Factors Contributing For Food Choices - 2823 Words

Factors Contributing to Food Choices Anshrea Crosby David Whyte Shannon Frost Professor Robert T. Haines Experimental Psychology 320.002 May 4, 2015 Abstract The purpose of this study is to determine which factors cause people to choose the food that they eat the most. We hypothesized that the reason people eat certain foods is due to a number of different reasons. The factors explored in this study were time, quickness, cost, taste, environmental factors, and convenience. The data for this study was collected by administering surveys to college students in two experimental psychology classes. Each student was given an informed consent form and survey to complete and turn back in to the researcher. The results of the study†¦show more content†¦Several researchers have examined the reasoning behind eating habits. They believe that if the reasoning behind eating habits was determined and known, then possibly bad eating habits could be decreased. High school students and college students especially need to be cautious of the food they are consuming. Bad food choices may not affect them now, but will play a huge role in the future. Nutritional intake during adolescence is important for growth, long-term health promotion, and the development of lifelong eating behaviors. The total nutrient needs are higher in adolescence than during any other time in the life cycle because of rapid growth and development (Casey, Neumark-Sztainer, Perry Story, 1999). In a study conducted by Cheryl Perry, Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Mary Anne Casey, and Mary Story, the researchers analyzed adolescents’ perceptions about factors influencing their food choices and eating behaviors. The study included 141 males and females in two schools located in St. Paul, Minn. These participants were in 21 focus groups and were divided into these groups based off of gender and classification. The focus groups were held in the school setting with each group in a different classroom. The participants were audiotaped, and the tapes were transcribed verbatim to ensure systematic analysis of

The Western Roman Empire †the Rise Fall Free Essays

string(29) " used for urban development\." Western Roman Empire | A map depicting the separate empires of Rome| Mediterranean Society: The Roman Phase From Kingdom To Republic The Etruscans and Rome (Previous Wiki notes) There are many different versions on how Rome started the ones told to kids are very simple with very few names: . Ancient Rome for Kids  The story of Romulus and Remus for adults have dates, more names and details:  Wolf Country, Myth and Stories You can find many versions of myths, however the version the text book talks about Aeneas, a refugee from Troy who migrated to Italy when Greek invaders destroyed his land. Tow of his decedents, twins; Romulus and Remus, almost didn’t survive infancy because and evil uncle abandoned them by a flooded Tiber River. We will write a custom essay sample on The Western Roman Empire – the Rise Fall or any similar topic only for you Order Now A she-wolf found them and nursed them back to health. When the boys grew older, Romulus founded the city of Rome and established himself as its first kind in 753 B. C. E. However scholars tell a different story. Some Greek historians believe that Aeneas settled at Rome, which was a small city-state. In the fourth century B. C. , Rome began to expand and Romans came into greater contact with the Greeks, which suggest that Aeneas has a role in the creation of the great city. In the first century B. C. , the Roman Poet Virgil developed the Aeneas myth in his epic poem the  Aeneid, which talked about Aeneas’ journey to Rome. Augustus, the first Roman emperor and emperor during Virgil’s time, and Julius Caesar, his great uncle and predecessor as the Roman ruler, were known to be decedents of Aeneas. ( Information founded in the article:  This Day in History: Rome founded) The text book talks about how Indo-Europeans migrated crossed the Alps and settled through the Italian peninsula, including the future site of Rome. The Roman Republic and Its Constitution The Romans got rid of the last Etruscan king in 509 B. C. E. The republican constution had two consuls; military and civil. These consuls were elected by an assembly that was dominated by the high class, or patricians. There was also a senate which advised the consuls and helped ratify major decisions. Because both the senate and consuls represented only the interests of the patricians there were many conflicts between the patricians and the lower class, or plebeians. To solve these conflicts, the patricians gave the plebeians tribunes, or people the plebeians could elect to speak for them. The tribunes had the  power  to intervene and veto decisions. The plebeians began to gain  power, by the early third century B. C. E the plebeians’ tribunes dominated Roman politics. From Republic To Empire Imperial Expansion and Domestic Problems During the second and first centuries B. C. E, the relations between the classes were so strained that there was much conflict and violence. Two brothers, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus worked to spread the land possesion and tried to limit the ammount of land a certain person could hold. Unfortunately though, they were both assasinated for fear of gaining influence over Roman affairs. The people that were in control of the political  power, were of a small class that used the power to only help themselves and their class. In 87 B. C. E Marius marched on Rome and during the first century B. C. E, Rome was in civil war. When Marius died the next year, Sulla planned to take power and soon did in 83 B. C. E. Many conservatives supported Sulla because he imposed many conservative legislation. The Foundation of Empire Julius Caesar seized Rome in 49 B. C. E by being a very popular public figure. He believed strongly in  social  reform and conquered Gaul. He was responsible for a lot of  social  reforms and changed the gonvernment to centralized control. Caesar claimed the title â€Å"dictator for life†, which earned him his assasination in 44 B. C. E. After Caesar was killed, his adopted son, Octavian, after defeating Mark Antony, took over Rome and brought civil conflict to an end. The senate bestowed the title â€Å"Augustus,† to him in 27 B. C. E. He ran a monarchy disguised as a republic. While he was in power, a new standing army was created and the imperial institutions began to take root. Continuing Expansion and Integration of the Empire The two centuries following Augustus’s rule, the Romans conquered lands in the Mediterranean basin, western Europe, and down the Nile to Kush. For two and a half centuries into the third century a long era of peace was prevelant among economic and political integration, this was called  pax romana, or â€Å"Roman peace†. Another important Roman advance was the road and highway system. The new road systems created were very well engineered and allowed for extremely quick and urgent travel, which improved the postal system extremely. Also during this time, Romans began developing a system of written law at about 450 B. C. E. They developed a system called the Twelve Tables, which was a basic law code for citizens for the early republic. Economy and Society In the Roman Mediterranean Trade and Urbanization Latifundia owners grew various crops to export in North Africa, Egypt, and Sicily. Ships carried several hundred tons of crops to cities for consumers. Other cities and regions could now focus on cultivating fruits and vegetables or manufacturing goods. Archaeologists have uncovered a pottery factory north of Rome that probably employed hundreds of workers and had a mixing vat that could hold more than 10,568 gallons (40,000 liters) of clay. The Mediterranean lake became an essential lake for the Romans because it linked many cities and was used for trading. They called the lake  mare nostrum  which means â€Å"our sea. † The Roman military and navy kept the seas mostly free of pirates to ensure that cargoes could move freely over long distances. The city of Rome received taxes, tributes, booty and other wealth from military expansion. Rome also received most of the profit from Mediterranean trade. The money was used for urban development. You read "The Western Roman Empire – the Rise Fall" in category "Papers" In the first century C. E. , there were about 10,000 statues, 700 pools, 500 fountains, and 36 monumental arches. The state financed the construction of temples, bath houses, public buildings, stadiums, and aqueducts. The aqueducts were very important because they brought fresh water to Rome. They used concrete (invented by Roman engineers) to build the aqueducts because it is very strong. The population increased dramatically because construction employed hundreds of thousands of workers. Family and Society in Roman Times The eldest male was usually the head of the common Roman family and ruled as  Pater Familias, or â€Å"father of the family†. As the pater families, the father could do anything he wanted with his children, like planning weddings or even executing them. Despite Roman law, women could hold high influence within the family. The women also would help plan weddings and even help with family finances by finding loopholes in Roman Law. As time went on, new classes of people accumulated lots of private wealth for themselves. The wealthy would live in palaces and eat exotic dishes with animal tongues in them. If there are wealthy people, there are lots of poor people, who became a big problem in Rome. The poor would often riot, but the government used a technique called â€Å"Bread and Circuses† where they would supply the poor with subsidized grain and spectacular public entertainment. One big part of Roman society was the slaves. About one third (Two sixths, three ninths, etc. ,) of the population were slaves; most of which worked on Latifundia, while others worked mines. During the second and first centuries, slaves would often revolt. One of the more serious revolts being in 73 BCE where 70,000 slaves rebelled was led by Spartacus. City slaves had a much less difficult life. Female slaves worked as servants, whereas educated or talented male slaves could lead comfortable lives, such as Epictetus, who became a Stoic philosopher. Some slaves hoped for manumission, so they could leave the slave life behind. This was not mandatory for owners, so they slaves still had to work under the owner’s command until they might be set free. The owners could do anything they wanted to with the slaves. The Cosmopolitan Mediterranean Greek Philosophy and Religions of Salavation The Romans believed in Gods and Goddesses who intervened in human affairs, and tutelary deities who looked after the welfare of families. As the Roman empire grew, they experienced more cultures, which lead to them adopting deities from other people and adapted them to their own purposes. As well as using other cultures’ deities, they also borrowed religious practices, like animal sacrifices. The Greeks inspired the Romans in ways like rational thought and philosophy. One example is the Stoicism. The Stoics â€Å"sought to identify a set of universal moral standards based on nature and reason that would transcend local ethical codes†. Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 b. c. e. ) was a Roman thinker who adopted the Stoic values. In adapting Hellenistic thought to Roman needs, Cicero drew heavily from Stoics’ moral and ethical teachings. Cicero believed that the pursuit of justice is a person’s duty and was against those who sought wealth and power through immoral ways. The majority of people believed in religions of salvation because it gave them a promise of future existence. Religions of salvation became key features of Mediterranean society in the Helenistic times. The roads of the Roman empire not only served as trade routes, but as openings for the word of religious salvation to spread. Mithraism started as a cult for Mithras, a god for the sun and light. Soldiers in Anatolia adapted the cult to their own interests, and related it to strength and courage rather than the sun and light. The cult of Mithras did not allow women, but cults for goddesses like Isis spread. The cult of Isis was the most popular before Christianity spread. All of these religions spread through the Mediterranean basin. Judaism and Early Christianity In an attempt to encourage political loyalty, emperors often created state cults to worship the emperors as gods. The Jews believed that the creation of these cults was totally outside of the belief of their religion. Jews often refused to pay taxes to the emperors who had claimed themselves to be gods. As the Romans began to spread into the eastern Mediterranean region the relations between the Romans and the Jews became more and more tense. Between the third and first centuries B. C. E. the Jews mounted several rebellious attacks against the Romans but ultimately failed. The Roman forces outfought the rebels during the Jewish War of 66 to 70 C. E. Some Jews actively fought the Romans and others founded new sects that looked for saviors. They observed a strict moral code and participated in rituals designed to reinforce a state of community. They also looked for a savior who would take them away from Roman rule and lead them to establish a community in which they could practice faith without interference. The early Christians probably had little contact with them but had many of the same concerns. Christians formed their community around Jesus of Nazareth. | Jesus of Nazareth| The Fall of the Roman Empire Internal Decay in the Roman Empire Although it is perceived that the collapse of the Roman empire only had one cause, there were actually multiple causes that caused the fall of the empire. The combination of internal problems and external pressures proved deadly for the civilization. Internal political problems included internal opposition, which was mostly the work of the 26 claimants. The claimants were successors to the imperial throne, and were nicknamed â€Å"barracks emperors. † Their deaths were violent, often times because of one another, and held their power for short periods of time. The shear size of the Roman empire also proved problematic for the future of Rome. Central governments were difficult to control over large areas, and epidemics soon spread like wildfire over the uncontrolled region. Eventually, self-sufficient economies took the place of a large central government. Diocletian, who reigned from 284-305 CE, attempted to solve the problem of size by dividing the empire into two administrative districts. Two co-emperors ruled the districts, with the aid of lieutenants and 4 officials, or tetrarchs. Only these officials were allowed to minister. Diocletian was a skilled administrator who brought Rome’s armies under control, and strengthened the imperial currency. Although his war strategies were more effective than his economic ones, this helped stabilize Rome’s economy. His retirement later resulted in civil war. Constantine was the son of Diocletian’s co-ruler Constantius became the emperor. Constantine wanted to become the sole emperor of Rome, so he reunited the Eastern and Western districts of Rome. Constantine wanted a new capital for the new united empire, so he built the city of Constantinople. Old problems of centralized government arose from this reunion, as both the population and economy of reunited Rome declined. There were no resources left to protect the new empire and its people, ending the reign of Constantine. Germanic Invasions and the Fall of the Western Roman Empire Military threat from migratory Germanic peoples and Germanic invasions brought an end to Roman authority in the western half of the empire, while the eastern half survived another millennium. The Visigroths, the most famous of this group of migrants, adopted Roman culture and laws, but were advised to settle outside of the imperial boundaries. The Huns, who migrated from Central Asia, were brilliantly led by the warrior-king Atilla, who organized the Huns into a nearly unstoppable military unit. They attacked Germanic peoples living on Roman empire boundaries. The Huns disappeared after Atilla’s death, but the Germanic peoples had such an effect from their violence that they began to seek refuge in Rome. They scattered in settlements throughout the Western Roman empire, and later overthrew the governments they were living under. The Visiogroths, under the leadership of Alaric, sacked Rome in 410 CE. Odovacer, a Germanic ruler, deposed Romulus Agustulus, ending the Western Roman empire. Cultural Change in the Late Roman Empire Germanic peoples governed and organized society with their own traditions now that they lacked the guardianship of the Romans. They adopted some Roman influence, mostly Roman laws which resonated deeply within their systems. Roman and Germanic traditions later blended to form Medieval Europe. Christianity survived the Roman empire collapse, and it became a huge influencer in the region. Constantine promulgated the  Edict of Milan,  which allowed Christians to practice their faith openly in the Roman empire. Constantine himself converts to Christianity, and the later emperor, Theodosius, makes Christianity the official religion of the Roman empire. Christianity historically resonated with the lower classes and women because of its equal nature, but during the 4th century CE, that began to change when intellectual elites began to take more interest in Christianity. St. Augustine (354-430 CE) was he most important and influential figure in the spread of Christianity after the collapse of the Western Roman empire. He was a bishop of Hippo, (a town in Northern Africa) and worked to reconcile Christianity with Greek and Roman philosophical traditions, and to articulate Christianity with the upper classes. Controversy arose within the religion, putting tension between people who interpreted the Christian doctrine in different ways. The foundation of the institutional church formed shortly after these disputes began to arise. The bishop of Rome, known as the Pope, and 4 patriarchs, were the church officials. Bishops and patriarchs would assemble in church councils to solve disputes, often times over the interpretations of Christine doctrines. In the meantime, missionaries converted Germanic peoples to Christianity. How to cite The Western Roman Empire – the Rise Fall, Papers

