What Legitimizes Authority essays

What Legitimizes Authority essays What is authority? In the most basic sense it is the power to command or order. Power is associated with authority. For many, power is the ability to get something done even when there is an opposing force. When asking the question what legitimizes authority it is believed that the consent of the people legitimizes it. When one thinks of authority the government comes into mind. The government holds the authority to execute laws. Jean Jacques Rousseau believes that the government should be based on equality for everyone. Authority can be created through force. Rousseau has established an idea of the General Will. This concept proposes a sort of guideline for communities. Every member of a community has to work to uphold the General Will, so then sovereignty lies within the people of the community and the government. There must be a mutual agreement between authorities and the governed. This means that the governed have agreed to be ruled only so their rulers protect their happiness, property, and rights. Everything must be mutual in society from law to legislator. Rousseau believes that everyone is born free, but all around us are chains. Freedom is a natural condition for human beings. Rousseau explains that our appetites and desires drive us all but at the same time we are also driven to become self- governing and self disciplined people. Authority could be seen as the root of this thought. The philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli believes that it is the seizure of an opportunity that is presented that leads to the position of authority. One must always create a careful and solid plan against his enemy in order to be in authority. In a basic sense one should not hesitate. Authority is created by the powerful. ...

How to Convert Feet to Inches

How to Convert Feet to Inches Feet (ft) and inches (in) are two units of length, most commonly used in the United States. The units are used in schools, daily life, art, and some areas of science and engineering. The feet to inches conversion is useful and important, so heres the formula and examples that show how to convert feet to inches and inches to feet. Feet to Inches Formula This conversion isnt quite as easy as converting between metric units, which are simply factors of 10, but its not difficult. The conversion factor is: 1 foot 12 inches distance in inches (distance in feet) x (12 inches/foot) So, to convert a measurement in feet to inches, all you need to do is multiply the number by 12. This is an exact number, so if youre working with significant figures, it wont limit them. Feet to Inches Example Lets say you measure a room and find it is 12.2 feet across. Find the number in inches. length in inches length in feet x 12length 12.2 ft x 12length 146.4 or 146 inches Converting Inches to Feet Since all you do is multiply by 12 to convert feet to inches, it should make sense to you that all you do to convert inches to feet is divide by 12. The conversion factor is the same: 12 inches 1 foot distance in feet (distance in inches) / (12 inches/foot) Inches to Feet Example You measure your laptop and find the screen is 15.4 inches across. What is this in feet? distance in feet (distance in inches) / (12 inches/foot)distance 15.4 in / 12 in/ftdistance 1.28 feet Important Information for Unit Conversions with Division One of the most common areas of confusion when doing unit conversions involving division concerns unit cancelling. When youre converting inches to feet, you divide by 12 in/ft. This is the same as multiplying by ft/in! Its one of those rules you use when multiplying fractions that a lot of people forget about when dealing with units. When you divide by a fraction, the denominator (part on the bottom) moves to the top, while the numerator (part on the top) moves to the bottom. Thus, the units cancel out to give you the desired answer.

Ethics and Law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Ethics and Law - Research Paper Example This debate has had various philosophical theories explaining this concept. In this paper, I will base my argument on three philosophical theories to determine whether it is more important for business to be ethical or lawful. Proper business ethics should be introduced in a business as external factors that are way above profit making motive of the business and the law governing its operations. Ethical business obligation supersedes fulfilling laws requirements in that by mere facts, law specifies the lowest values of identifying acceptable behavior (Fieser). Ethical absolutism stipulates that a right or wrongful action remains as it is despite the outcome. For instance, stealing remains a wrongful act despite the reason behind it. According to this theory, harm and veracity are some of the supra- legal moral principles that defend business ethics as a moral obligation. Veracity principle stipulates that business organizations should not deceive customers for whatever reason. The harm principle deters businesses from carrying on activities that cause harm to both employees and the surrounding society (Fieser). According to virtue ethics, businesses should inculcate virtues to employees. This helps portray a positive image of the business to the outside world this is also supported by the religious fundamentalism that advocates for the principle of human rights. Under this principle, business organizations should consider respect of human rights while carrying on with their business (Fieser). For instance, though permitted by the law to produce and sell products, businesses should focus in interest of stakeholders, consumers and the community at large. It should not produce and sell products that may pose health issues to consumers in the long- run. On the other hand, businesses may act good to fulfill legal requirements. This mostly happens where a

Why do people choose to take Complementary Medicines and Therapies Essay

Why do people choose to take Complementary Medicines and Therapies - Essay Example Here the emphses re rther different. While mny of the topics my seem fmilir from the policy driven gend-regultion, the evidence bse, use of CM by generl prctitioners (GPs), nurses nd others-they re treted in very different wy. ssumptions re chllenged; motives nd strtegies re explored. CM is first nd foremost exmined s topic worthy of study in its own right, s historiclly specific socil product. Phenomen re studied in their socil context. It is this sociologicl rther thn policy-driven strting point tht underpins this study. While the reserch covered herein my provide insights of prcticl benefits, tht is not usully its fundmentl purpose. I have to express my thankfulness to people who participated in my research. They were of great help as through the interviews I conducted it became possible to complete the research. I am also acknowledged to my professor, Mr INSERT THE NAME, who instructed me during composition of my thesis. Also I have to mention my wife/parents, who helped through writing and research. I feel honoured to know such great people and am happy that this topic is of such a broad interest. Complementry nd lterntive medicine (CM) is now mjor prt of the helthcre system in ll dvnced societies. It is lso common prt of discourse in medicine nd helthcre. This growth of interest hs only prtilly been mtched by cdemic study of it. Indeed, over recent yers there hs been n incresing recognition tht CM is essentilly under-reserched (House of Lords 2000). However, with this recognition hs come n incresing concentrtion on prticulr form of reserch-tht gered towrds the production of n evidence bse nd/or n immedite relevnce to policy nd prctice. There ws n extrordinry growth in the use of complementry nd lterntive therpies nd medicines (CM) in the ltter hlf of the twentieth century in Europe, ustrli, Cnd nd the US (Ernst 2000; Sks 2001; Wootton nd Sprber 2001). This pper sets out some of the explntions tht hve been presented to help understnd this extrordinry growth nd, wherever possible, exmines empiricl studies to evlute, modify or extend those explntions The globl extent of the growth nd the globl chnge in sttus nd nomenclture mens tht the reson for the chnges cn not be found by exmining specific country's helthcre systems. Nor cn it be found by exmining helth providers or even by looking t people who re sick. Sick people do turn to CM, but the dys when doctors could dismiss lterntive medicine s the lst refuge of the terminlly ill re long

