Implementing Relationship Marketing: the Role of Internal and External Customer Orientation

Developing an internal and external customer orientation will facilitate the implementation of relationship marketing principles by businesses. Relationship marketing highlights the need for an external customer orientation, which in turn raises the need for customer-oriented employees. Employees will only be customer-oriented if an internal customer orientation is evident in the business. Four constructs pertaining to the internal customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province were identified.After checking for internal consistency, effect sizes were determined for these constructs analysing the practical significance of employees’ as opposed to management’s opinion on the underlying constructs. Similarly, four constructs referring to the external customer orientation of the same businesses were identified. The four identified constructs underpinning an external customer orientation were also checked for internal consistency and the practical significance of customers’ as opposed to management’s opinion on the underlying constructs was determined through effect sizes.It was found that the identified businesses lack both an internal and external customer orientation. Recommendations are made to improve internal customer orientation for the sake of an improved external customer orientation. An improved external customer orientation will facilitate implementation of relationship marketing principles in these businesses. INTRODUCTION According to Saren and Tzokas (1998:187) researchers in relationship marketing have come to realise that there is a need for detailed empirical evidence on how this approach could be implemented in order to promote a beneficial customer-business relationship.Morris, Brunegee and Page (1998:360) and Fornier (1998:343) argue that a lack of knowledge and consensus about relationship marketing and the activities involved in the implementation thereof has led to diffi culties in operationalising the construct. This study addresses this concern by arguing that a relationship marketing orientation is facilitated by management being sufficiently orientated to the needs and expectations of employees (internal customer orientation) as well as to those of customers (external customer orientation).The internal and external customer orientations of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province were investigated by means of effect size analyses. The goal and objectives of the study are subsequently explained, followed by a theoretical exposition on the interface between relationship marketing as well as internal and external customer orientation. A description of the research methodology is followed by the empirical results on internal and external customer orientation of the businesses that participated in the study.Conclusions are drawn from these empirical findings. Finally, managerial implications are discussed based on the concl usions. GOAL AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The goal of this study is to explore internal and external customer orientation as elements facilitating relationship marketing implementation by small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province. This goal will be achieved through the following objectives: to explore the interface between relationship marketing, and internal and external customer orientation; †¢ to report on empirical findings related to internal and external customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province; and †¢ to consider the managerial implications of the above empirical findings for managing these retailers. FOSTERING INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION TO FACILITATE THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RELATIONSHIP MARKETINGSheth and Parvatiyar (1995:261) define relationship marketing as â€Å"an orientation that seeks to develop close interaction with selected customers, suppliers and competitors for va lue creation through co-operative and collaborative efforts†. This definition suggests that businesses should pursue profitable business relationships. Morgan and Hunt (1994:22) define relationship marketing as â€Å"all marketing activities directed towards establishing, developing and maintaining successful relational exchanges†. This definition sets out the ultimate goals of relationship marketing, but does not show what relationship marketing entails.Attempts have been made to address this limitation by emphasising the dimensions and activities of relationship marketing. These dimensions and activities include (Too, Souchon and Thirkell, 2001:290): †¢ customer retention; †¢ product benefits; †¢ quality improvement; †¢ customer service; †¢ customer commitment by the business; and †¢ frequent contact with the customer. The first four issues refer to the business’ customer orientation while the last two relate to customer relationsh ip management practices.Kotler and Armstrong (2001:9, 667-681) indicate that relationship marketing is the process of creating, maintaining and enhancing strong value-laden relationships with customers and other stakeholders. According to this definition, relationship marketing does not end with customers, but includes all stakeholders (i. e. employees, channel members, stockholders and others). Relationship marketing advocates the establishment of long-term and profitable relationships between (both internal and external) partners or stakeholders (Zikmund and d’Amico, 2001:8).These relationships are not naturally sustained and should therefore not be taken for granted (Day, 2000:25). Long-term and profitable relationships are only established when trust, commitment and service are inculcated in relationship partners (Buttle, 1996:8-9). Stakeholder