Ethical Dilemma for Ethical Principles and Ethical Theories

Question: Discuss about theEthical Dilemma for Ethical Principles and Ethical Theories. Answer: Introduction: Ethical dilemma is common occurrence in present day health care. Nurses need to be knowledgeable about the ethical principles, ethical theories, professional codes of conducts, codes of ethics and others to ensure safe practice and save themselves form legal obligation (Preshaw et al., 2016). A case study is chosen where the nurses had provided restraints in the aggressive patient leading to clashes between beneficence, non-maleficence. Theory of utilitarianism was also not followed. Several codes of ethics and professional conducts were also breached. The present assignments will gradually unfold how such occurrences had taken place and what a nurse in such situation should have done. Identification of the ethical issues: In the case study 2, the nurse named Camilla was assigned to care for a patient named Sam who was suffering from acute abdominal pain. When she was trying to measure his vital signs, she was prevented by the patient who was quite agitated. He violently pushed the nurse away and was not cooperating with her. He was answering irrationally and was continuously calling out. When the team arrived and witnessed his aggressive behaviour and verbal abuses along with his trying to pull his cannula out, they decided to restrain him. Although Camilla was apprehensive of the negative outcome that would result from the restraints, yet the nurse in charge Julia insisted to follow her orders as there was no workforce on the shift to handle the patient effectively. The case represented a scenario where the nurse was torn between two ethical situations. On one hand, she had the duty to maintain the safe practice of the patient to ensure that he gets well and her interventions have positive outcome on his health. On the other hand, she had to maintain the orders of her senior to restrain the patient as he was being a threat to the safety of the staffs on the ward and also to himself. To prevent any adverse events to occur on the ward, he was restrained so that his treatment could be continued without any interruption from him. However to do that, the nurses had to breach the ethical principles of autonomy and dignity as informed consents were not taken from the patient and his rights and human dignity was not paid importance to. Hence, here rises an ethical dilemma. The nurse named Camilla was facing dilemma where she was torn apart between her duties to maintain safe and effective practice for the patient to make him get well but at the same tim e was not being able to take informed consent of the patient for maintaining his dignity and autonomy (due to his aggressive behaviour and violence exhibited by him). A clear ethical perspective on the issues: While working with the patient, there arose many situations for which the nurse was not being able to initiate her treatments effectively. Measuring the vital signs of the patient was very important in order to understand the physiological condition of the body (Mertz Stretch, 2014). Following the vital signs and then determining the treatment requirements were extremely important to tackle his abdominal pain. The responsibility of the nurse is to provide the safest, evidence based and person centered care to the patient so that his symptoms are overcome. The ethical principles of beneficence and non maleficence always guide the nurse to provide the safest care to patients. The theory of Utilitarianism states that those care practices will be considered right which has the best outcome on the patient health (Eren, 2014). However, in order to do so, an uninterrupted care was very important which would ensure quality life. However, it was not possible as the patient was violent and ag gressive and was not allowing the nurse to actively conduct her assessment which was delaying his process of treatment. Therefore the nurses decided to restrain him and contribute his treatment. However, this was an unethical approach as present healthcare system guidelines instructs the importance of the maintenance of the principle of autonomy and dignity and asking for the patients permission before applying any interventions or restrains on him (Sinclair, Papps Maeshall, 2016). This should be kept in mind also that the patient was not in a stable state of mental health for which he was not being able to answer rationally and did not understand the negative aspect of his aggression. Still, by the rulebook, asking for dignity and informed consent are important which were breached by the Camilla and her senior nurse. Therefore this led to an ethical situation where Camilla was not being able to understand what actions to take as he was aware that restraints may also have physical harm to the patient and his aggression could increase. However providing effective care by restraining was also important. An alternative perspective to your own: Critical thinking and proper decision making are two important characters which need to be possessed by every nurse in her professional practice to ensure that she is providing the best care to the patient with the best approach that would ensure patient satisfaction. It was indeed true that the nurse was facing issues in carrying out her assessments of the vital signs. The patient was aggressive and violent which proposed a threat to the patient and also to the healthcare professionals. It was very indeed important for the nurse to carry on with the treatment just for the patient benefits. The principles of beneficence and non maleficence ensure the proper caring of the patient by the best service (Park et al., 2016). However, it does not necessarily mean that in order to maintain the two principles, another principle of autonomy and dignity needs to be avoided. Providing the right to the patient to allow the nurses to carry on the treatment is very important (Margettic et al., 2014 ). If a more skilled nurse would have been present in the ward, with proper experiences and skill, she should have found out other ways to handle the situation and thereby take an effective decision rather than deciding for restraining on the patient. Over the years, various evidence based journals have been published may procedures which help in handling aggressive patient thereby making their conditions stable (Hughes Lane, 2016). Researchers convey that restraints should be the last resort only when the other techniques for managing aggression fail. Ensuring open communication, developing a culture of positive attitudes, giving the scope to the patient to express his anger, refraining from having judgmental attitudes, smoothing the situation without pressuring the patient for proper behavior and many others help in such situation. Establishing decision-making protocol and acknowledging and dealing with conflicts quickly help in tackling the situation (Mohler Meyer, 2014). The r ationale provide by the nurses for applying restraints cannot be held valid. If the nurses really are following the principle of beneficence as well as non maleficence for the patient along with following the ethical theory of utilitarianism, still their activity for not asking for consent cannot be justified as restraints as rightly said by Camilla will cause physical harm and will increase his aggression. Therefore if another nurse would have been in the area, she would have applied the human factor for situation awareness and correct decision-making and apply evidence based strategies by which he could be stabilized following which consent would have been taken. Requirement to respect human dignity and human rights: Human dignity can be defined as the sense of self worth and self respect which includes the right to fill basic needs of food, safety and shelter. In the healthcare environment, human dignity mainly remains focused on the importance of privacy, respect and autonomy. Care should be always taken by healthcare professionals that their practices should never erode the human dignity. Modesty is one of the traits of human dignity and simple activities like lowering of voice when talking, helping them to walk, educating them about their health and the interventions, asking for their permission before applying interventions, before feeding, bathing and others increase patient satisfaction (Luo, 2014). Over the years, social activist researchers have found out through researches that every human being recognizes the need to have some measure of control over their bodies or what happens to their bodies and even over how their destinies unfold. Therefore, healthcare professionals do not keep an y human beings restrained to bed. This not only affects their mental health like creating depression, anxiety, frustration and others and even exacerbates aggression in case of psychotic patients. Besides, it also leads to physical harm, bruises, fractures and others. Just like the case study, researchers have also found out that less time and inadequate staffing act as some of the biggest barriers which nurses face when the condition of preserving patient dignity arises. In rush hours, nurses do not get time for address each patient as individual. Stress, fatigue, lack of concentration and also burnout may hamper the patients dignity (Eclock Lewis, 2016). In this case as well, Julie advised Camilla to apply restraints without trying her best to calm down the situations as staffs were less in number. Therefore, it is extremely important for every nurse to develop professional knowledge, dedication as well as clear vision to see every patient as another human being and thereby try t o keep the dignity intact by proper critical thinking and decision making skills. An important ethical theory studied in this unit: A debate can be established on the use of the ethical theory of utilitarianism. This theory states that an intervention or care can be termed as sufficient and proper only when the outcomes of the interventions has the best impact on the patient making the patient happy and live proper quality life. This theory mainly instructs to implement strategies which bring happiness for the people (Luo, 2016). Nurses treat patients with the goal that their intervention would help them overcome their phase of ailment and distress and give them a healthy life to make them happy. While Camilla was trying to provide the best care plan, she could not do so because of the violence she faced. In order to forcefully apply interventions and make him safe from threats, the patient was restrained. Applying restraints is a breach of the ethical theory of utilitarianism as making the patient feels bondage can never make him happy and in turn gave negative impacts on him. With the long term goal of the pati ents happy and healthy life, the nurses beached the short term goal of maintaining immediate happiness of the patient by applying restraints as they never thought about how the patients self image and self respect can be hampered making him unhappy (Chehab, 2017). Consequentialism which is the theory of ensuring interventions with the best outcomes to be the appropriate one is also not followed here. Julie never thought of the physical and mental impacts that would result from restraints and hence her activity also beached theory of consequentialism. Principles of health care ethics: Beneficence states that nurses should provide interventions which ensure safety of the patients and should have the best outcome (in comparison to other options). Non maleficence ensures interventions which would give no suffering to the patient. It is seen that both the principles clashed among themselves. In order to develop the health of the patient and to keep him safe from any self harm, restraints were put. Providing restraints helped them to conduct assessments of the patient and thereby develop an understanding of his condition to develop care plan with the bets interventions (Bollig, Gjengaegdal Rosland, 2016). However to do so, non maleficence was not maintained. The application of medical restraints harmed the patient more causing him mental as well as physical suffering which is strictly against the principle of non-maleficence. Hence, nurses should be more concerned and develop critical thinking ability to ensure proper decision making in stressful situations. Professions codes of ethics/ professional conduct professional standards: The Nursing and midwifery Board of Australia has provided with a set of codes of ethics which nurses should maintain in their practice to ensure best health of patients without getting engaged in ethical and legal obligations. However among the 8 codes of ethics, code 1, 2, 5 and 6 were not maintained. The nurses did not value quality nursing for the patient and did not exhibit respect and kindness for self as well as others. Nurses also did not value informed decision making as his permission was not taken before restraining him. The code 6 of maintaining a culture while providing care may seem to have been taken care of as they tried to put restraint on him for protecting him form self harm ("Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia", 2017). However they missed out the part of the mental and physical harm which the patient may have due to restraints which would hamper his safety. Professional codes of conduct proposed by NMBA were also not followed. Code 1of maintaining a safe care was not followed ("Standard of practice, Nursing and midwifery board of Australia", 2017). Code 3 of maintaining laws in profession was not followed as breaching of human rights leads to legal obligations. Code 7 of maintaining informed decision making was also not followed. Hence, it is extremely important for all nurses to abide by the codes to ensure safe practice free from dilemma and legal obligations. Recommendations for professional practice: Every nurses when gets tangled in ethical dilemma, should utilize critical thinking skills and decision making skills to ensure that the steps they take are in compliance with the ethical principles and theories. Maintain of the human rights and dignities are important to overcome legal obligations. They should follow the professional codes of conduct and codes of ethics to ensure that their interventions abide by them. Restraints should always be considered as the last resort on different options in interventions. Nurses should follow various evidence based journals so that they can understand the most modern techniques which are applied to handle such patients and treat them effectively (Kusmaul, Bern-King Bonifas, 2017). Conclusion: Due to unavailability of workforce on the ward, Julies advice made Camilla apply medical restraints to maintain safety of the patient and also other staff members without his informed consent. This resulted in ethical dilemma as there was a clash between the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. Moreover, the true sense of utilitarianism was also not followed. Professional codes of conduct and codes of ethics were also breached by the application of restraints on the patients. Nurses in such situations have to develop the human factors of decision making skills, critical reasoning skill and situation awareness so that they can apprehend the situations correctly. Moreover they should go through different evidenced based journals to remain informed about the modern care suggested by researchers in the recent years. This would help them to provide care to patients which would ensure patient satisfaction. References: Bollig, G., Gjengedal, E., Rosland, J. H. (2016). Nothing to complain about? Residents and relatives views on a good life and ethical challenges in nursing homes.Nursing ethics,23(2), 142-153. Chehab, M. (2017). Moral Distress: What Is Next?.Pediatric Critical Care Medicine,18(8), 814-815. Code of Ethics for Nurses in Australia. (2017).5_New-Code-of-Ethics-for-Nurses-. Retrieved 23 October 2017, from https://file:///C:/Users/user00/Downloads/5_New-Code-of-Ethics-for-Nurses-August-2008%20(3).PDF Elcock, S., Lewis, J. (2016). Mechanical Restraint: Legal, Ethical and Clinical Issues. InThe Use of Coercive Measures in Forensic Psychiatric Care(pp. 315-331). Springer International Publishing. Eren, N. (2014). Nurses attitudes toward ethical issues in psychiatric inpatient settings.Nursing ethics,21(3), 359-373. Hughes, L., Lane, P. (2016). Use of physical restraint: ethical, legal and political issues.Learning Disability Practice (2014+),19(4), 23. Kusmaul, N., Bern-Klug, M., Bonifas, R. (2017). Ethical Issues in Long-term Care: A Human Rights Perspective.Journal of Human Rights and Social Work,2(3), 86-97. Luo, L. (2014). Ethical issues in reference: challenges and solutions.ETHICAL DILEMMAS, 167. Luo, L. (2016). For Your Enrichment: Ethical Issues in Reference: An In-Depth View from the Librarians Perspective.Reference User Services Quarterly,55(3), 188-198. Margeti?, B., Margeti?, B. A., Ivanec, D. (2014). Opinions of forensic schizophrenia patients on the use of restraints: Controversial legislative issues.Psychiatric quarterly,85(4), 405-416. Mertz, M., Strech, D. (2014). Systematic and transparent inclusion of ethical issues and recommendations in clinical practice guidelines: a six-step approach.Implementation Science,9(1), 184. Mhler, R., Meyer, G. (2014). Attitudes of nurses towards the use of physical restraints in geriatric care: a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative studies.International journal of nursing studies,51(2), 274-288. Park, M., Jeon, S. H., Hong, H. J., Cho, S. H. (2014). A comparison of ethical issues in nursing practice across nursing units.Nursing ethics,21(5), 594-607. Preshaw, D. H., Brazil, K., McLaughlin, D., Frolic, A. (2016). Ethical issues experienced by healthcare workers in nursing homes: Literature review.Nursing ethics,23(5), 490-506 Sinclair, J., Papps, E., Marshall, B. (2016). Nursing students' experiences of ethical issues in clinical practice: A New Zealand study.Nurse education in practice,17, 1-7. Standard of practice, Nursing and midwifery board of Australia. (2017). Retrieved 23 October 2017, from https://file:///C:/Users/user00/Downloads/1798150_1830561517_Nursing-and-Midwifery-Board---.PDF