Encoding Essay Example for Free

Encoding Essay It is known that information about the outer world is encoded either consciously or subconsciously. Therefore, two types of information encoding exist: automatic and effortful processing. The main difference is that automatic processing suggests that people absorb information about the world without any efforts, whereas effortful processing is absorbing information due to rehearsal or repetition. For example, people automatically absorb information about time, space and frequency. In its turn, consciously people process names, phone numbers and other information they are unfamiliar with. Nevertheless, more information is encoded automatically and information that is repeated or rehearsed is kept in mind for less time compared with information absorbed without conscious effort. Brain capacity allows people to remember things without paying proper attention to them. However, it is rather difficult to get rid of information obtained both automatically or effortful. There is one more interesting thing: it is claimed that even effortful information can become with time subconscious. For example, when children learn how to read, they have to repeat words and letter, but with the years of practice reading and writing becomes automatic process. Therefore, automatic and effortful processing are interrelated in a certain way. It is proved that effortful processing ensures more durable memories compared with automatic one. Due to attention and effort people can absorb more interesting facts and necessary information: through rehearsal information is encoded for storage, though, for example, information absorbed just before sleep is hardly remembered. So, effortful processing provides more benefits than automatic one because it allows to process information more carefully and thoughtfully.

Essay --

What is existentialism? Existentialism is a philosophical therory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person. Friedrich Nietzsche is a german philospher from the late 19th century. His interest were the enhancement of individual and cultural health. He believed in life, creativity, power, and the realities of the world we live in. Nietzsche was a difficult, complex, and controversial philosopher, he was claim to be part of a number of difficult philosophical movements. Friedrich Nietzsche was a very smart, intellegent man. He was born October 15, 1844, near a small town in the Prussian province of Saxony. His father, Karl Ludwig was a Lutheran Minister and died when Nietzsche was age five, leaving his wife, Franziska and his three children. Friedrich, the oldest child, Elisabeth, and a newborn baby boy who will also died not to long after birth. Nietzsche completed his secondary education at the boarding school of Pforta, he was a very excellent student. After, Nietzsche, he entered the University on Bonn, studying therology and classical philology. One year later, he stop taking therology and transferred to the University of Leipzig to get a doctorate in philology. At the age of 24, Nietzsche was offered a job at the University of Basel, one of the youngest men to ever be offered a job like this. When he was 28, The Birth of Tradgedy was published, his first book. Some of his most popular books are; Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, On the Genealogy of Morals/Ecce Homo, The Anti-Christ, The Gay Science: with a Prelude in Rhymes and an Appendix of Songs, and so many more. In his book Birth of Tragedy he argues for his interpretation of the creative forces behind Greek Art as a balance between... ...able to cope with its struggle against itself and unable to free itself from these instincts, it attempts to conquer and tame itself as much as possible. Nietzsche concludes that "man would rather will nothingness than not will." On January 3, 1889, Nietzsche had a breakdown while strolling in front of his apartment in Carlo Alberto Square in Turin, where he reportedly embraced a horse being flogged by the owner. This event marks the end of his writing career. Nietzsche was a very complex man, and writer. His works influence many of people. His sister took over the management of his intellectual legacy, gathering a cult, which grew quickly and very fast. It is not after all, a chance if he was one of the few philosophers to give some thought to the philosophical importance of food, migraines, and other complications, which allegedly played a role in how his persona.

