essays on Seasonal Affective Disorder Introduction: In the recent years interest in seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has grown dramatically. The disorder, also known as winter depression, has a recurrent pattern of fall/winter onset and spring remission. Since the beginning of contemporary investigation into SAD, it has been compellingly related to seasonal change in sunlight. Historical Overview: Observations that affective illnesses are sensitive to seasonal and environmental influence was key to ancient theories about the origins of disease. In 460-370 B.C. Hippocrates taught that â€Å"it is cheifly the change of seasons which produce diseases, and in the seasons the great changes from cold to heat,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p. 13). In the 4th century A.D. Posidonius summarized the views of many ancient physicians when he noted that mania is â€Å"an intermittent disease, which proceeds through a periodical circuit†¦.It repeats itself once a year or more often†¦..Melancholy occurs in autumn whereas mania occurs in summer,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p.14). There are many early desriptions of patients who were probably suffering from SAD. According to Norman E. Rosenthal, one of the earliest noted examples of individuals with seasonal affective disorder are from the 17th century. Ann Grenville (1642-1691), suffered for numerous years from â€Å"regularly recurring winter depressions and summer manias,† (Rosenthal & Blehar, p.14). In 1825, the French psychiatrist Esquirol described a male patient from Belgium who for three consecutive winters had suffered depressive episodes, which lifted in the spring. The psychiatrist advised the patient to spend the following winter in Italy, and his winter depression resulted much milder (Partonen, p.3). In 1946, the German physician, Hellmut Marx, recognized winter depression in four men during an Arctic winter and even described the overeating that often accompanies the condition. Marx identified the lack of light as a...