The Concept of Essence

Introduction Fundamentalism in everyday life is important, which makes everything that exists equally important. The state of being is crucially determined by the principle of fundamentalism, which in turn leads to the essence of an object (Allaf 2003).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept of Essence specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More â€Å"The attributes, singly or collectively that make an object of a substance what it is and what it possesses and lack of which, it loses its identity is basically what essence is† (Weinberg 1964). So as to help in knowing the complexity in essence, Dilthey (1969) states that, â€Å"it is normally contrasted with accident, which is a contingent property that objects, or substances have and lack which does not deprive it its identity†(p, 66). Aristotle was the proponent of essence whose English translation meant the â€Å"what it as to be†. The difficulty the phases presented to translators led to the coinage of the word Essential in Latin to summarize the whole concept of essence (Dilthey 1969). Existentialism and metaphysics comprise some of the contexts within which essence can explored and which formed the interest base of scholars such as Ibn Rushd. Issues to do with existence characterize existentialism in an effort to define essence. Scholars such as Jean-Paul Sartre reckon â€Å"Existence precedes essence† for human beings. According to him, existence and actuality came first and afterwards, essence can be derived (Collinson.et al 2000). Existentialists argue the soul makes the most important part metaphysics. They continue arguing that human beings only acquire a soul only after their existence. Further, metaphysics holds its only during individuals lifetimes that people develop spirits and souls. Analysis of different scholar’s views on ontology and essence will for the basis of this paper. Ibn Rushd, Ibn Sin a, and Aristotle works will feature in the sections ahead. Ibn Rushd The development of the concept of essence could not be where it is without the contributions of Ibn Rushd (Allaf 2003). He was the Muslim scholar who produced works that went against most scholars of his kind. His contributions are acknowledged by both friend and foes alike. Islamic philosophy and theology, Malik law, logic, psychology, politics and most importantly Aristotelian philosophy were some of the areas of interest of Rushd.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More His commonly referred to as Averroes in the West and his contribution to the shaping of IslÄ mic, Christian, and Jewish philosophy is widely acknowledged. Rushd produced works in reaction to Ibn Sina’s concept of essence precedes existence which is an important concept of existentialism. According to Hyman et al. (2010), Ibn Rush marked the clima x of Muslim Aristoteliansim as well as its virtual end. Rush took keen interest in the works of Aristotle a stance which earned him the title â€Å"the commentator† for the role he played in commenting and translating the works of Aristotle (Dilthey 1969). He considered his role as that of a cleanser of Aristotle works of the misinterpretations that had occurred through earlier commentators. He tasked himself to explaining the obscurities that characterize the Aristotle philosophies as well as removing the accretions that had gathered in the centuries that followed especially of the Arab Neo-Platonist like Ibn Sina (Averroes and Aristotle 2009). According to Hyman et al. (2010), Ibn Rushd’s position is best captured by his critique of Avicennian theory, which at a certain point was analyzing existence of substances within the world. Ibn Sina had fronted the Avicennian concept where he sought to distinguish objects essence and existence by asserting that essence is onto logically prior and at the same time, existence is added to essence. Averroes and Aristotle (1986) further argue that it is, as far as Ibn Sina followed Aristotle that Ibn Rushd expounded his ideas in the need to answer accusations and objections that went out of scope of Aristoteliansim. Rushd rejected the Avicennian distinction by holding that individual objects and substances exists primarily (Janin 2006). He added that even though the mind can differentiate between essence and existence, in them, the two are one if looked at from an ontological point of view. The main difference in their arguments therefore was the belonging of essence. For Ibn Sina, the essences were primary while for Ibn Rushd, the primacy belonged to individual substances (Hyman et al. 2010).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Concept of Essence specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is important to note that Rushd’s polemic was espe cially directed and Ibn Sina who according to him (Rushd) had capitulated to theological interests on certain crucial points of Aristotle works. It is also important to note that Rushd’s explicit aim was to follow Aristotle philosophy which he regarded unsurpassable (Averroes and Aristotle 1986). Any support or criticism that may portray accommodation or rejection of Aristotle way of thinking will largely depend on the analysis that Rushd had on Ina Sina’s distinction works. A thorough understanding of Ibn Sina’s works and that of Aristotle is therefore necessary if meaningful comparison is to take place. Aristotle’s concept of essence human and the ontology perspective In an effort to unravel the deeper meaning of the concept of being, Aristotle engages in metaphysics. The description of the criterion for the substantiality and the identification of essence with the substance are what Aristotle used in his writing to discuss essence (Leaman 2009). The pr imary message in all of Aristotle’s analysis is the subject of being. Greek philosophy regards the explanation of being as a fundamental question. According to Aristotle, analysis of â€Å"being† is determined from two angles: First as that is which and as the item with â€Å"thisness†. Secondly as the quantity, quality and/or any category, whose prediction is possible (Fakhry 2001). According to Aristotle, being is anything that posses â€Å"thisness† which in essence is what enables people determine it a thing. For instance, it is possible to determine a single human being as â€Å"this† and, it is possible to determine the entire human race as â€Å"this† (Miljenovic 2002). A scholar, Suhrawardi seconds Aristotle on the view of looking at â€Å"being† from two angles; as a universal concept that is shared by all existent beings or as a particular being. he adds that being as the universal concept is just a mental concept while bein g as a particular being depends on the its essence to exists because a particular being can only be equal to its essence which effectively makes it the way it is. According to Kamal (2010), it is possible to look at being from the point of being a mental concept and on its essence to exist because a particular being is equal to its essence. GreekAdvertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Aristotle, all categories safe for substance posses existence but only as being predicted. Substance therefore is the only thing that is independent of prediction. All categories that rely on prediction including qualities and quantities are dependent on substance for their existence. Being therefore is substance. According to Aristotle, definition of â€Å"substance† in categories is necessary for effective comprehension of essence. â€Å"Substance in categories is the primary category on which other categories relied on for their prediction† (Aristotle and Tancred 1998). Substances have qualities and qualities in turn belong to substances (Aristotle and Tancred 1998). For instance if one can say that President Obama is oratory it means Obama is the substance that happens to posses the oratory quality. Substance in this case is superior because its devoid of any dependence on quality while the vice versa applies in the case of quality. Quality therefore r elies on substance but substance does not rely on quality. Referring to the example, Obama does not need to have the oratory skill but the being o the oratory skills have to belong to Obama (the entity or substance). Aristotle continued the investigation about what substance is by applying subject, essence, and genius as criteria of substantiality (Miljenovic 2002). In Greek terms Aristotle describes essence as â€Å"what it was to be that thing†. Essence for each thing therefore is what people take it to be, completely. Therefore only things with an account of definition posses essence. spirit owes its predominance to substances while it applies secondarily to other substances. Perhaps in a simple way, essence is normally the describable in a thing. Borrowing from biological classification of living things to genuses and species, he describes essence as absolutely the genus of species (Naseem 2001). According to Janin (2006), â€Å"anything intelligible about a thing is wha t its essence is, since it is the essence that is described in the definition of that particular thing† (Janin 2006). The absolute features of a thing are its essence, those that can be described. Therefore, the essence of a thing according to Aristotle is its substance. According to Miljenovic (2002), Aristotle therefore means that if essence is substance, then what is ontologically fundamental is also prior conceptually. Ontological priority means that the being of everything depends on the essence while conceptual priority means that everything has to be understood in terms of essence (Peters 2003). However, the definition of essence within the biological context of species raises questions about specificity of things having essence. Ontology and Essence The rise of ontology was largely seen a challenge to Aristotle’s views on the essence. Numerous scholars many of them Muslims came forward to challenge the view by Aristotle that being precedes existence. The distinc tion between existence and essence was always a focal point for philosophers (Kamal 2010). The scholars were turning from the metaphysical position of essentialism to existentialism. It also marked the movement from the doctrine of he principality of essence to the doctrine of the principality of being (Naseem 2001). The scholars most of the time unanimously agreed that â€Å"being was not apprehended rationally adding that the Aristotelian logic failed to in its attempt to reveal its truth, whereas essence was conceived rationally† (Kamal 2010). Rather than an external reality with its independent ontological status, essence is as a mental phenomenon defined by thinking. Three ontological dimensions that help explain the principality of being and/or the principality of essence. Being which is prior to essence, posterior to it and being that coexists simultaneously. Aristotle had adopted the thinking that being can stand on its own without depending on essence (Maclntyre 2009 ). From an ontological point of view, al-Kindah argues that there is no pure form of being. There is simply a being without essence (Kamal 2010). Aristotle somehow supports this view through his description of being in metaphysic. According to Aristotle, the first unmoved mover is immune from change and matter chance it gives a pure form or actuality (Fakhry 2001). This view, is always presented by scholars especially Muslim philosophers opposing Ibn Rushd’ criticism of Ibn Sina. They say the description fits that of God hence giving impetus to Ibn Sina’s argument that God is the Ultimate being. The distinction between existence and essence can also be portrayed through al-Farabi’s discourse in light of Aristotle and Neoplatonic theology. The pseudo theology of Aristotle helped influence al Farabi’s thinking (Maclntyre 2009). According to him the â€Å"One† is the source of existence and it is the one from which the first intellect emanates. In the Aristotelian thinking, it is referred to as First Cause or pure being. This â€Å"One† does not exhibit multiplicity because of the properties of the â€Å"One† and it presupposes the preexisting elements or its parts. Failure of multiplicity however does not lead to a deficiency in the existence of the being. The simplistic idea behind the â€Å"One† diminishes the dichotomy factor of existence and essence in this being (Kamal 2010). The simplicity displayed by this being means that it is either identical to its essence or its pure and without essence. Al-Farabi at this point is in harmony with Aristotle that because he also presents the â€Å"One as† having no difference and as a quantitative character as well. In this ontology presented by Al-Farabi the distinction between existence and essence appears as part of descending substance or as an emanated contingent of beings (Nasr 1993). Distinction between the â€Å"One† as the necessary being an d the contingent arises from the above description. Essence therefore is the contingent being that requires existence. Ibn Sina’s philosophy whose reliance on the ontology described in this section forms the basis of the Ibn Rushd; the spheres that he identifies are a clear indication of the dichotomous relationship between existence and essence. Ontology does present views on the existence of accidental beings onto which essence is added. These beings existence and essences are not their own hence they cannot be the cause of their own beings (Kamal 2010). Ibn Sina is the most forceful of all these scholars of the being and essence in philosophy. According to Sina, God is the purity being without essence and his existence can be described as simple and indivisible (Booth 1983). Contingent beings on the other hand are composite and their existence is added to them. Actuality of these incidental beings is incidental and it is something that has to happen o them. Ibn Sina He is one of the IslÄ mic philosophy forces who established themselves in the eastern portion of the IslÄ mic territory. His works were done in the Eleventh century when Christians popularly referred to as the Avicenna. Subtlety and sophistication characterized his work (Khan 2006). Though he based his analyses on Neo-Platonism emanations, Sina did devote some of his time for the Aristotelian works and the works of al-Farabi. Often, Sina tried to combine elements of both sources in and came up with a comprehensive account of reality that was critically acclaimed (Taylor and Adamson 1999). Ibn Rushd was one of the most consistent and notable commentators of the work of Sina and most of his criticism were regarded as a defense of the Aristotelian works. The subject of the existence of being and essence by Aristotle