Customer Satisfaction in E-Commerce

In Proceedings of the 17th IEE UK Teletraffic Symposium, Dublin, Ireland, May 16-18, 2001 QUANTIFYING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH E-COMMERCE WEBSITES Hubert Graja and Jennifer McManis1 Abstract E-commerce is an increasingly significant part of the global economy. Users of E-commerce Web sites often have high expectations for the quality of service, and if those expectations are not met, the next site is only a click away. A number of performance problems have been observed for E-commerce Web sites, and much work has gone into characterising the performance of Web servers and Internet applications.However, the customers of E-commerce Web sites are less well studied. In this work, we discuss a way of assessing satisfaction for different customer types with a Web site according to various different parameters. Individual measures may be scaled for simple comparison, and combined to give an overall satisfaction rating. This methodology is applied to three Irish E-Commerce Web sites. 1) In troduction The World Wide Web is one of the most important Internet services, and has been largely responsible for the phenomenal growth of the Internet in recent years.An increasingly popular and important Web-based activity is ECommerce, in which various types of financial transactions are carried out or facilitated using the Web. It is widely expected that E-Commerce activity will continue to grow and that it will be a significant component of the global economy in the near future. A number of performance problems in E-Commerce systems have been observed, mainly due to heavier-thananticipated loads and the consequent inability to satisfy customer requirements. This has resulted in a lot of work attempting to characterise the performance of Web servers and Internet applications e. . [1]? [4]. However the customers of these E-Commerce systems are less well studied. Some surveys show considerable dissatisfaction with current E-Commerce and Web servers; for example, it has been repor ted that as many as 60% of users typically cannot find the information they are looking for in a Web site, even though the information is present [5]. In an area such as ECommerce, customers demand a high quality of the service they receive, since it is easy to move away to another site if they perceive the current one to be unsatisfactory. An important issue in designing E-Commerce systems is to characterise the ustomer's requirements for satisfactory service. Parameters which affect a customer's satisfaction with an E-Commerce system include the response time, number of clicks needed to find what they want, amount of information they are required to give, and predictability of the service received. This leads to the idea of customer classification, where customers in the same class would value parameters in a similar fashion. Customer classification may be performed either based on how they judge their satisfaction with an E-Commerce system, or on some other way (e. . large/medium /small budget; type/speed of Internet connection the customer has to the server; frequent/previous/new customer). Here we briefly present a methodology for measuring the satisfaction of customer classes. This methodology is applied to a test case consisting of three Irish E-Commerce Web sites in the telecommunications sector. We are able to demonstrate different levels of customer satisfaction among the Web sites, and also different levels of satisfaction with various parameters for each individual Web site. 2) MethodologyIn our methodology, we identify customer classes reflecting groups of customers with different behavioural characteristics, and Web site parameters relating to features of the Web site which will potentially affect customer satisfaction. We then seek to measure customer satisfaction with the various parameters in a consistent and quantifiable way. This methodology is summarised below; a more detailed discussion of the methodology may be found in [6]. 2. 1) Customer Classification Customers may be classified in various ways, such as their behaviour or according to how they measure satisfaction with a Web site.However this classification is made, a representation of the customer class must then be made. This representation has two components: first, customer behaviour; and second, customer satisfaction measures 1 Performance Engineering Laboratory http://www. eeng. dcu. ie/~pel School of Electronic Engineering, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland [email  protected] dcu. ie, [email  protected] dcu. ie for various Web site parameters. We define customer behaviour in terms of the interaction with the Web site. A trace behaviour is defined as the series of clicks and other information that the customer exchanges with the site.Typically, behaviour for a customer class is defined as one or more traces. For a customer class, a weighting may be associated with the traces indicating how likely it is for the customer to perform that particular trace behaviour. That is, some behaviour may be exhibited more frequently by a user in a class, and this behaviour should be given higher weighting. 2. 2) Customer Satisfaction Measures The factors which might affect customer satisfaction with a Web site are contained in a parameter list.It is important that for each parameter in the list satisfaction should be quantifiable. Some quantification measures are easily defined. For instance, if the parameter is the number of clicks, the quantification may be defined as an integer value. Other parameters may have more subjective quantifications. For instance, how does one quantify the â€Å"quality† of information available at a Web site? In order to compare the satisfaction measured for different parameters, the quantifications must be mapped to a fixed scale. For instance, all measures could be mapped to a scale of 0 to 10.This mapping is what allows us to represent customer valuation of the same parameters. For instance, some cu stomers will tolerate delay better than others. This may lead to one customer mapping a download time of 5 seconds to 10 and another mapping a download time of 5 seconds to 0. Studies such as [7] indicate that this mapping can be complex and context dependent. 2. 3) Analysis of Customer Satisfaction for a Web Site Using the above, for each trace it is possible to associate a satisfaction value with every parameter.The trace weightings may then be used to arrive at a weighted average of the satisfaction values associated with the parameters. This gives a measure of how satisfied a given class of customers is with a given parameter. Finally a weighting of parameters can be defined, allowing for an overall satisfaction measure of a class for the Web site. By varying this weighting, we can study how different parameters affect customer satisfaction. 3) Test Results The most difficult part of this exercise is in relating customer trace behaviour to the satisfaction vector. How parameter satisfaction is measured nd how it is mapped onto a fixed scale must be addressed on a case-by-case basis, although experience using the methodology may lead to the definition of some standard cases. Also, since multiple executions of the same trace may lead to different values, some statistical analysis may be required. We have applied our methodology to three Irish E-Commerce Web sites in the telecommunications sector (designated here as Web sites A, B, and C). 3. 1) Customer Classification Customers for the three Web sites we examined have been divided into two distinct classes: Private and Business.Traces are associated with searching for specific information that the customers might be interested in. Six customer tasks are identified in Table 1 and for each Web site a trace is devised to perform the task. For the sake of convenience, we call all traces associated with a given task by the same name, even though the trace is obviously specific to the Web site. Data services is sp lit into T4a and T4b because Web site B provided different pages depending on whether the customer was private or business.Trace T1 T2 T3 T4a T4b T5 T6 Task Where to buy a phone Coverage Tariffs WAP Data Services Data Services for Business Roaming List Business Tariffs Table 1: Tasks The Private and Business customer classes are defined as a collection of the above tasks, and an associated weighting is given which is indicative of the relative likelihood of customers of a given class seeking to perform that task. Trace weightings for the Private and Business classes are given in Table 2. The interpretation is that for a group of Private users roughly half might want to know where to buy a phone, 30% might want to know about tariffs, 10% ight want to know about coverage and 10% might want to know about WAP services. The Business users exhibit different behaviour with 30% wanting to know about coverage, 30% being interested in the roaming list, 20% being interested in data services an d 20% being interested in business tariffs. Customer Class Private Trace T1 T2 T3 T4a T2 T4a, T4b T5 T6 Trace Weighting 0. 5 0. 1 0. 3 0. 1 0. 3 0. 2 0. 3 0. 2 Business Table 2: Trace weightings for different customer classes 3. 