relationships also have to transcend functional boundaries (Beth, Burt, Copacino, Gopal, Lee, Lynch and Morris, 2003:67-68). Rela tionship marketing advocates that an engineer should, for example, take time to see how he could best design the product to satisfy the customer’s needs.The same applies to the accounting department – it should develop credit and payment terms that will best suit the customer while it needs also realising a profit for the business (Ostroff and Smith, 1992:22-23). In this respect Day (2000:24-30) argues that the ability to create and maintain relationships depends, inter alia, on the integration of key internal processes in the business. The implementation of relationship marketing therefore depends on a well-developed internal (employee) and external customer orientation.Taher, Leigh and French (1996:218) argue that in order to be customer-oriented, marketers should provide exceptional performance in quality, delivery and cost competitiveness (i. e. customer orientation). The business should also understand how customers measure value and how these value expectations c an be met. To win orders, a business should exhibit an external customer orientation that manifests the relative strength of the business in relation to its competitors (Koufteros, Vonderembse and Doll, 2000:526).To attain lasting customer orientation careful attention should be given to detail, meeting promises and swift response to the requirements of customers – i. e. competitive capabilities. The same authors define competitive capabilities further as a business’ ability to meet customer expectations compared to its competitor’s ability to do the same. Day (2000:28) argues that a customer orientation should be â€Å"immediately evident† in the mindset of those who deal directly with the customer. Kennedy, Goolsby and Arnould (2003:77-79) found that the development of an external customer orientation will be facilitated by: leadership. Staff members must experience â€Å"an unbroken circuit of passionate, sincere, unified and committed leadership from top levels to local managers†; †¢ centrality of customer requirements and performance feedback. This will also assist in achieving the required inter-functional co-ordination and alignment; and †¢ collection and dissemination of external customer data. This data, however, only becomes conducive for customer orientation development when it is widely circulated in the business to become a shared organisation-wide platform from which decisions are made.Patterson and Smith (2001:438) also support this notion. It is stressed that customer orientation should be explicit, otherwise the business risks over-serving unprofitable accounts and wasting resources that might be allocated to profitable customer groups. In this respect Reinartz and Kumar (2002) distinguished between customer groups and suggested ways of managing each group for increased profitability. Relationship marketing raises the need for customer orientation, which in turn raises the need for customer-oriented employees.Bendapudi and Leone (2002:83) indicate that customers form relationships with employees who serve them, and that these relationships may be stronger than the customer’s relationship with the business represented by the employee. Employees will not be able to develop social relationships with customers if they were not recruited and trained with this in mind (Patterson and Smith, 2001:438). Without customer oriented employees it will be difficult to implement customer orientation because employees are the ones who have to make it happen.If customer-orientation is lacking, the implementation of relationship marketing will suffer. This is because dissatisfied customers will never develop good relationships with the business (Engel, Blackwell and Miniard, 1995:47). Attracting, developing and motivating employees as internal partners foster an internal customer orientation (Conway and Willcocks, 2000:81). Day (2000:28-29) recalls the efforts made by many businesses to m ake employee satisfaction and retention a top priority in recognition of the damage that high employee turnover and disgruntled employees can cause to customer relationships.Employee performance and attitude play an important role in service delivery to external customers. Employee satisfaction impacts on employee attitudes, which in turn influence employee performance and interaction with external customers. Employee interaction with external customers obviously plays a pivotal role in the ultimate success of the business (Lewis, 1989:41). Strauss (1995:62-77) distinguishes between internal customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. He argues that internal customer satisfaction entails employees’ satisfaction with the performance of internal suppliers (workflow satisfaction).Internal customer satisfaction should, however, not be confused with employee satisfaction – i. e. the satisfaction of employees with their working conditions. He argues further that interna l customer satisfaction reflects in external customer satisfaction. For purposes of this study the identified relationship between internal and external customer satisfaction is acknowledged, but the distinction between internal customer orientation and employee satisfaction is rejected. Employees in small- to medium-sized textile retailing businesses are not dependent on intricate internal workflow processes.As they derive their workflow inputs directly from management, a distinction between management inputs (relating to Strauss’ employee satisfaction concept) and workflow inputs will be vague. Strauss (1995:63) himself points out that if managers are prepared to take responsibility for quality and act as role models, they can expect commitment from their employees – which will eventually