elicited different reviews from different waiters including Sina. He believed that all human awareness began with the realization and the knowledge of the self. The self acco rding to Sina could be acquired wholly without the help of the senses (Booth 1983). The human mind is the only available agent intellect and the only one that can do the above. According to him, the realization of the essential quality of human thinking depended on some prior existing cause. Human beings realization of own reality as thinking things ensured a natural awareness of the existence of something else (Taylor and Adamson 1999). On top of the contingent beings is a supreme being that existed before everything else, according to Sina. Derivation of everything else must be from the God who is the centre of reality (Grant 2007). God therefore encompasses everything and acts as the link to the core and which is necessary for any anything to survive. According to Sina, â€Å"the cosmos is a single and unified whole where everything that happens does so because it must symbolize the essence† (Khan 2006). The ultimate origin who too is the ultimate being is God. Ibn Sina pr ioritized essence over existence. According to Leaman (2009), Sina expresses existence as an attribute of being. He advances the idea that what really exists is being, the notion, or definition of a thing (Leaman 2009). He continues to say that its eventual instantiation is a question of whether some things move being from potentiality to actuality. Supporters of the Sina School of though contend that his idea is valid since there are many things that can be thought of meaning they are possible and which do actually come to existence meaning they are not actually existent. The above therefore justifies the reason why it is important to put being first before existence (Leaman 2009). Inb Rushd on Aristotle Ibn Rushd began his writings almost a century after Sina. The commentator tag that he acquired was because of the emphasis he placed n translating the work of Aristotle (Urvoy 1991). His explicit disagreement with his IslÄ mic philosophy predecessors describe in his work Tahafut al-Tahafut that especially spoke against Ghazail. He argued for prevalence of reason in solving philosophical problems so as people can gain genuine knowledge and truth (Sonneborn 2006). â€Å"He differed with Sina by asserting that efficient causation is a genuine feature displayed by all created things but, the first mover was had the privilege of remaining the ultimate source of all the motion there is† (Urvoy 1991). Aristotle did view human beings holomorphic composites subject to the soul and matter. He captured essence through the immortality brought about by the absorption into the greater whole of universal intellect. Interpretation of Metaphysics according to Rushd Rushd holds that the analogical being idea that underlies metaphysics is the most important and is what is effectively used to explain the concept of being. For Rushd, metaphysics, which Aristotle used to explain the being, is concerned with analogical idea of being. He further describes metaphysics as a s cience that is used to differentiate between inferior classes of being from the main or the real being. The classification that Rushd carried out on Aristotle’s metaphysics largely agreed with him (Aristotle) but sought to look at things from a different perspective as far as the being and the essence is concerned. He acknowledges the existence of accidental substances, which he refers to as physical beings (Aristotle and Averroes 1986). He tackles the being of the souls and mind and discusses if the substance that exists outside the soul for instance the sphere of the fixed stars could be materials or immaterial. Compared to Aristotle’s hierarchy of material beings, Rushd’s classification differs a little. Accidental substances and the material/immaterial classifications do have quite a lot of similarities since their differentiation of the material-immaterial rift is less. In the second classification of soul and mind does include both universals and mathemati cal beings (Sonneborn 2006). This therefore creates lack of abridge between physics and metaphysics which in Aristotle’s case exists. All beings therefore, material or not belong to one category, according to Rushd. Though they largely agree on the whole metaphysics theory, here Rushd disagrees with Aristotle. Aristotle’s interpretation was more materialistic compared to that of Rushd. For Rushd, there is not little difference between physics and metaphysic nor did he see them as opposite sides of the same coin (Aristotle and Averroes 1986). The difference between the physic and metaphysics according to Rushd was substance. The link brings together physics and metaphysics that Aristotle used to explain the essence. His ontological views is brought out here and it is clear he believes that substance is what has temporary priority over the other parts of the being (Aristotle and Averroes 1986). He holds that there is an overlap in the subject matters of physics and metap hysics because they seek to explain things in sensible and eternal substances, respectively. The eternal and numerically eternal perspectives characterize the cosmos, according to Rushd. A clear separation is evident through this classification (Loux 2002). The celestial realm and the physical universe form the two classes. External cycle of generation and corruption and immortality characterize all things in the physical and celestial worlds respectively. He further says that what occurs on earth and the celestial sphere in terms of emanation is more or less the same. According to the Aristotelian emanation doctrine therefore, â€Å"matter unites substance and that no one can create matter†. Physics seeks to explain the movement of things in the cosmological sphere (Boer 1983). â€Å"In the cosmological sphere, things are involved in movement, things move and other things are moved†. Therefore, only physics according to him can explain the concept of movement in the c osmological sphere according to Rushd. The origin of motion that must be there in the cosmological sphere therefore must be God (Aristotle and Averroes 1986). The difference between physics and metaphysics comes out in this explanation. Physics and metaphysics differ in such a way that they concern the mover and the prime mover respectively. According to him actuality is prior to potentiality makes little sense but to suggest the opposite gives rise to the idea of a possible spontaneous movement in the universe. ‘The prime mover according to Ibn Rushd moves the cosmos and especially the celestial bodies because it is the object of attraction of desire† (Kenny 2003). Celestial bodies have been conferred upon high power of intellect and desire because they have souls and they are always in a quest to be like God. Rushd on Ibn Sina Ibn Rushd argued against the thesis presented by Sina in the ontological context. He especially rejected the thesis because some thinkers like a l-Ghazail found it useful. In rejecting the notion that being came first while existence came second, he endorsed Aristotle’s thinking that existence comes first giving importance to essence. They bring the role of religion to the exploration of essence. The space created by the distinction between essence and existence creates an important role for God’s action (Leaman 2009). Ibn Sina asserted that a prior cause brought things to existence which in can be traced back to the very first cause or the epicenter or as he put it the Necessary Thing. According to Sina, God is the only thing that does not require pre determination for causal. According to Ibn Sina, metaphysics investigated God and everything that does with God. It also demonstrated that God actually did exist (Hyman et al. 2010). He as a result formulated the proof from necessity and contingency in an attempt to proof the existence of God. Ibn Rushd’s criticism and rejection of Sina’s argument t ook place because existence of a thing is assumed part of its essence. This kind of argument he added would advocated gave priority of existence over being, which watered the basic tenet of Aristotle’s thinking. More candidly put, Sina’s arguments meant that existence of a thing was incidental, was essential to it, its character, and role (Leaman 2009). Ibn Rushd maintained an opposite view to that of Sina by saying that metaphysics represented the existence of the subject matter. He developed an argument than invalidates the proof by Sina that God exists. According to him, the proof presented by Ibn Sina required the existence of beings through themselves and necessary through another. He added that it is possible to proof that such beings do not exist. In his teachings, Ibn Rushd supports Aristotle’s views on the picture of the universe with its distinction between a sub lunar and trans-lunar world (Hyman et al. 2010). The sub-lunar world according to Aristotl e is subject to generation and possible corruption and substances within this sub lunar world are subject to for elements. First matter, a substantial, and the elemental form comprise the components of the sub-lunar world. Rushd also accepted the Aristotle explanation of the trans-lunary world which he characterized as eternal and contains celestial bodies and immaterial mover. Rushd did not however adopt Aristotle’s thinking wholly. He did inject his own modification, a subtle show of disagreement of Aristotle’s concept. In the bid to explore essence, Ibn Rushd produced his own doctrine on corporal form. Aristotle has presented prime matter which was an enigmatic notion and which created a gap between itself and that of the elemental form (Hyman et al. 2010). Aristotle alluded that corporal form was common to all bodies and related to an extent to the body’s property dimensionally. Sina on his part had defined the corporal form as one that possessed predisposit ion as result of receiving the three dimensions. He insisted that this form differed dimensionality since form belonged to the category of substance and dimensionality belonged to the category of quality. On his part, Ibn Rushd agreed with the alternative that Sina had differed rejected. He defined the corporal form as being identical with indeterminate triple dimensionality (Hyman Et al. 2010). Again in an apparent endorsement of Aristotle’s thinking, Rushd rejected Sina’s interpretation of celestial movers. They however both agreed that celestial movers did have a soul and an intellect. Sina again differs with Rushd where he (Sina) asserts that celestial souls are inhered in the celestial body. Rushd on his part says that the souls and intelligence of celestial bodies were two aspects made from a similar immaterial celestial mover. Ibn Rushd had his own interpretations on metaphysics that Aristotle largely used to describe his concept of essence. Conclusion The conce pt of the essence is as presented by Ibn Rushd agrees of what Aristotle taught (Fà ¼rth and Aristotle 1985). Perhaps a demonstration of how much Rushd believed in the works of Aristotle is the way in which he went against Muslim scholars especially Ibn Sina in rejecting their assertions on the being and how the how the being precedes the essence. However that is not to say he was in agreement with Aristotle as far as the writings on essence were concerned. He did have his differences and unlike his mentor, he be explicitly acknowledged the existence of the Supreme Being which is God. Aristotle did say the same but he left the field wide open for anyone who can across the writings to fill for himself who the Supreme Being was. References Allaf, M. (2003) The Essence of Islamic Philosophy. New York: M. Al-Allaf. Aristotle and Tancred, L., H. (1998) Metaphysics. London: Penguin Books. Averroes and Aristotle. (1986) Ibn Rushd’s metaphysics: a translation with introduction of Ibn Rushd’s Works. Amsterdam: BRILL. Boer, J., T. (1983) The history of philosophy in Islam. New York: Forgotten Books. Booth, E. (1983) Aristotelian aporetic ontology in Islamic and Christian thinkers, Volume 20. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Collinson, D., Plant, K., and Wilkinson, R (2000) Fifty Eastern thinkers. New York: Routledge Taylor Francis Group. Dilthey, W. (1969) The essence of philosophy. New York: AMS Press. Fakhry, M. (2001) Averroà «s (Ibn Rushd): his life, works and influence. London: One world. Grant, G (2007) A history of natural philosophy: from the ancient world to the nineteenth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hyman, J., Walsh, J., and Williams, T. (2010) Philosophy in the Middle Ages: The Christian, Islamic, and Jewish Tradition. New York: Hackett Publishing Janin, H. (2006) The Pursuit of Learning in the Islamic World, 610-2003. London: Photodisc Books. Leaman, O. (2009) Islamic Philosophy. Cambridge: Polity Press. Kamal, H. (2010) From Essence to Being: The Philosophy of Mulla Sadra and Martin Heidegger. London: ICAS Press. Kenny, J. (2003) Philosophy of the Muslim world: authors and principal themes. Washington: CRVP. Khan, A. (2006) Avicenna (Ibn Sina): Muslim physician and philosopher of the  Eleventh century. New York: Rosen Publishing. Loux, J., M. (2002) Metaphysics: a contemporary introduction. New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group. Maclntyre, C., A (2009) God, philosophy, universities: a selective history of the Catholic Philosophical Traditions. Plymouth: The Rowman Littlefield Publishing Group. Miljenovic, V. (2002) The Representation and Reality of the Self in Art. M.A. Thesis in Philosophy and Art. California: State University, Long Beach. Naseem, H. (2001) Muslim philosophy: science and mysticism. New Delhi: Sarup Sons. Nasr, S. (1993) An introduction to Islamic cosmological doctrines: conceptions of nature and Methods used in its study. New York: University of New York Press Peters, E., F (2003) The monotheists: Jews, Christians, and Muslims in conflict and competition. Volume 2. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Sonneborn, L. (2006) Averroes (Ibn Rushd): Muslim scholar, philosopher, and physician of the Middle ages. New York: Rosen Publishing Group. Taylor, C., R and Adamson, P. (1999) The Cambridge companion to Arabic philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Urvoy, D. (1991) Ibn Rushd (Averroes). London: Taylor Francis. Weinberg, R., J. (1964) A short history of medieval philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press. This essay on The Concept of Essence was written and submitted by user Sunset Bain to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Using the Spanish Verb Bastar