2) Satisfaction Measures Three parameters were identified: Complexity, Time, and Quality.Complexity was measured as the number of clicks to reach the destination. Time was measures as total download time in seconds. Quality was a subjective measure of the quality of the information contained in the site (could the information be found, and how easy was it to find? ). Quality was measured using a small-scale user survey where the users were asked to examine the end page for each task and rate their satisfaction with the information they found there on a scale of 0-100%. A scale of 0-10 (with 0 being worst and 10 best) was chosen for a uniform comparison of satisfaction values.The measured satisfaction values were mapped onto the 0-10 scale as follows: Complex ity: Time: Quality: 10(20-(n-1)/10), where n is the number of clicks 10(10-t/60), where t is the trace download time in seconds x/10, where x is the average value of user satisfaction with the quality of the page For Quality a straightforward linear mapping was applied. More complex mappings were employed for Complexity and Time, and are shown in Figure 1. Examining the Time mapping we see that 60 seconds is regarded as an unacceptable download time, and even 30 seconds leads to a fairly poor rating.Similarly, for Complexity, 10 clicks is regarded as unacceptable, and even 5 clicks is fairly poor. Note that we have chosen one among many possible mappings. It is up to the tester to decide how to choose a mapping that best reflects customer preferences. Also note that, in this case, all customers use the same mappings, and thus are seen to perceive the parameters in a similar fashion. It is an easy extension to attach different scale mappings to different customer classes or to differ ent traces. Figure 1: mapping time and complexity measures to a 0-10 scale 3. ) Satisfaction Measurement for Web Sites Once the satisfaction measures are determined, it remains to test the Web sites and compare results. Data was gathered using the Web Performance Trainer 2. 1 tool [8] to execute each of the traces on the Web site in question. This was necessary solely to take time data, and was carried out on a weekday. The other two satisfaction values can be determined by an examination of the Web sites. Tables 3, 4, and 5 summarise the satisfaction measures for the three Web sites respectively. Web Site A Customer Class Trace Complexity rawSatisfaction Measures Time raw 37. 6 34. 0 34. 7 28. 6 34. 7 46. 9 28. 6 38. 7 scaled 2. 4 2. 7 2. 6 3. 3 2. 6 2. 6 1. 7 3. 3 2. 3 2. 4 Quality raw 80 72 67 68 61 69 66 64 scaled 8. 0 7. 2 6. 7 6. 8 7. 5 6. 1 6. 9 6. 6 6. 4 6. 5 scaled 4. 1 3. 0 4. 1 4. 1 3. 8 4. 1 3. 0 4. 1 4. 1 3. 8 Private Business T1 T3 T2 T4a weighted avg. T2 T5 T4a T6 wei ghted avg. 4 5 4 4 4 5 4 4 Table 3: Customer Satisfaction for Web Site A Web Site B Customer Class Trace Complexity raw scaled 4. 1 7. 4 5. 5 5. 5 5. 4 5. 5 4. 1 4. 1 7. 4 5. 2 Satisfaction Measures Time raw 16. 7 11. 2 17. 1 13. 9 17. 1 14. 39. 7 12. 3 scaled 5. 3 6. 5 5. 2 5. 9 5. 7 5. 2 5. 7 2. 2 6. 2 4. 9 Quality scaled 8. 6 7. 6 7. 6 7. 4 8. 1 7. 3 7. 5 6. 4 7. 6 7. 2 raw 86 76 76 74 73 75 64 76 Private Business T1 T3 T2 T4a weighted avg. T2 T5 T4b T6 weighted avg. 4 2 3 3 3 4 4 2 Table 4: Customer Satisfaction for Web Site B Web Site C Customer Class Trace Satisfaction Measures Complexity Time raw scaled 4. 1 5. 5 7. 4 5. 5 5. 0 7. 4 7. 4 5. 5 7. 4 7. 0 raw 14. 0 13. 0 11. 1 12. 4 11. 1 10. 2 12. 4 10. 9 scaled 5. 8 6. 1 6. 5 6. 2 6. 0 6. 5 6. 8 6. 2 6. 6 6. 5 Quality scaled 8. 1 6. 8 6. 8 5. 8 7. 4 6. 1 5. 3 6. 5. 3 5. 7 raw 81 68 68 58 61 53 60 53 Private Business T1 T3 T2 T4a weighted avg. T2 T5 T4a T6 weighted avg. 4 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 Table 5: Customer Satisfaction for Web Sit e C The overall satisfaction measures are summarised in Table 6. Some interesting conclusions can be drawn from these measures. Firstly, for all Web sites and all parameters, there was a variation in satisfaction levels between the customer classes. Thus, not all users find the Web sites equally good. This is most noticeable for the Quality parameter: Private users rated Quality higher than Business users in all cases.If Business customers are considered valuable, this gap is not desirable. There is also a large difference in satisfaction ratings for the Time parameter of Web site B, again favouring Private customers over Business customers. Secondly, for all users and all measures, there are a range of values across the Web sites. For instance, the Time satisfaction for Business users varies from 6. 5 for Web site C down to 2. 4 for Web site A. This indicates that Web site C might have an edge in attracting Business customers. Finally, for a given user class and Web site, different satisfaction levels are observed.For example, Private users of Web site A have a Time satisfaction value of 2. 6 and a Quality satisfaction value of 7. 5. The exact interpretation of this is difficult, since the different parameter satisfaction values are dependent on the mapping of the raw data, which of necessity, differs for each parameter. However, it does perhaps indicate a favouring of form over efficiency. Customer Class Satisfaction Customer Web Site Class Web site A Private Web site B Web site C Web site A Business Web site B Web site C Satisfaction Measures Complexity Time Quality 3. 8 5. 4 5. 0 3. 8 5. 2 7. 0 2. 6 5. 7 6. 2. 4 4. 9 6. 5 7. 5 8. 1 7. 4 6. 5 7. 2 5. 7 Table 6: Customer Class Satisfaction for Web sites A, B, and C Finally, an overall assessment of customer satisfaction may be found by weighting the various parameters. Table 7 displays the overall satisfaction results under several different weighting schemes: Weighting 1 gives all parameters equal weighting ; Weighting 2 gives Time and Complexity equal weighting and Quality zero weighting; Weighting 3 considers Time only (zero weighting for Quality and Complexity). These weightings reflect possible values the tester places on the various parameters.We can see that for all the weightings, Business users have a clear order of preference, ranking Web site C highest, then Web site B, and finally Web site A. The order of preference for Private users varies according to the weighting used, although Web site A is worst under all three weightings. Customer Class Satisfaction Customer Web Site Class Web site A Private Web site B Web site C Web site A Business Web site B Web site C Satisfaction Measures Weighting 1 Weighting 2 Weighting 3 4. 6 6. 4 6. 1 4. 2 5. 8 6. 4 3. 2 5. 6 5. 5 3. 1 5. 1 6. 8 2. 6 5. 7 6. 0 2. 4 4. 9 6. 5 Table 7: Customer satisfaction with a Web site ) Conclusions Modelling customer satisfaction with Web and E-commerce sites is not as well studied as Web server modelling, but determining whether and how the customers of these sites are satisfied with their interactions is becoming increasingly important as the Web matures. We have proposed a methodology for estimating how satisfied defined classes of customers are with a Web site. Our approach recognises that customer satisfaction is a complex issue and includes factors which are not easily measured. We have applied our methodology to the study of three Irish E-Commerce Web sites.These sites were chosen for representative purposes only and the results do not necessarily generalise to other Web sites. Choices for the tester include not only what customer categories and what Web site parameters to examine, but also how to interpret the measured data such as download time. The flexibility of the methodology means that it will be necessary for the tester to carefully consider all of their options. The next step is to investigate whether ‘generic’ categories of users can be defined, and/or wh ether they care about ‘generic’ Web site parameters (e. . it seems download time will always be a factor in user satisfaction). Given a specific Web site, we will explore methods for mapping these generic user types and satisfaction parameters into the site's content. If an analysis of the resulting satisfaction measures shows that there is a disparity in the satisfaction of different user types, we will study how the Web site designer or administrator should take this into account, and whether their reaction can be determined dynamically while the user is interacting with the site.References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Nakamura et al, `ENMA: the WWW Server Performance Measurement System via Packet Monitoring', INET99. Cottrell et al, `Tutorial on Internet Monitoring and PingER at SLAC' available from http://www. slac. stanford. edu/comp/net/wan-mon/tutorial. html Kalidindi and Zekauskas, `Surveyor: An Infrastructure for Internet Performance Measurements', INET99. Hava and Murphy, `Performance Measurement of World Wide Web Servers' Proc. f 16th UK Teletraffic Symposium, May 2000. http://www. ecai. ie/usability_online. htm Graja and McManis, ‘Modelling User Interactions with E-Commerce Services’, to be presented at ICN01, Colmar, France, July 2001. Bouch, Kuchinsky, and Bhatti, ‘Quality is in the Eye of the Beholder: Meeting Users’ Requirements for Internet Quality of Service’, HP technical report HPL-2000-4, http://www. hpl. hp. com/techreports/2000/HPL-2000-4. html Web Performance Incorporated, http://www. Webperfcenter. com