result in improved bottom-line results. Sasser (2003) explains the relationship between employee and customer satisfaction in terms of value the business creates for employees, who in turn will be able to create value for customers.If the value created for employees and customers exceeds costs, value is being created for investors. Internal customer orientation is the result of a conscious management decision about the â€Å"organizational setting† (Strauss, 1995:68). Concerning this organisational setting Malherbe and Pearse (2003:2-12) found significant positive relationships between job enrichment characteristics and job satisfaction, and eventually between job satisfaction and service quality in the South African retail industry.Chaston (1995:332-349) investigated possible actions to establish a stronger internal customer orientation in UK clearing banks, and concluded, inter alia, that management’s improved understanding of internal customer needs will be helpful in this regard. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Small- to medium-sized textile retailers from six selected towns and cities in the North-West Province were investigated to assess their interna l and external customer orientation. Retailers from Brits, Klerksdorp, Lichtenburg, Mafikeng, Potchefstroom and Rustenburg were sampled.These cities and towns were chosen on the basis of their geographical representation in the province. They also represent the largest centres of economic activity in the province. A sampling frame of 61 small- to medium-sized textile retailing businesses were constituted by using information obtained from the Potchefstroom City Council, the Bureau of Marketing Research and Braby’s databases. The sampling frame included independent tailoring businesses, textile, fabrics, and cloth retailing businesses (retailers, merchants or distributors).Forty-eight (N1=48) of the 61 business owners/managers were willing to participate in the study and were subsequently interviewed. One hundred and four (N2=104) employees, as found on the 48 premises, were also interviewed. Finally, two hundred and thirty (N3=230) customer responses were gathered using avail ability sampling for periods of two hours at each of the 48 business premises. Separate questionnaires, incorporating close-ended structured items, were developed for management, employees and customers as three separate groups of respondents. Owners/managers had to respond to 77 items.Thirty one (31) of these items pertaining to internal customer orientation were duplicated in the employees’ questionnaire, requiring respondents to respond to them from an employee’s perspective. Thirty-three (33) of the items on external customer orientation related to owners/managers were also put to customers, requiring them to evaluate it from their perspective. Respondents had to respond to the items according to a four-measure Likert scale where: 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = agree and 4 = strongly agree. The responses were statistically processed with the help of SAS software (SAS Institute Inc. 1999). The reliability of constructs associated with internal and external customer orientation was tested by means of Cronbach’s Alpha values and average inter item correlations (Clark and Watson, 1995) as reported below. The practical significant difference between specifically defined constructs for employees and owners/managers (internal customer orientation) as well as for customers and owners/managers (external customer orientation) is indicated by using effect sizes. Effect sizes are calculated as availability sampling was used instead of random sampling.As explained above, the six cities and towns, the businesses who participated in the study, the interviewed employees and the interviewed customers of these businesses were not randomly selected. Statistical inference is therefore not relevant. This eliminates the use of t-tests and p-values as a technique to analyse statistically significant differences between means of responses from management and employees (or management and customers). Unlike t-tests, effect sizes are independent from s ample size, as a standardised difference based on the maximum standard deviation between compared groups is calculated (Steyn, 2000).The effect sizes (d-values) were calculated by using the following formula (Cohen, 1988:20-27): [pic] where: †¢ d = effect size; †¢ [pic] is the difference between means of two compared groups (e. g. management and employees or management and customers); and †¢ [pic] is the maximum standard deviation of the two compared groups. To calculate effect sizes, the maximum standard deviation is used instead of a mean standard deviation to allow for a more conservative approach to practical significance (Steyn, 2000). Cohen (1988:20-27) gives the following guidelines for interpreting effect sizes: †¢ d ? 0. indicating no practically significant effect; †¢ d ? 0. 5 indicating a moderate effect that could be significant if more data had been collected; and †¢ d ? 0. 8 or larger indicating a practically significant effect. EMPIRICAL RESULTS Empirical results regarding both the internal and external customer orientations of small- to medium-sized textile retailers in the North-West Province are subsequently discussed. Empirical results: internal customer orientation Four constructs associated with internal customer orientation, as well as the items comprising these constructs, are reported in Table 1.The items comprising these constructs are also indicated. The four constructs exhibited Cronbach’s Alpha values all greater than 0. 6, indicating â€Å"good or adequate† reliability of the measurement scale (Clark and Watson, 1995:315). Average inter item correlations ([pic]) are also reported in Table 1. Clark and Watson (1995:316) indicate that the average inter item correlation should also be used as a measure of internal consistency. They recommend that the average inter item correlation should lie between 0. 