Using the Spanish Verb Bastar Bastar is a fairly common Spanish verb that means to suffice - or, less formally, to be enough. Its use can seem less than straightforward to learners of Spanish, however, because it is often used in different sentence structures than when similar thoughts are expressed in English. The Most Common Uses of the Verb Bastar Impersonal bastar con: Con is the most common preposition to follow forms of bastar, usually in the impersonal third-person phrase basta con. (Other tenses, such as bastaba and bastar, can also be used.) Although this phrase could literally be translated as it is sufficient with, you need not (and shouldnt!) use such an awkward phrase in English. The phrase is typically followed by a noun or an infinitive: No basta con cerrar el campo de concentracià ³n. It isnt enough to close the concentration camp.Tengo muy baja tolerancia al alcohol: me basta con comer un bombà ³n con licor y ya no conozco ni a mi madre. I have very low tolerance to alcohol; for me, it is enough to eat a liquor bonbon and I dont even know my mother.Me bastaba con un mà ­nimo de 6 gigas. A minimum of 6 gigabytes was enough for me.No basta con una semana descubrir la riqueza histà ³rica del paà ­s. A week isnt enough to discover the countrys rich history.Te basta con mi gracia. My grace is sufficient for you.Me basta con estudiar un poco la noche antes del examen. Its enough for me to study a little bit the night before the test. Note that as in some of the examples, bastar can take an object pronoun. The difference between me basta con un dà ­a and basta con un dà ­a is the difference between a day is enough for me and a day is enough. Bastar para: When bastar has a stated or implied subject (in other words, when its not used impersonally, as in the examples above), it can be followed by para and an infinitive: Una sentencia de culpabilidad no basta para hacer justicia. A guilty verdict is not enough to do justice.Una sola comida con grasas saturadas basta para obstruir las arterias. A single meal with saturated fat is enough to obstruct the arteries. Bastar (a): With a stated or implied subject, bastar can also take direct objects. The direct object is the person for which the stated thing or condition is sufficient: Los planes no le bastan al presidente. The plans arent enough for the president.Me bastarà ­an 50 km/hora. Fifty kilometers an hour would be (fast) enough for me. Bastarse: In the reflexive form, bastarse carries the idea of self-sufficiency: James se basta para desquiciar a los Spurs. James alone can get the Spurs unhinged.Nadie podemos decir que nos bastamos a nosotros mismos. Nobody can say that we can do it all by ourselves. Basta as an interjection: Either alone or with other words, basta can be used in exclamations to indicate having had enough of something:  ¡Basta de racismo! Down with racism! ¡Basta de coches enormes! Enough with big cars! ¡Basta! Enough! ¡Basta ya! Enough already! ¿Basta de todo en TV? Had enough of everything on TV?