Piaget vs Vygotsky Essay

Initially the study of lifespan development rose due to Darwin’s desire to understand human evaluation (Boyd & Bee, 2006). Developmental psychology is concerned with the changes of people during their life span including motor skill changes, problem solving changes, moral understanding changes, but it is originally concerned with these changes during infancy and childhood (Boyd & Bee, 2006). Without any doubts, Jean Piaget (1896-1980) and Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934), are two major contributors who have affected developmental psychology with their theories on human development. According to Lerman (1996), Piaget and Vygotsky belong to two different traditions; Piaget belongs to the constructivism perspective that sees learning as construction and Vygotsky to the activity theory perspective that sees learning as an appropriation. According to Piaget, cognitive development results from the development of the brain, acquiring new abilities and experiences, thus he separated development into stages (as cited in Santrock, 2008). Piaget developed four stages the sensori-motor stage (0-2 years) where the infant is trying to make sense of the world, and acquires the development of object permanence (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). The pre-operational stage (2-7 years) where language development, animism, egocentrism and the use of symbols hallmark this stage (Shaffer &Kipp, 2007). The concrete operational stage (7-11 years) where children start classifying objects and are able to conserve and think logically about objects and events (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). And the formal operational stage (11 years and beyond) where children develop hypothetico-deductive reasoning and imaginary audience and believe in the uniqueness of oneself and one’s experiences (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). On the other hand, Vygotsky developed his sociocultural theory indicating that cognitive development is promoted in a â€Å"sociocultural† context which influences the form it takes (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). Furthermore, Vygotsky indicated that many of the child’s most important cognitive functions develop from social interactions with parents, teachers and other more competent associates. Moreover, Vygotsky elaborated his Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) where the child is the learner and can manage independently and the difference between what the children can learn with guidance of a more skilled and competent partner and expect further cognitive growth, by internalising the help of the skilled partner (Shaffer & Kipp, 2007). Starting on the debate and trying to shed light upon the different approaches on development from Piaget and Vygotsky, the differences on egocentric speech and language will be analyzed. Vygotsky in one of his main books published in 1934 â€Å"Thought and Language† wrote about Piaget â€Å"Psychology owes a great deal to Jean Piaget. It is not an exaggeration to say that he revolutionised the study of child language and thought† (Vygotsky, 1962, p.9). Though, even if he exalted Piaget he differed his approach around the concepts of egocentric speech and egocentrism. In line with Vygotsky (1962, p. 14-15), the outcome of the observations of Piaget led him to the conclusion that children’s speech can be divided only in two distinct entities, the egocentric speech and socialized speech. The difference between them is due to their functions, during egocentric speech the child talks only about him having no interest in other people and expecting no answers, whereas socialized speech attempts exchanges with other people. According to Vygotsky, the conclusions of Piaget showed that the majority of preschool children talk is egocentric, though when the child reaches school age, egocentric speech declines (Vygotsky, 1962, p. 16).Vygotsky differed his view from Piaget on egocentric speech believing that it has a specific function and this function other than its communicative role, it also serves as a thinking tool and as a tool to solve problems (Vygotsky, 1962, p. 18). Piaget and Vygotsky seem to agree that inner speech develops from egocentric speech which leads to logical thinking, though Vygotsky highlighted language as an apparatus of thought other than another way of expression. On the other hand, Piaget awarded to language a less significant role than Vygotsky toward the development of thought (Piaget, 1970). Moreover, Vygotsky praised the use of language and egocentric speech as thinking tools which promote development, but Piaget disagrees indicating that Vygotsky could not understand that egocentrism could be a main obstacle for learning, concluding that language can also reduce learning and development (Piaget, 1962). Another main issue where Vygotsky and Piaget collide is the role of the social and the role of the individual in learning. Piaget indicates that teaching is divided in two sides, the one is the rising individual, and the other side consists of social, intellectual, and moral values that the educator attempts to transmit (Piaget, 1969). Piaget’s aim was to make children capture the solution of the problem on their own strength, self-regulation, and their own experiences rather than receiving help from any rules or from a more skilled individual (Piaget, 1969). Thus, Piaget points out that learning is not social, and that the individual on his own entirely captures the surrounding knowledge. On the contrary, Vygotsky who belongs to the activity theory indicates that learning is an active process from the child’s perspective, and that the child can duplicate culturally accumulated knowledge with assistance from social support (Vygotsky, 1962). The outstanding difference in learning is that Piaget perceives the individual as the onset of learning and also children can learn through repetitive interaction and experience with the environment, moreover the egocentric speech serves as a tool for logical thinking, though it can also intricate the meaning (Piaget, 1969). On the other hand, Vygotsky is emphasising more that an individual (child) cannot produce knowledge and learn without the verbal interaction and activity of other probably more skilled individuals (Vygotsky, 1962). Thus, Piaget seems to combine and emphasise on both the individual side and the social side, whereas Vygotsky emphasises more on one side, the social side. Additionally, Vygotsky