15 – 0. 50.It is evident from Table 1 that the average inter item correlations fall within this range, indicating internal consistency of the constructs. TABLE 1 CRONBACH’S ALPHA AND AVERAGE INTER ITEM CORRELATIONS FOR INTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION |Construct |Cronbach’s Alpha |Average inter item | | | |correlation ([pic]) | |1. Management’s involvement with employees |0. 752 |0. 1 | |Applying management principles strictly | | | |Seeking people who can think of new strategies | | | |Culture of supporting staff | | | |Treating staff the same as external customers | | | |Creating an enabling culture for staff creativity | | | |Exercising staff chievement recognition and reward | | | |Following fair disciplinary action | | | |Development and training of staff | | | |Appreciation of staff contribution to business success | | | |Conducting formal performance appraisals | | | |Making staff a part of solutions | | | |Aggressively competing for talented staff | | | |2. Employee development through communication and participative management |0. 713 |0 . 4 | |Promoting staff learning | | | |Encouraging a learning culture | | | |Practising participative management | | | |Marketing the business’ vision to staff | | | |Creating messages to inspire staff action | | | |Understanding the reality staff experiences | | | |Consulting staff with regard to leadership style | | | |Maintaining a two-way channel of communication in the business | | | |3. Acknowledgement of employees’ expertise and potential |0. 659 |0. 5 | |Incorporating knowledgeable staff inputs into business decisions and activities | | | |Acknowledging that staff is the business’ primary asset | | | |Involving current staff in the process of appointing new staff | | | |Giving responsibility and accountability to staff for their respective performance | | | |areas | | | |Collaborating with staff to draw up strategies, plans and objectives | | | |Arranging for staff to visit customers | | | |4. Satisfaction of customer needs is realised through an integra ted effort by all |0. 623 |0. 5 | |involved in the business | | | |All departments working in collaboration with customer focus in mind | | | |Successfully satisfying customers’ needs and wants | | | To indicate the practically significant differences between employees’ and owners’/managers’ view on internal customer orientation, effect sizes were calculated on the respective constructs. These effect sizes are reported in Table 2. Practically significant effects on constructs 1, 2 and 3 are revealed. Construct 4 only revealed a small effect.TABLE 2 EFFECT SIZES FOR INTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION Construct description |Business owners |Employees |Effect size | | |Mean |Standard deviation|Mean |Standard deviation| | |1. Management’s involvement with employees |3. 103 |0. 447 |2. 787 |0. 445 |0. 707 | |2. Employee development through communication and |3. 137 |0. 504 |2. 767 |0. 504 |0. 734 | |participative management | | | | | | |3. Acknowledgement of employees’ expertise and potential |3. 086 |0. 557 |2. 674 |0. 554 |0. 40 | |4. Satisfaction of customer needs is realised through an |3. 489 |0. 695 |3. 327 |0. 750 |0. 216 | |integrated effort by all involved in the business | | | | | | Empirical results: external customer orientation Four constructs relating to external customer orientation, as well as the items associated with these constructs, are reported in Table 3. The correspondent Cronbach’s Alpha values for the four constructs are all above 0. 6, indicating â€Å"good or adequate† reliability of the measurement scale (Clark and Watson, 1995:315).Average inter item correlations ([pic]) are once again reported in Table 3. These correlations fall within the range of 0. 15 – 0. 50 indicating internal consistency of the constructs (Clark and Watson, 1995:316). TABLE 3 CRONBACH’S ALPHA AND AVERAGE INTER ITEM CORRELATIONS FOR EXTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION |Construct |Cronbach’s Alpha |A verage inter item | | | |correlation ([pic]) | |Building customer relationships through the efforts of employees is important |0. 762 |0. 7 | |Attracting, maintaining and enhancing relationships with customers | | | |Establishing and maintaining profitable customer relationships | | | |Maintaining a mutually committed long-term oriented relationship with customers | | | |Moving customers from one level of the relationship to the next | | | |Extending priority treatment to regular customers over irregular ones | | | |Interacting with regular customers | | | |Forging long-term committed relationships with customers | | | |Employees developing business relationships with customers | | | |Fostering an intimate understanding between customers and staff | | | |The business’ offer to customers is geared towards satisfying customer needs |0. 665 |0. 6 | |Delivering an offer exactly as required | | | |Extending quality and durability as the business’ core offer | | | |Deliverin g superior offers not available from competitors | | | |Continue improving the total offer to customers | | | |Delivering a tailor-made offer to customers | | | |Viewing delivery of the offer from customers’ perspective | | | |Delivering customer satisfaction |0. 642 |0. 6 | |Offering high levels of customer service | | | |Managing and maintaining the delivery of customer satisfaction | | | |Successfully satisfying customers’ needs and wants | | | |Custom fitting service to customers’ particular requirements | | | |Delivering services to the satisfaction of customer desires | | | |Customer orientation of employees |0. 619 |0. 