All that glitters isnt gold

We be a nation of immigrants. in-migration has evermore been a fundamental part of the Statesn account statement because immigrants substantiate been coming in to America ever since it was discovered. This counter became unfeignedly big generator in the twentieth ascorbic acid when a huge influx of immigrants came from Ireland , Italy , Germany , and many other European countries at the same time. Fleeing cut down failure, land and job shortages, go up taxes, and famine, they came to the join States because they believed it was the land of economical opportunity. Others came seeking somebodyal liberty or relief from semipolitical and religious persecution. My own family migrated from Germany approximately flipper generations ago on 1844. Recently I plant a letter scripted by my great-great grandfather closely 4 generations ago, dated revered 20th, 1882, during the first big swing of immigration. His letter was addressed to family in Ohio and detailed his voyage to America and explained what he experiences  is a professional essay writing service at which you can buy essays on any topics and disciplines! All custom essays are written by professional writers! His letter was alter with details about his jobs and culture practices in Minnesota where he settled. Times were hard and he had to pop off during the daytime at a brand name mill and self-employed person as a work whenever he could. Life was unreactive for every immigrant looking for success, exhausting to settle down in areas where their previous countrymen had settled. Many go about discrimination because they were different and employers didnt pay them as oft as the native innate(p) in America hitherto though immigrants were looked down upon, they machinate significant contributions to the development of America . Many have let the cat out of the bag that thanks to the immigrants, our economy has self-aggrandising tremendously, U. S. demographics have changed, and a new increase in ball-shaped development and international communication theory has made earth.

India and China traditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

India and China traditions - Essay Example In Chinese traditions three sticks of incense denotes San Cai - heaven, earth, and people. It also denotes past, present and future. Livia Kohn in his book Health and Long Life: the Chinese Way mentions that chi or qi is in the root of everything. It is a basic material of all that we find in existence. All forms of life derive its functional power from qi. The person is healthy because of the presence of qi. Besides, qi can be regulated through acupuncture, massage and breath control. Chinese traditional medicines are also based on the thinking of qi. The concept of meditative and controlled breathing makes qi to permeate the entire body and it is synonymous with health and balance. The traditional art of Feng Shui has much to do with the flow of qi. Chi or qi is also linked with wealth, energy level, and luck. Similarly, Yin and Yang compliments each other and balances the life force. They are opposite and keep on balancing each other. These basic understandings have given birth to a certain life style to the people. Their traditional medical knowledge provides cure to the number of ailments ranging from liver, kidney, heart, lung and many more. The Confucius ideals of a perfect human being are described in the word Chun Tzu who is a perfect human being--a person who is magnanimous, mature, and respectful to others. These philosophical thinking has a significant contribution in present state of Chinese economic built-up. The modern China is built up on the principles of collaboration, cooperation and mutual respect. After reforms of 1978, the final decision maker in the Chinese market is consumer. With the advent of Chinese economy it has got intense support from the government endorsing the Confucius way of thinking giving freedom to a common man in decision making process. Current economic rise and making it the second largest economy of the world in purchasing power parity point of view has a lot to do in their old settings of environmental preferences. Ch inese economy has risen from the ashes in last 30 years like a phoenix producing a vast array of industrial and consumer goods using tools endowed by modern technology and proven management theories. India India is said to be a place of three oldest religions on this planet–Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. All these religions have further offshoots and traditions overtime. The religious traditions are highly deep routed in India and it is difficult to find any atheist in India. Indian affiliation to their religious traditions and faith is monumental. They always had full religious freedom even when the country was under the British rule. Pranayam (breathing exercise) and Yoga are two established traditions since several thousand years which has now spread all over the world in several variances. The culture of India is an amalgamation of many diverse stream of subcultures spread all over the subcontinent. Ayurved is very old Indian tradition of herbal medicines and treatment processes. Family concept has a key role to play in Indian cultures. Marriages are formed for life time and divorce rates are very low. Namaskar with folded hands is their way of greeting the people. Democratic setup in India is very strong unlike China where elections are still a far cry in the communist regime. The reason of democratic setup lies in their age old traditions of free movement and

International and strategic marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

International and strategic marketing - Essay Example This paper describes the rise of the recorded-music industry, the emergence of disruptive technologies and the effect of this disruption on the marketing strategies of today’s recording industry companies. The marketing strategies are discussed in perspective of the 7Ps of marketing. 3Ps are identified and analysed as potential channels for implementing marketing strategies that could mitigate the threat to recording industry’s digital music sales posed by free and illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing websites. Table of Contents Executive summary 1 Table of Contents 2 2.0.Marketing strategies in the Music Industry 6 2.1.Product 7 2.2.Price 8 2.3.Place 8 2.4.Promotion 8 2.5.People 9 2.6.Process 10 2.7.Physical evidence 10 2.8.Section summary 10 3.0.Topics impacting the industry 11 3.1.Changing process using partners and intermediaries 11 3.2.Promoting legitimate digital music using merchandise and concert business 13 3.3.Repackaging physical evidence 14 4.0.Conclusion 15 References 16 1.0. Introduction According to the British Recorded Music Industry, the music industry can be broadly categorised into four sectors: song writing and publishing, recording, live music and artist management (BPI 2012). In all these sectors there are many different organisations and individuals performing different roles and earning their living. Currently the large share of the industry’s value is generated and controlled by the recorded music and live music sectors. The recorded sector is dominated by four major corporate labels that comprise of several smaller companies that focus on different regions and markets. These four conglomerates are: Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group, EMI Music and Warner Music Group (The Economist 2008). The live music sector is dominated by Live Nation Entertainment in the United States. The growth of the recorded music sector epitomised by the rise of music labels towards the end of the 20th century led to the recording sector being synonymized as the music industry (Wikipedia 2012). The recorded music sector grew largely due to the ability of the music labels to efficiently and cost-effectively fulfil the several stages in the process of moving music from artist to consumer. The major record labels are vertically integrated businesses. The stages in the recording industry are: Artists and Repertoire (A&R) – involves finding new acts; recording music – involves composition, production and licensing of copyright; manufacture of mechanical recordings e.g. CDs and vinyl; music distribution and logistics; marketing and promotion; and retail activities (Fleming & E. G. Hughes 2002). Some of the factors that made music labels profitable are: economies of scale which spreads overheads over a wider revenue base; diversity of artists which enables them to maintain a steady flow of releases; and breadth of music catalogue. However, in the 21st century, the emergence and growth of three technologies led to the disruption experienced in the broad music industry in general, but mostly in the recorded-music industry’s value chain. These three technologies are digitalization, data compression and the Internet (Dolata 2011). Digitalization of music made it easy to make copies

Implications of Business Process Management for Operations Management Essay Example for Free