proposes that knowledge arrives from the outside, on the contrary though Piaget points out that learning lies on a child’s innate capability. Piaget was mainly affected from his biological roots which influenced his approach on human development, and Vygotsky was influenced by the Marxist tradition forming his own ideas about human development and that is where the foundational difference lies on these two approaches on the essence of humanness (Newman & Holzman, 1993). On the contrary to Piaget who has strongly settled in a biological worldview and asserts human development in the adaptation to the environment, Vygotsky emphasizes on the centrality of transformative collaborative practices by individuals who do not adapt to their environment but as a whole transform it, and through this transformation also alter themselves and acquire their own status and essence (Newman & Holzman, 1993). For Piaget what promotes cognitive growth is disequilibration, a revolution made from the connection of two elemental processes. Concurrences with the world were either adapted, assimilated to anterior existing mental functions, or prevailing functions were altered to accommodate them. According to Piaget, there is this double connection between assimilation and accommodation highlighting that this double connection leads to cognitive growth, but none of these two functions can serve on its own the purpose of cognitive growth (Bruner, 1990). On the other hand, Vygotsky did not attribute to the mind this logical calculus. For Vygotsky, the mind is determined to consist of processes for attributing experience with meaning. Vygotsky indicated that meaning does not entirely depend upon language but also on the ability to apprehend the cultural context where language is used (Bruner, 1990). Vygotsky believed that cognitive growth would be promoted by acquiring essential order culturally allocated symbolic structures, with each of these symbolic structures having the ability to blend or switch pre-existing knowledge (Bruner, 1990). Additionally, these essential orders are manufactured by culture and cognitive growth is not formed by the biological perspective unless they are aided by language and culture which rely upon endured social interactions. Piaget was mainly concerned with the balanced order of mental development, whereas Vygotsky was merely concerned with how other more skilled individuals or the society implement the cultural patterning that constructs the process of cognitive growth and makes development achievable. According to Vygotsky’s general genetic law of cultural development any function the childe displays during his cultural development will appear two times. Firstly, it will appear in the social stage and then on the psychological stage. For Vygotsky, the unit of analysis is the individual engaging in social activities rather than psychological activity of the individual’s characteristics, arguing with Piaget’s position that children’s development must precede learning, Vygotsky’s position was that the development process lies behind the learning process. These two major theorists seem to disagree ontologically about learning due to the fact that Piaget is a constructionist and Vygotsky belongs to the activity theory. Ontologically constructivism indicates that there is no reality that exists outside of human thinking, whereas the activity theory points out that for everything that exists it does include physical characteristics. Furthermore, constructivism indicates that knowledge and thinking are inextricably on people’s brains and they just construct from their personal experiences. On the contrary, the activity theory indicates that knowledge is formed from a social negotiation involving people. Another issue which differs Vygotsky’s approach from Piaget’s is that the Piagetian theory does not provoke that children perform tasks that are far away from their cognitive capabilities. The teacher simply prepares the environment for the child’s developmental level of mental operations, concluding that the child is limited by its own developmental stage. On the other hand, Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development welcomes the child to attempt beyond its potential mental capabilities. Both theorists have contributed with their approaches of human development. The Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and the Russian Lev Vygotsky consequently influenced from their environments and cultures and also from their beliefs in constructivism and the activity theory formed their approaches on human development were in some parts seem to agree, but have major differences between them. Most critiques reflecting on these two approaches seem to weigh more on Piaget due to the fact that several developmental tasks he applied on children especially in the pre-operational stage are not clearly stated and it seemed that Piaget often underestimated children’s mental capabilities. Piaget claimed that pre-operational children cannot decentre on the ‘three mountain task’ though new studies have shown that by altering the objects with something more familiar, children were able to decentre. Also in some other Piagetian tasks children performed better than expected by Piaget. And that has revealed that Vygotsky’s approach to the socio-cultural aspect seems more appropriate than Piaget’s constructivist approach. REFERENCE LIST: Boyd, D. & Bee, H. (2006). Lifespan Development (4th. Edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Lerman, S. (1996). ‘Intersubjectivity in Mathematics Learning: A Challenge to the Radical Constructivist Paradigm?’ Journal for Research in Mathematics Education Vol. 27 2, pp.211-223. Newman, F., & Holzman, L. (1993). Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist. London: Routledge. Piaget, J. (1962). Comments on Vygotsky’s critical remarks concerning ‘The Language and Thought of the Child’, and ‘Judgement and Reasoning in the Child’. Cambridge: Massachusetts, The M.I.T. Piaget, J. (1969). Psykologi og paedagogik Copenhagen: Hans Reitzell. Piaget, J. (1970). Genetic Epistemology. New York: Columbia University. Santrock, J., W. (2008). A topical approach to life-span development (4th Edition). New York City: McGraw- Hill. Shaffer, D., R., & Kipp, K. (2007). Developmental Psychology: Childhood & Adolescence (7th Edition). Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth. Vygotsky, L., S. (1962). Thought and Language Cambridge: Massachusetts, The M.I.T. View as multi-pages