6 | |Instilling customer orientation among staff | | | |Formulating and realising a customer orientated mission statement | | | The effect sizes on the respective constructs for the practically significant difference between customers’ and owners’/managers’ view on external customer orientation are reported in Table 4. Practically significant effects are revealed on constructs 2 and 3, while construct 4 exhibit a moderate effect size. Construct 1 revealed a small effect size.TABLE 4 EFFECT SIZES FOR EXTERNAL CUSTOMER ORIENTATION Construct description |Business owners |Employees |Effect size | | |Mean |Standard deviation|Mean |Standard deviation| | |1. Building customer relationships through the efforts of |3. 303 |0. 557 |3. 100 |0. 442 |0. 364 | |employees is important | | | | | | |2. The business’ offer to customers is geared towards |3. 408 |0. 423 |2. 928 |0. 465 |1. 32 | |satisfying customer needs | | | | | | |3. Delivering customer satisfaction |3. 528 |0. 445 |3. 202 |0. 399 |0. 733 | |4. Customer orientation of employees |3. 360 |0. 591 |2. 991 |0. 635 |0. 581 | CONCLUSIONS From the above empirical results the following conclusions regarding the internal and external customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers included in this study can be drawn. Internal custom er orientationFrom the effect sizes reported in Table 2 it is evident that management and employees differ significantly (practically significant effect sizes) on the following issues: †¢ management’s involvement with employees (construct 1). Management feels more involved with employees than employees experience it to be the case ([pic] > 0); †¢ employee development through communication and participative management (construct 2). Management is of the opinion that employee development takes place through communication and participative management, while employees do not experience the same ([pic] > 0) ; and †¢ acknowledgement of employees’ expertise and potential (construct 3).Management feels that employees expertise’ and potential is acknowledged, while employees do not feel the same ([pic]> 0). An small effect size was calculated for construct 4. Management and employees therefore agree that satisfying customer needs is realised throu gh an integrated effort by all involved in the business (construct 4, Table 2, [pic] and [pic] both > 3. 0, indicating agreement on the Likert-type scale). External customer orientation As far as external customer orientation, as reported in Table 4, is concerned, owners/managers and customers differ significantly (practically significant effect sizes) on: †¢ whether the businesses’ offer to customers is geared towards satisfying customer needs (construct 2).Management feels it to be the case, while customers differ significantly ([pic] > 0); and †¢ delivery of customer satisfaction (construct 3). Customers feel significantly less satisfied than management thought them to be ([pic] > 0). As far as customer orientation of employees is concerned, a moderate effect size was determined (Table 4, construct 4). Owners/managers are of the opinion that employees are customer-oriented ([pic] > 3. 0) while customers do not experience it to the same degree ([pic] & lt; 3. 0). Table 4 also indicates an insignificant effect size on construct 1. Management and customers therefore agree that it is important to build customer relationships through the efforts of employees (construct 1, [pic] and [pic] both > 3. 0). MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONSWhen considering the internal customer orientation of small- to medium-sized textile retailers participating in this study, it is evident that employees do not feel appreciated by management. Employees indicated that management is not involved with them and that their expertise and potential is subsequently ignored. They also do not feel empowered through communication or participative management initiatives (or rather the lack thereof) from management’s side. Management and employees agree on a basic principle of the marketing concept (Barnes, 2001:7), namely that customer satisfaction is dependent on an integrated effort of all involved in the business. From the above it is clear that a certain amount o f goodwill is evident among employees.Employees recognise the importance of an integrated effort of all involved in the business to satisfy customer needs. It is recommended that management of these businesses capitalise on this aptitude of employees. Communication with employees on matters relating to management of the business will encourage employee participation, paving the way for the implementation of participative management techniques. This will draw on the latent expertise and potential of employees and will ultimately contribute to employee development and a sense of management involvement. As indicated by the empirical results, small- to medium-sized textile retailers participating in this study lack a pronounced external customer orientation.Customers do not regard the businesses as being geared towards satisfying their needs. They are also of the opinion that employees of small- to medium-sized textile businesses are not sufficiently customer-oriented. By improving thei r internal customer orientation as suggested above, the external customer orientation of businesses may take a turn for the better. This may contribute to greater customer satisfaction as the interaction between customers and (more appreciated, and thus better satisfied and motivated) employees improve. After all: management and customers both agreed that the efforts of employees are important to build customer relationships.This is consistent with Sasser’s (2003) exposition that an improved internal customer orientation will contribute towards a better external customer orientation that will result in more satisfied customers.