Implications of Business Process Management for Operations Management Essay Implications of business process management for operations management Colin Armistead and Simon Machin The Business School at Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK Introduction Operations management is concerned with the management of people, processes, technology and other resources in order to produce goods and services. There is a resonance from operations management into business process re-engineering (BPR) of the process paradigm and of the concepts and techniques of designing, managing and improving operational processes. Doubtless much can be learned from operations management for the application of BPR[1]. But business process management is more than just BPR applied to operational processes. What are the implications of the wider consideration of business processes for operations management and can the concepts and techniques from operations management be directly applied to all types of business processes? This paper introduces the concepts of business processes and business process management, and reports findings from interviews in four organizations which are continuing to develop their approaches to managing processes. These findings are then positioned within a categorization of business processes, by way of research propositions. Finally, implications for operations management are discussed. What are business processes? Business processes can be thought of as a series of interrelated activities, crossing functional boundaries with inputs and outputs. Why are they important and why are organizations moving to adopt approaches to explicitly manage by business processes? Reasons include[2] that the process view: †¢ allows increasing flexibility in organizations to meet changing external demands; †¢ addresses the speed to market of new products and services and the responsiveness to the demands of customers; †¢ facilitates the reduction of costs; †¢ facilitates in creased delivery reliability; and †¢ helps address the quality of products and services in terms of their consistency and capability. Processes are part of the philosophy of total quality management (TQM)[3]. Both the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award[4] and the European International Journal of Operations Production Management, Vol. 17 No. 9, 1997, pp. 886-898.  © MCB University Press, 0144-3577 Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model[5], on which the European Implications of Quality Award is based, have at their heart the consideration of business business process processes. Such models require the identification of processes, the management management of these processes with review and targetary, innovation and creativity applied to processes and the management of process change. A second route that leads organizations to consider their business processes 887 is BPR[6-9] which promotes the radical change of business processes. Some have illustrated the complementary nature of BPR and TQM[10], others the conflict[11]. Regardless of this, the fact is that organizations come to consider their business processes through TQM, or through BPR, or potentially through both avenues. What is business process management? There is considerable debate about what business process management means and how organizations interpret the business process paradigm[2,12]. Business process management cannot be considered simply as BPR. Rather it is concerned with how to manage processes on an ongoing basis, and not just with the one-off radical changes associated with BPR. But how are organizations actually managing their business processes? What approaches have they developed? What lessons have they learned and what can be drawn from their experiences? The aim of the research reported in this paper is to address such questions by considering organizations at the leading edge of process management. Methodology A qualitative methodology was adopted in conducting the research. During a pilot phase interviews were conducted in four organizations: TSB; Rank Xerox; Kodak; and Birds Eye Walls. This, coupled with knowledge of the approach within Royal Mail, led to an initial understanding of the approaches being adopted by organizations[13]. This was followed by further interviews in four organizations (including within a different part of Rank Xerox), and it is these that form the basis of the findings reported in this paper. The four organizations, in this second phase of interviews, were: (1) Rank Xerox – European Quality Award (EQA) winners in 1992; (2) Nortel – Netas, a subsidiary of Nortel, were EQA winners in 1996; (3) Texas  Instruments – EQA winners in 1995; (4) Hewlett-Packard – who do not use the EFQM model, but have been using their own â€Å"Quality Maturity System† for several years, with many similarities to the EFQM model, including the central role of processes. While these organizations are at varying stages of their approach to business process management they can be considered â€Å"excellent† against many crit eria (including process management), as shown above, and the findings and lessons derived from the research should inform other organizations which are just starting their approach to process management. IJOPM 17,9 888 In two cases the quality director of the UK operation was interviewed; in one case the participant was the business process manager; in another the participant was a direct report to a service director. We consider that the roles and experience of the participants make possible sensible comparison between the organizations, based on the interviews. Semi-structured open-ended interviews (typically of between two and three hours), based on the ideas emerging from the pilot interviews, were carried out in each organization. The interviews were supported by other documentation from each organization which included process maps, planning frameworks and organizational structures. Interviews were transcribed and the transcriptions used as the basis for analysis. Each interview transcription was read and examined several times and lists of concepts developed[14]. A cognitive map[15] of all four interviews was then constructed showing the concepts emerging from the data and how the concepts i nformed on each other (based on the perception of the authors). Concepts were then clustered, with six clusters, or themes, readily appearing. The clusters were then checked against the transcripts from the pilot interviews and documentary material from the case organizations to ensure consistency of findings. Findings The six clusters emerging from the research we have labelled: organization coordination; process definition; organization structuring; cultural fit; improvement; measurement. While some of these might not be novel in  themselves we discuss them first individually and then as a set. Organization co-ordination One property associated with business processes is their â€Å"end-to-end† nature. They start with input at the business boundary and finish with outputs from the business boundary. Hence their cross-functional nature and, implicit in this, is their ability to integrate and co-ordinate activity. For example, â€Å"a better way to think about process is that it is an organizing concept that pulls together absolutely everything necessary to deliver some important component of strategic value†[16]. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that a strong theme emerging from the interviews was that the process paradigm provides an approach for co-ordination across the whole organization. This integration through the use of business processes is perhaps most simply illustrated by the fact that participants, in describing their approaches to business process management, described how they run and organize their entire business. The co-ordination took a number of forms. For example, business process management was strongly positioned in the overall approaches to business planning adopted by the organizations. This was illustrated in one organization with their long- and medium-term plans explicitly linked to annual plans for their key processes. Business process management also provided an approach for integration through increased knowledge within the organizations (for example, about strategic direction), without the need for bureaucratic procedures or hierarchical control: Implications of business process The concepts of business processes emerged as providing a link between the management top of the organization and activity at the lower levels: â€Å"the bit in the middle†. Central to this is the concept of different levels of processes and typically the organizations reported having identified three or four levels of process from the top-level architecture through to the individual or task level. In providing the co-ordination across the organization, the importance of managing the boundaries of processes was strongly emphasized. One organization, for example, was addressing these boundary issues between their processes through the use of networks of individuals representing the interests of their process. They used networks around each process to formulate and implement strategy, and identified which processes have boundary issues with  other processes. Individuals from one process network then attend meetings of the other process networks on this boundary to address the potential issues. Without some form of co-ordination between processes, changes in one process could also lead to changes in performance of other processes such that strategic goals would be compromised, typically in the areas of quality and costs. but what we were trying to do was create a very free environment, a very innovative environment, but an environment where we knew exactly where we were going. 889 Process definition Much of the literature on managing processes is concerned with process improvement[17,18] and this is typically directed at how to improve the actual operation of processes. However, a view expressed during the interviews was that the real value derived from the process approach is through the understanding and development of an approach at higher levels within the organizations, rather than simply process improvement activity at the task or team level. Nevertheless, these organizations recognized that they struggled with this and acknowledged that, in reality, the understanding of processes was often still at the task level, with a natural tendency for procedure writing. Approaches to help overcome this included communication across the different levels of the organization to develop common understanding (and, in particular, to develop better understanding between process owners and process operatives) and a focus within process flowcharts on value steps and decision points, together with the definition and management of process boundaries. Process flowcharting is often presented as a panacea for understanding and managing processes, but some organizations reported problems with applying the methodology to all processes: the methodology of flowcharting †¦ is OK for consistent, regularly operated, reliable processes – it is not that useful for processes that are very iterative and processes that run infrequently, the more complex processes. Certainly the organizations were coming to realize that such process maps in themselves were not sufficient: people talked a lot about process re-engineering and all they ever did was diddle around with process maps, and they didn’t really get the big picture. IJOPM 17,9 and we have used a flow-charting methodology widely deployed across the company†¦we have still got a lot of problems though in terms of processes gathering dust on the shelf. 890 Also, while the organizations recognized the need to specify processes beneath their high level processes, the need certainly did not emerge to map all processes to the same level or detail. It would be unusual to go to an entity and show all the processes in detail to all depths. In general, the drive appeared to be to use business process management more as a long-term and living tool than just a remedial tool for short-term, tactical issues. Long-term plans were needed for processes to enable the process owners to focus on the future requirements of their processes. Also there was the need to develop methodologies other than flowcharting to support a more holistic approach to business process management, and to directly consider the â€Å"process of managing processes†. Organizational structuring Much has been written about the role of processes in structuring organizations and, in particular, the development of horizontal organizations structured purely around processes[2,19,20]. In general, the organizations interviewed in this research appeared to be taking a less radical view. Instead they had developed matrix-based organizations between functions and processes, and tended to adjust their functional structure to align with their identified processes. They thus saw processes as simply another dimension of the organization structure[21]. Indeed they seemed to have implicitly balanced the dimensions of autonomy/co-ordination,  motivation/ control and efficiency/learning[22] and in doing so derived the matrix structure. This perhaps also reflects other organizational paradoxes[23]. Their reasoning was influenced by a view that personal relationships were the key to effective organizations, as much as the formal, imposed structure. Processes were seen to provide a framework for these relationships in terms of building understanding and common approach across the organization. This framework was reported to help establish empowerment in a structured way, matching level of empowerment with control and support. Hence the entering of the process dimension into their structure. However, they were unwilling to do away with the functional dimension, due to the perception that functions better supported the actual personal relationships within the framework of processes and better supported specialist expertise: people don’t necessarily align with processes, they align with other people, and entities and organizations. People don’t go to parties on processes! and if you start bashing on about process organizations, and â€Å"you’ve got to do away with the silos, and the function† and so on†¦you’re denying it in a way – something to do with that relationship side of things. This has a resonance with reports that moves to process-based organizations Implications of can be ineffective if the personal relationship and cultural aspects are business process overlooked[24]. management These matrix structures were regarded as relatively unstable[13] with a tendency to drift back to a functional structure, or to move too far towards a process focus, but the organizations saw the role of their â€Å"quality professionals† 891 as the catalyst to ensure balance between functions and processes. More interesting is that, in these matrix-based organizations, there appeared to be no desire to move towards a purely process-based structure, with the matrix recognized as a desirable state, enabling constant and efficient reorganization through its flexibility. Inevitably the matrix adds complexity, but it seems that these organizations are willing to trade this complexity against the flexibility and personal relationship aspects supported by the matrix structure. One organization did, however, report a  totally process-based structure, and this did appear to support a high degree of simplicity against the complexity of the matrix approach. There may therefore be value for organizations in explicitly considering the trade-offs between processes and functions in forming their approach. Regardless of the process/function structure, the approach of process groups and process owners at different levels of the processes was common. Cultural fit Culture is an ambiguous concept which is difficult to define[25]. However, most organizations have some notion of their culture, and this was the case in all four organizations, where culture had an implicit meaning. It is an important concept in thinking about organizations since people and processes m ust combine to produce output. However, within the organizations, processes were not seen as a constraint, rather, as reported above, as providing a framework for empowerment. There emerged a general view that the overall approach to business process management needed to fit initially with the culture of the organization, and allow that culture to be maintained, at least in the short term. This is not to say that there was