buy custom Peloponnesian War and Oedipus Tyrannus essay

buy custom Peloponnesian War and Oedipus Tyrannus essay The Peloponnesian war refers to a fight that occurred between the Athenian empire and the Peloponnesian. The attack was initiated and led by Sparta. The war has been split into three distinct phases by various historians. The phases are the Archidamian War (or first phase), the Peloponnese Fight (or second phase) and, finally, the Decelean War (or third phase). These three phases of the war were characterized by signing of various treaties such the Peace of Nicias, massive use of force during attacks and often repeated invasions of the cities. During the Decelean phase, Sparta fortunately received support from Persia (Thucydides Lattimore 17). There were numerous migrations as most people were abandoning their homes due to the tension and fear of the war. The war was characterized by destitute of capital, non-agricultural activities, reduced trading activities and the rich occupied large masses of land. Causes of the War According to Bagnall, the war was as a result of extreme greed by Athens which led it to attempt taking full control of the whole land of Greece. In response to this behavior of Athens, Sparta initiated a war so as to help itself as well as other oppressed cities of Greece. Sparta wanted Peloponnesians to have independence (Bagnall 213). In order to achieve this mission of saving itself and other cities from Athens control, Sparta had to form alliances with other smaller cities of Greece. It then sent its army to Athens in 430 BC. Disagreements between the two states started after Sparta rejected and prevented the proposed reconstruction of the great walls of Athens. According to Kagan, Sparta made the move so that it would be able to rule the defenseless Athens (Kagan 43). However, the real fight began in around 460 BC, when a rebellion broke up in Sparta. During this period, Sparta had to seek military support from its friendly nations, including Athens, but it surprisingly rejected the forces that sent by Athens to it. Kagan suggests that Spartas action was due to the fear of Athens forces changing their military aid mission and supporting the rebellions instead. As a confirmation of these allegations, Athens resettled the rebellious helot in the city of Naupactus after they were forced to surrender and exiled form Sparta (Kagan 67). In 460 BC, Athens again took advantage of a conflict between Megara and Corinth to form an alliance with Megara and initiated a war against Sparta that lasted for more than fifteen years. Megara and Corinth were both allies of Sparta. Another source of aggravation of the conflicts between the two states was the imposition of the Megara decree, a sanction that barred trade with citizens of Megara. DeSouza asserts that the Peloponnesian war was caused by persistent differences that existed between Athens and Sparta (De Souza 81). In Athens, there was democracy whereas Sparta had a military led government. He states that certain cities were overwhelmed with the fear that Athens would grab their power while others were not happy with Athens spending of the Delian money. According to Bagnall, Pericles punishment on cities that resisted Athens further catalyzed the speared of the war. Sparta finally declared war against Athens in 431 BC. During the regime of Pericles, Athens became overcrowded and people could easily get infected by disease. Plague spread steadily killing more than two thirds of Athens population, thereby weakening its forces and defense system, including the Pericles (Bagnall 142). Impacts of the War The war had a great impact on ancient Greece. Economically, the war left Grece in a miserable economic condition. The city of Athens was not able to regain its economic state and prosperity that it used to enjoy before the war, while Peloponnese suffered from skyrocketing inflation rates and increased poverty. Politically, the war between the two states resulted in frequent civil wars between cities of Greece. Being in conflict with another city became a norm for the states. The Peloponnesian war resulted into massive destruction of most cities of Greece. It also led to deaths of thousands of the Greeks. In addition, all the Greek states suffered from economic and military losses irrespective of whether or not a city was involved in the wars. The prestigious wealth, policies, and power of Athens led to umbrage, anger and bitterness among other cities of Greece. One of its major effects was the long-term weakening of city-states for more than 50 years. Athens, which was once the strongest city in Greece, was terribly reduced to a helpless and vulnerable state whereas its rival Sparta gained full momentum and power to become the leader of Greece. End of the War The war eventually ended after a severe destruction of Athens fleet at Aegospotami which forced it to deliberately surrender the fight. In 404 BC, Athens was forced to surrender to Sparta after the fight continued for another fifteen years, despite the signing of the Truce Agreement in 420 BC to bring the war to a halt. Athens Recovery There are various factors that led to the successful recovery of Athens. First, the enemies of Athens did not have enough force, strength and drive to bring down Athens, for instance, Sparta lacked the urge to send its military troops to Athens. Athens also received support from other Ionian states that required protection. Persia, on the other hand, deliberately delayed its promise to furnish Sparta with funds and army ships. This led to more and more frustrations of Spartas battle plans and strategies during the war. Consequently, Athena was able to win and recover most portions of its empire between 410 BC and 400 BC. Similarly, Athens shrewdly set aside some finances and more than one hundred and fifty ships that it would use as the last resort during the war. Rusten and Thucydides suggest that Alcibiades; use of less coercion also rapidly facilitated the process of restoring democracy in Athens. He was able to achieve this within a period of only two years (Rusten Thucydides 69). Athens after War In 403 BC, Athens was able to overthrow the oligarchs after a short period of suspension of Athens democracy. Similarly, the Corinthian war made it possible for Athens to recover its lost power during the Peloponnesian war. Lessons from the War According to Lattimore and Thucydides, countries that wage should learn from the Peloponnesian war that they can easily lose their power, control and supremacy despite their fights to gain it. When Athens was attacked by Sparta, a large number of its citizens migrated and settled behind the walls of the city (Thucydides Lattimore 51). This led to overcrowding and consequently poor living standards which eventually led to outbreaks of diseases and plagues. He further advises that countries should try as possible as they can to avoid conflicts with their neighbors. Oedipus Tyrannus This play was first performed in 426 BC, just a few years after the plague that hard hit Athens. At the beginning of the story, Oedipus finds himsellf in the city where there was the plague. He attempts to elate the plague. He then comes to realize that the plague would only end after the murder of Laius is identified. Oedipus was determined to pursue the truth but he later realized that he was the actual murder of his own father. This drives him to carry out investigations and develops a series of questions in his efforts of finding out the murderer of Laius, not knowing that he was the one who killed him in a three-way road. Similarly, he later on realizes that the same way he killed Laius, his real father. It is crammed when neverending questions from Oedipus and his condemnation of those who did not want to reveal the truth about the death of Laius (Gaylord 65). Oedipus exhibits extreme arrogance and violence as he searches for the murderer. The play revolves around a king who is humbled by a series of mysterious events beyond his control from extreme supremacy and seeks help form a blind woman. It was a tragic for a king of such high profile to be brought down to high poverty levels. Lessons from the Play The play explores different themes, state control among them. This theme can be paralleled with the conflicts that emerged between different states of the ancient Greek. From the story we learn how one may fall due to the unknown circumstance. It also shows us the disadvantages of destructive use of power and excessive pride. The play is about King Oedipus. It begins by the king sending his brother-in-law to seek help for the problems that were being encountered in his empire. When Creon goes to a priest, he is told that the problems were due to the religious pollution that resulted after the killing of King Laius (Segal 141). When Oedipus called for the priest, he refuses to speak on arrival. Oedipus becomes raged with this act and orders the priest to be killed. The priest further insists that the murder of King Laius was Oedipus plan. Visionary leadership King Oedipus in the play resembles a dictator king who uses force and coercion to rule. The writer emphasizes on the good qualities of a king such as love for his state and the people. A good king should not be self-centered or be proud. From the Peloponnesian war and Oedipus, it is evidenced that kings usually fall due to the bad ruling of the people who consequently form rebellions to overthrow their governments. In this play, Oedipus is portrayed a leader who will always pursues his own personal interest, is overconfident about himself and quick to angers. According to Gaylord, King Oedipus resembles that various characters of current political leaders who make citizens of their countries live in hopelessness, fear and desperation (Gaylord 127). Conclusion In my opinion, it would be easier for one to understand Oedipus Tyrannus play when he/she has heard of the Peloponnesian war. This is because there is a direct relationship between the play and the war. Actually, the play was sent just a few years after the Peloponnesian war within the same setting or environment. The play sets similar themes as the lessons that were learnt during and after the war. In my view, King Oedipus can be compared with Athens that was taking advantage of its economical, social and political supremacy to exercise control on other cities. This behavior of Athens can be directly linked to King Oedipus character of dictatorship. Both the play and Peloponnesian war provide valuable lessons to states that the use of force and conflicts as a way of acquiring power over other nations. The play was best set for colonies. Buy custom Peloponnesian War and Oedipus Tyrannus essay