Explanatory essay of gambling addiction Essay

It’s a rush, putting money to the felt and threatening the cards to obey. Gambling is quickly becoming one of the favorite activities for many Americans. Where else could you have this kind of excitement with the potential to make money instead of lose it? Only amidst the flashing and heat of the casino lights can a person really let their money turn their brain into an emotional feeding frenzy. This rush, like any other high, has psychological and chemical impacts to a person. You could link gambling to any other drug that equates to the violent excitement. This is exactly what the brain does, represents an action with a feeling, and for many people these feelings become an addiction. Compulsive gambling is a serious affliction that affects many people. While it may seem perverse to consider this a serious disease, realize that the consequences of compulsive gambling can dwarf that of any other addiction. For these people, once they start they just cannot stop, and like any addiction they build up a tolerance and experience symptoms of withdrawal when trying to abstain from gambling. For most people we can abide by certain guidelines, quell the whispers of our brain telling us to go for it and bet it all on this hand. What causes compulsive gamblers to lose control? There is no one reason to satisfy this question. However, with study patterns emerge, and we can recognize the psychological and chemical reasons for this handicap. So why the rush when instead of betting five dollars this hand you bet twenty? It has to do with drugs; specifically those produced naturally by your brain, which affect mood, emotions, etc. A recent study found that â€Å"Hemodynamic responses in the sublenticular extended amygdala (SLEA) and orbital gyrus tracked the expected values of the prospects, and responses to the highest value set of outcomes increased monotonically with monetary value in the nucleus accumbens, SLEA, and hypothalamus. † (Breiter et al. ) In this study, people were given $50 dollars and allowed to gamble with it while their responses were tracked. What the results basically said is that as the people’s expectancy of monetary gains went up, so did the chemical reactions in their bloods. This chemical imbalance when gambling is possibly the reason why many people are unable to quit gambling. It is true that the symptoms of many compulsive gamblers are â€Å"equivalent to a drug-induced high. † (â€Å"Addictive Gambling†). Like addicts of any drug, compulsive gamblers show signs of withdrawal and tolerance. After you’ve been betting the same amount for some time on a simple wager without making much money, you will start to look for ways to increase the betting pleasure. A simple strategy to do this is simply to bet more! When more is on the line there is more risk involved and more excitement. Another way these people can increase the risk involved is by lowering the stakes. There’s nothing more exciting than hitting a long shot. Compulsive gamblers would rather get bigger odds by trying to win a 10% shot than win a small amount with a 90% chance of winning. So as we have seen, the chemical attributes accompanying gambling can create an addiction, but the more interesting and relevant I think are the psychological impacts of gambling. By psychological impacts I mean how gambling affects the mind and actions of the compulsive gambler. This handicap is really defined as a â€Å"disorder of impulse control. † (Something 1). When most people go to gamble they bring with them rationality, and with rationality comes this innate ability to know when you’ve hit a limit. The disorder is the compulsive gambler’s inability to set a limit and stick to it. So you have to ask yourself where is the line drawn? When does fun gambling become a â€Å"maladaptive behavior? † The Washington State Council on Problem Gambling sees it as this: â€Å"A. Persistent and recurrent maladaptive gambling behavior as indicated by five (or more) of the following: (1) Is preoccupied with gambling (e. g. , preoccupied with reliving past gambling experiences, handicapping or planning the next venture, or thinking of ways to get money with which to gamble) (2) Needs to gamble with increasing amounts of money in order to achieve the desired excitement (3) Has repeated unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back, or stop gambling (4) Is restless or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop gambling. (5) Gambles as a way of escaping from problems or of relieving a dysphoric mood (e. g. , feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety, depression) (6) After losing money gambling, often returns another day to get even (â€Å"chasing† one’s losses) (7) Lies to family members, therapist, or others to conceal the extent of involvement with gambling (8) Has committed illegal acts such as forgery, fraud, theft, or embezzlement to finance gambling (9) Has jeopardized or lost a significant relationship, job, or educational or career opportunity because of gambling] (10) Relies on others to provide money to relieve a desperate financial situation caused by gambling. † This list seems to be a slippery slope of symptoms. You might realize that this gambling can cause devastating effects to the life of a person. Committing crimes and trying to chase loses will cast a person into trenches of insurmountable debt and grief. There are so many people who do go to casinos and don’t fall into debt. It makes you wonder what is different about these people that made them weak? Perhaps the answer is that â€Å"Addiction is a way to escape from reality, from something that is either too full of sadness (such as living in a violent family) or too devoid of joy (an emotionally hollow life). Emotional trauma in early life may be at the source of many addictions. † (â€Å"Addictive Gambling†). The reality of the world is overbearing sometimes, and thinking about spending millions of dollars in winnings in a fantasy life can help people escape. Whatever the reason it must be understood. Gambling will only continue to grow, and as fun as it is it must also come shackled with precaution.