not a longer-term objective to address culture, but culture drove the appropriate initial approach: that’s why it works well, because we’re a highly empowered organization, and a team of people are comfortable working as a team, so bringing them together for a process team is perfectly easy – all we had to do was teach them the tools to do it and a bit of flowcharting and away they go. But that fits well with the culture. This is in stark contrast to some business process re-engineering approaches which may often be insensitive to culture or may have an immediate objective of changing culture[26]. Where BPR was deployed in the organizations it tended to be positioned as part of the overall approach to business process management, for example, alongside process stabilization and continuous improvement, rather than instead of. When used in this context, there were examples of culture change for smaller organization groupings. There were also IJOPM 17,9 892 examples where the failure of BPR initiatives was directly attributed to a culture within the organization which so strongly supported constant, but incremental, change that radical change, as proposed by BPR was rejected. All four of the organizations embraced TQM and, in particular, continuous improvement. The concept and language of teams and â€Å"teams of teams†[27] featured strongly, with rewards and recognition often linked to team performance. The formation of cross-functional teams in improving processes happened naturally in these organizations, and appeared critical to the success of their approach in managing processes. Improvement through business process management Unsurprisingly the interviews supported a drive within the organizations to constantly improve processes and this is reflected in the above discussions of culture. Examples of specific approaches included the use of benchmarking to understand and set best practices and the development of compendiums and databases of best practices and the linkage of improvements to assessments against European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), Baldrige and other quality models. While BPR was clearly used in some of the organizations (indeed Texas Instruments and Rank Xerox are well known for their re-engineering work) this tended to be talked about more at the process simplification or process improvement end of the spectrum of definitions placed on BPR[28-30]: you would not change the overall process radically in a short space of time, but for people (in the process) I think it is a drastic step. and I would not anticipate the total process radically changing over a short space of time because one could not manage it, so you have to move forward in sizeful steps at each part of the process. One organization reported benefits through using human resource professionals alongside process engineers on BPR projects to â€Å"keep some sanity in what the re-engineering was doing†. Measurement and business process management Measurement is a key principle to managing processes[18] with the need to identify trends, assess stability, determine whether customer requirements are actually met and drive improvement. This was confirmed by the interviews  and measurement emerged as central to successful approaches to business process management. There seemed to be a genuine attitude of â€Å"living and breathing† measurement within the organizations: if you can’t actually get good metrics you won’t manage a process, so it’s absolutely fundamental to managing a process. and if we don’t define the metrics we’ve had it. Increasing importance was being given to customer satisfaction and customer Implications of loyalty measures and there was a recognition of the importance of developing business process efficiency measures for the processes as opposed to just measuring whether management processes actually delivered. There was also a drive towards examining the tails of distributions of the measures (process variation) not just average values, consistent with the view of statistical process control[31,32]. 893 One danger that was reported is related to the â€Å"level† issues discussed above: detailed measures were implemented into lower-level process maps, directly related to processes, as one would hope – however, this resulted in a large number of measures that it was then difficult to prioritize, because, at a higher level, measures had not been (or had not been properly) defined. A particularly interesting approach to measurement was in one organization where they had established â€Å"business fundamentals† as performance measures on key processes, deployed worldwide and at all levels. All professional staff in the organization have business fundamentals which are deliverable, cost, customer or people measures, but self-driven measurements rather than management-driven measurements. These business fundamentals are linked to the key processes, and individuals self-assess their progress against these, using a simple rating scale. Every quarter there is then a formal review across the organization against the business fundamentals. The same approach is used to track individual performance, performance against plans, and process performance, providing an integrated approach to measurement across the organization, and a strong illustration of integrating process measures with other organizational measures. Process categorization Different categorizations of processes have been proposed in the literature[28]. For  example the CIM-OSA Standards[33] use the categorization of manage, operate and support. In describing processes we have found a categorization into operational, support, direction setting and managerial processes to be useful (see Figure 1). The separation of direction setting and managerial processes is driven by two considerations: Operational Managerial Direction setting Support Figure 1. Categorization of business processes IJOPM 17,9 894 (1) on a practical level models, such as the EFQM model, adopted by organizations, separately identify leadership from policy and strategy formulation; and (2) the strategy literature regards development of strategy as a process in its own right[34,35]. Operational processes are the way in which work gets done within an organization, to produce goods and services. These processes are the ones which have been the subject of much of the focus to date in TQM and BPR. They run across the organization and are associated with outcomes such as product development or order fulfilment. They are recognized in the ideas of integrated supply chains and logistics and in simultaneous engineering and are part of justin-time approaches. The same ideas for improvement in flow and reduction in cycle times come through into service organizations in the practices of BPR. Support processes are those which enable the operational processes. They are concerned with the provision of support technology, or systems, with personnel and human resource management, and with accounting management. Direction-setting processes are concerned with setting strategy for the organization, its markets and the location of resources as well as managing change within the organization. Direction-setting processes involve a mix of the prescribed steps within a formal planning process and also less well-defined  frameworks. Managerial processes are to some extent superordinate to the other categories and contain the decision-making and communication activities. For example, the entrepreneurial, competence-building and renewal processes proposed by Ghoshal and Bartlett[20] are managerial processes. Some organizations have tried to formalize these processes and have adopted a structured approach to, for example, decision making and communication. This categorization, like any other, does not necessarily fit with the view taken by all organiza tions (for example, some organizations would position the direction setting processes as part of their operational processes) but it provides a useful framework for discussion of the research findings, and for describing propositions for further research. Discussion and propositions arising from the research The six clusters identified in the findings of organization co-ordination – process definition, organization structuring, cultural fit, improvement and measurement can be considered in the light of these process definitions. The issue of process definition at a top level is a view of how organizations work to satisfy strategic intents. The translation of top-level architecture into an operational reality is influenced by aspects of organizational culture which affect both organizational co-ordination and organizational structure. In no cases is the disappearance of functions apparent; rather the functional organization is replaced by a matrix structure. This form of organizational structure derives its co-ordinating strength from the formation of cross-functional teams. The issues of measurement and improvement reflected in the findings reinforce the need for Implications of effective measurement which drives process improvement in a form which co- business process ordinates and prioritizes activity; something which many organizations find management difficult. The findings suggest that taking a business process management approach is one way to overcome some of the difficulties. It is our observation that organizations in approaching business process 895 management tend to initially address their operational processes, then move to focus on support processes, while continuing to improve their operational processes, and next to focus on direction setting processes while continuing to improve operational and support processes. Thus there is a similarity to the operations management  sandcone model, as proposed by Ferdows and De Meyer[36], used to show that cost reduction relies on the cumulative foundation of improvement in objectives. We propose that an organization’s approach to process management is similarly constituted by its approach across process categories, and that to build a stable sandcone the approach to, first, operational processes must be created (see Figure 2). This proposal has practical value, since it is the operational processes that directly impact on customers and so can yield quick benefits. Thus attention to the operational processes ensures capability of delivery; attention then moves to encompass support processes, since these in turn ensure the capability of the operational processes; attention to the direction setting processes recognizes that capability can only be maintained with good direction setting. The superordinate nature of managerial processes positions them outside the sandcone, with influences from the other categories. This sandcone model for business processes implies further propositions based on our findings. P1: As organizations develop their approach to business process management, moving through the sandcone, the appropriateness of techniques will change. Flowcharting methods are well tested in understanding operational and some support processes. However, the organizations in this phase of our research were discovering that such methods were inflexible for other types of process. Operational Operational + support Operational + support + direction setting Figure 2. A sandcone model for developing approaches to business process management IJOPM 17,9 896 The appropriate methodology for understanding the managerial and directionsetting processes may lie in the fields of systems thinking[37] and business dynamics[38] and the shape of a process for managing such processes needs further attention. Thus the appropriateness of â€Å"soft mapping† techniques increases as an organization moves through the sandcone. P2: As  organizations move through the sandcone there is an increasing impact on organization structure, with the need to address structural changes to reap the benefits from the process approach. Increasingly organizations will need to consider organization design as an explicit, rather than implicit, activity to ensure organizational effectiveness. This need not necessitate a move towards a complete process-based structure, but may mean a trade-off between process and functional structures[39]. This trade-off includes the need to consider factors such as personal relationships and cultural aspects. For example, in some organizations a purely processbased structure will be appropriate while in others the process-function matrix approach will be best utilized. P 3: We propose that there is an increasing need for maturity in TQM throughout the organization to ensure a successful process paradigm, as the organization moves through the sandcone. This raises the immediate question as to whether TQM is a necessity before a process-based approach can be effectively initiated. Certainly all organizations in this phase of our research had developed a TQM-based culture. It also raises questions as to whether the continual application of the radical end of the BPR spectrum[28-30] makes it impossible to address all process categories, with the associated lack of care for the human dimension and resulting demoralized workforce. P4: We propose that the degree of co-ordination across the organization increases with moves through the sandcone. As the process approach spreads through the sandcone it forces the question of what integration actually means for an organization and clarifies the requirements for coordination. This is readily understood for operational processes, with a key element being the elimination of barriers to flow. The co-ordination includes the need for a co-ordinated approach to measurement (an example is illustrated in the measurement section above). Further implications for operations management There is a clear message emerging from this research of the need to manage the boundaries between the categories of processes and between the processes themselves. The appropriate approach will be determined by the category of process being addressed and organizations may find the sandcone logic useful in placing their current position. There are different requirements at different points in the sandcone: knowledge and understanding of process flowcharting techniques at one end of the spectrum through to knowledge and understanding of â€Å"softer† mapping techniques; the need to consider the Implications of appropriate organization structure and trade-offs between process- and business process function-based structures; the degree of maturity in TQM; the degree of comanagement ordination desirable and possible and, in particular, the need for a co-ordinated approach to measurement. The research supports a view that there is a need to consider performance 897 improvement methods and concepts such as TQM, lean production and supply and â€Å"agile† manufacturing in a wider context, as applied to all business processes, and not just operational processes with the associated need to manage the interfaces between operations management and other disciplines. References 1. Armistead, C., Harrison, A. and Rowlands, P., â€Å"Business process re-engineering: lessons from operations management†, International Journal of Operations Production Management, Vol. 15 No. 12, 1995. 2. Garvi n, D., â€Å"Leveraging processes for strategic advantage†, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1995, pp. 77-90. 3. Oakland, J.S., Total Quality Management, Heinemann Professional, Oxford, 1989. 4. George, S., The Baldrige Quality System, Wiley, New York, NY, 1992. 5. Hakes, C., The Corporate Self-assessment Handbook for Measuring Business Excellence, Chapman Hall, London, 1995. 6. Hammer, M., â€Å"Re-engineering work: don’t automate, obliterate†, Harvard Business Review, June 1990. 7. Hammer, M. and Champy, J., Re-engineering the Corporation, Free Press, New York, NY, 1993. 8. Johansson, H.J., McHugh, P., Pendlebury, A.J. and Wheeler, W., Business Process Reengineering – Breakpoint Strategies for Market Dominance, Wiley-Hamilton, Santa Barbara, CA, 1993. 9. Davenport, T.H., Process Innovation: Re-engineering Work through Information Technology, Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993. 10. Macdonald, J., â€Å"Together TQM and BPR are winners†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 7 No. 3, 1995, pp. 21-5. 11. Mumford, E. and Hendricks, R., â€Å"Business process re-engineering RIP†, People Management, 2 May 1996, pp. 22-9. 12. Hinterhuber, H.H., â€Å"Business process management: the European approach†, Business Change Re-engineering, Vol. 2 No. 4, 1995, pp. 63-73. 13. 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