How to Get Your CDL in West Virginia and Wisconsin

How to Get Your CDL in West Virginia and Wisconsin This article is useful for anyone who wants to get a CDL in West Virginia or Wisconsin. If you want to learn about earning a CDL at other states, we have put together a comprehensive guide on how to get a commercial driver’s license in every state of the country. West VirginiaYou need a CDL if you are going to drive:Any vehicle combination with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 26,001+ pounds, as long as the GVWR of the towed vehicle(s) is over 10,000 pounds. (Class A)A single vehicle with a GVRW of 26,001+ pounds; or  this vehicle towing another that is less than 10,000 pounds. (Class B)A vehicle with a weight rating of less than 26,001 pounds,  or such a vehicle towing another that is less than 10,000 pounds:  Vehicles that are designed for 16 passengers or more, including the driver, and  Vehicles used to transport hazardous materials.  (Class C)In order to obtain a CDL:You must be at least 18 years old and have 2 years of driving experience.You must  meet specific physical qualification standards and carry a medical certificate to show evidence of such qualification.If you are unable to become medically certified, you may be eligible for a medical waiver.The ExamsAll applicants must take either a written or oral knowledge test and pass  and answer at least 80% of the questions correctly.  You must test for the desired endorsements you have listed on the test card at the time you test for general knowledge, but you may get a test card for other endorsements at a later date if you wish to add them.If you fail the knowledge exam, you may not retest for 7 days. You may try to pass the exam three times on the original fees.After you pass the written exams, you will receive a commercial driver’s instruction permit. Only after you have your learner’s permit can you then take your road (skills) tests.After you pass your road tests, you can then receive your CDL.WisconsinIf you are going to drive any of the following vehicl es, you must obtain a CDL:Vehicles that weigh 26,000+ pounds, determined by the highest of the following:manufacturer’s gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR)manufacturer’s gross combination weight rating (GCWR) when the towed unit has a GVWR, registered weight, or gross weight of  10,000+ poundsactual weightregistered weightA vehicle carrying hazardous materials that require placarding under federal lawA vehicle designed or used to carry 16+ people, including the driverThe ExamsFirst, you must take and pass the appropriate knowledge test(s) for the vehicle you plan to drive.CDL knowledge tests are free, and take take at least 1 to 1.5 hours to complete. You must answer  80%+ questions correctly to pass.  You must present a valid Class D license at the time of testing.After you pass the knowledge exam, you can obtain your  Commercial Driver Learner permit (CLP).  Your CLP will be valid for 180 days. You can use a  CLP to practice driving with a qualified instru ctor or CDL driver  who has  a valid license at or above the level of your permit.You must hold a CLP  for 14 days prior to taking your road test(s).After you schedule and pass the pre-trip, backing test and skills test(s) with an approved third party tester, you can receive your CDL.

Critiquing a mixed-method study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Critiquing a mixed-method study - Essay Example Because it allocates money for expensive operations on the elderly. Such a statement indeed rises up a lot of comments and touches a lot of conflicting attitudes. For one thing it can easily slip into the political arena. The point is that the statement draws upon an important issue the United States is presently facing, the expense of health care. It makes this point as it draws up another important issue, that of the sanctity of life and one's ultimate responsibility in medical care which is to respect that sanctity. Getting back to the theme, apparently the concern which the article lies upon is one shared among several countries in the western world. A recent World Health Publication revealed that in some countries the health system would not think twice about transplanting a kidney to an elderly person. There was a recent program on the radio in which the South African health care system specifically denied such transplants to older age groups. The point is that there are pre-un derstandings behind the Goodridge et al article and they definitely lie upon or assume a western system of values. Is this okay? What does this mean? For one thing this means that there is no 'disembodied intellect' as Horsburgh points out. There is no neutrality here that could take in the position of countries outside the Western realm, such as South Africa. But this view doesn't say the study is wrong on in fault. It simply means, as Flemmings points out, one’s knowledge does come from our social interaction and experiences, and, from then stance of this article, these happen to occur in the Western world. The dominant theme in the United States part of this western World happens to be sensitive questions dealing with health care. Hence the main research question would immediately become suspect, as it would recall the political sphere where such confusing issues as 'death panels' were raised. But it is not the United States. The article is based on Canadian experiences. B ut still, there is a hidden assumption in the article. The assumption is that quality of care can be measureable as significant when one is dying in an intensive care unit and when one is dying of an obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The assumption appears that life can be extended in the case of COPD. Life should, of course, when possible, be extended. It is an assumption that is usually accepted. It is important that this assumption, and if it lies also in the authors, be reflexibly revealed. What would the hypothesis of this article be? Would it be that 'the care needs of people with COPD who die in the ICU' are different from the care needs of people receiving end of life (EOL) care who die in 'critical care settings' without COPD? One cannot be sure. This is a mixed methods study, combining both qualitative and quantitative data. The authors seek to measure the quality of EOL care in the ICU, but have many challenges. One challenge is that the 'ICU patients experience alter ed cognition and are unable to participate directly in quality of care assessments'. 2. The literature review is concerned with describing the difficult state of the patients. It speaks of how depression, anxiety and other illness contributed to the comorbidity state of the patients, explaining the complexity of the care provided. The background reviews literature dealing with the many issues concerning EOL critical

Impact o Mergers and Acquisitions on Financial Performance Essay

Impact o Mergers and Acquisitions on Financial Performance - Essay Example The context of this study represents understanding mergers and acquisitions, and their impact upon financial performance. The preceding statement carries a broad number of facets that need to be considered and equated in delving into such an inquiry. Mergers and acquisitions represent the decision of one and or both companies whereby combining their operations, merger, represents an arrangement that will enhance shareholder value through the synergies of operation that will occur (Mullins, 2003). In general, mergers occur through the pooling of the company's stock, which is derived at via a ratio that is specified through stock price, market capitalization and other measures, with the formation of a new company, usually representing the name of one or both of the two entities involved (Mullins, 2003). An acquisition differs from a merger in that it represents the takeover of one company of another that can be termed as being either friendly, or hostile (investopedia, 2008). In equating the word acquisition, one also needs to be cognizant of how the takeover is phrased by the companies in question. Not all so called acquisitions are acquisitions, but in fact mergers if both companies agreed to the terms and are cooperating in the analysis of benefits for shareholders as well as the futures of the firms, then in effect, this type of acquisition is in reality a merger, interchangeable words, depending upon circumstances and conditions (diffen.com, 2007). When the targeted company is not seeking or does not want to be acquired, then these are always termed as being acquisitions, many of which are called hostile (diffen.com, 2007). 2.0 The Rationales Behind Mergers and Acquisitions In order to equate the impact upon financial performance as represented by mergers and acquisitions, the rationales and decisions behind these activities will aid in providing insight as to the purpose(s) of management in seeking this course of action. Canals (1997, p. 1) helps to provide