Visual Rock Music Stars Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Visual Rock Music Stars - Essay Example Above I provided some background information on the topic of rock and roll that will help me get closer to the topic that will be dealt with lower. The aim of my study is to examine the relationship between dress and ideology of visual rock music stars. This group was chosen as the visual nature of the group allows for a thorough analysis of the ways in which the beliefs of the group may affect their decisions relating to dress. In the frameowkr of my project, an interview was conducted with members of a rock music group in order to collect primary data on the topic. The interview is used in this study to ascertain the history of the group and the beliefs of the group. The interview was also used to obtain information about how the group's beliefs have changed over time. The information from the interview is presented here alongside with the relevant current literature to ascertain how the two are interlinked. The interview revealed several things, some of which were expected, but others which were surprising. The interview found that the band did not claim to hold any strong beliefs which related to politics or religion. The band members claimed that their ideology, focused more on having fun, and this was the image that they tried to portray. The band did acknowledge that there are many rock bands which do have strong ideologies. One such example, which they quoted was the British group the Sex Pistols, who were famous in the Punk Rock era of the 1980s. They were as famous for their strong beliefs in anarchy and hatred of the British political regimes as they were for their music. The interview also revealed that the rock group was heavily influenced by other counterpart rock groups. Though, not only other... This "Visual Rock Music Stars" essay outlines the history of rock’n’roll music and how it affects the fashion. There was a rock band specifically mentioned in the interview that was the Sex Pistols. This band is considered to be an iconic rock band on many levels. Their music was highly controversial and being produced and released independently. That state of things allowed the band a large degree of freedom that many other bands which having signed to corporate brands did not possess. The entire stance which was adopted by the group was â€Å"anti-establishment†. It is for this reason that the Sex Pistols selected their dress. They aimed to take the clothes which were seen as socially acceptable at that time and transform them into a dress code, which would be highly controversial. It was not only the clothes which the Sex pistols altered in an attempt to shock, moreover, they also adopted hairstyles such as the Mohican, died their hair dramatic colors, and dec orated their bodies with tattoos and piercings. Other rock bands at the time did not possess the same levels of freedom, and as a result, their images were far more controlled by the record label and have not been so distinct. Goshert (2000) suggests that although the majority of modern bands would not consider themselves to be ‘punk’ bands, they are still heavily influenced by the ideology of bands such as the Sex Pistols. For example when the photos of the band interviewed were inspected it would be possible to see some elements of ‘punk’ dress in their early photos.

Homeland Security Organization and Administration Case Study - 1

Homeland Security Organization and Administration - Case Study Example The organization has been and still is, a major threat towards global peace, and their activities have claimed numerous lives. However, the world got a reprieve when its leader, Osama bin Laden, was killed in 2011 by US Special Forces through a raid on a Pakistani compound. Following his killing, the US president delivered a speech, followed by the director of the CIA. As much as the speeches reassure on the safety of citizens in addition to the quest for global security, various inferences can be deduced from them, particularly in consideration of what Osama’s death means to the world. As such, Obama’s message is mainly a reaffirmation of the conviction of the American government towards the fight against terrorism. Obama also touches on the unity that guided the various parties involved in the fight against terrorism, and the American people at large. Nonetheless, he acknowledges the fact that the future holds a lot in terms of protection against terrorism. Obama states that the war against terrorism is far from over, and there is still a need to be as watchful, for terrorism is still a threat. By saying that the cause of securing the nation is not complete, he passes on the message that the future is still gloomy in respect of the need for security against terrorism. Therefore, the president’s speech is themed more on the aspect of victory, though he also acknowledges that there is some possibility for risk. Similarly, Leon Panetta’s speech appreciates the efforts of the various individuals and institutions that took part in the quest to find Osama bin Laden. Panetta establishes the need to rid the world and America of Osama, and his entire al Qaeda network. Throughout this speech, allusions to any future concerns are relatively scarce, except for the appreciation of the fact that al Qaeda is not dead, and retaliatory attacks are almost certain. It can be deduced that this implies a more detailed system needs to be put in place to eliminate, or at least reduce this possibility in the event of any future attack.  

The World of Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The World of Finance - Essay Example Both Amex and NASDAQ are similar since both the companies are based on the stock market. Both handle major clients and many different exchanges. Both also deal with the buying and selling of stocks. Each is widely known and capitalizes on their investors. There are some differences in the operations of two companies. NASDAQ is more of a corporate's corporation. It handles mostly technological clients and uses technology to electronically handle everything. Amex on the other hand, likes to be more personalize and does not handle everything electronically. Amex uses floor exchanged and is thought to be slower in handling things. NASDAQ is extremely competitive and continues to try to find way to better its company. In September 2002, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued five corporate executives (former WorldCom chief executive Bernard Ebbers, Qwest chairman Philip Anschutz, former Qwest CEO Joseph P. Nacchio, Metromedia Fiber chairman Stephen Garofalo and former McLeod CEO Clark McLeod) for repayment of funds garnered through profiteering in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and phony stock ratings given by Salomon Smith Barney in return for investment banking business. In January 2003, Spitzer reached a "global" settlement with top Wall Street firms. They pledged to pay $1.4 billion to settle federal and state charges. Bernard Ebbers was head of WorldCom. WorldCom had merged with one of the biggest technological companies MCI in April, 2003. This was one of the biggest technological mergers. This merger had broken up monopolies such as AT&T that had dominated the telephone industry. But after the scandal WorldCom was changed. The company filed for bankruptcy. For a time, WorldCom (WCOM) was the United States' second largest long distance phone company. (Liqi, 2006). PART - II Economic Functions of Financial Intermediaries Financial intermediaries are involved in performing very important economic function of channelizing the excess funds that depositors have, towards satisfying the fund requirements of the borrowers. Financial intermediaries aggregate small amounts of funds into big pools, then invest it in a diverse portfolio of primary securities to achieve more efficient diversification of risk than an individual investor. In this way, financial intermediaries are able to use savings that would otherwise not have been available to produce economic activity. Brokers' Roles in Financial Markets Brokers perform very important function in financial markets. They obtain relevant information that is required by the clients to make informed investment decision. This information ranges from market conditions to government regulations. In addition, brokers carry out clients' portfolio investment planning and provide guidance to the clients about most optimal investment decisions. Brokers have high level of control of a financial market. However, the advent of internet has brought about changes in the way businesses are conducted. The financial markets are no exception. NASDAQ makes use of the internet to provide value added information to the clients. The investment

A report of the recent performance of a banking sector in a country of Essay

A report of the recent performance of a banking sector in a country of your choice - Essay Example In the case of the British banking industry, the repeated failures of banks to meet the market rules led to severe losses, a fact which has traumatized the British economy, which is still in a period of recovery. The recent performance of banking industry in Britain is examined in this paper. It is revealed that banks across the country have managed to stabilize their performance, even if the relevant process has not, yet, ended. Another important finding of the research developed for this paper has been the following one: banks which have been well established in the British market have been able to face more effectively the pressures caused because of the crisis of 2007-2009. Also, the support of the state to the banks has been of critical importance for the recovery of the British banking sector, even if efforts are still required for the performance of banks in Britain to be stabilized. It should be noted that the paper is highly based on the material published in governmental an d non-governmental organizations. Also, recent articles from newspapers across Britain – worldwide also – have been used in order to show the current performance of banks in the particular country – aiming to reflect the current conditions of the country’s banking sector. 2. ... England can control the stability of the country’s financial system, the FSA has certain powers, as described in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 while the HM Treasury can overview the performance of relevant legal rules and report their violation, if such activity is identified, to the Parliament (Bank of England 2011). Traditionally, the role of banks in the British economy has been quite important. In fact, banks in UK have been considered as ‘the most respectable organizations’ (UK Banks 2011); however, this was a view related to the pre-2007, i.e. before the development of the crisis. Since the appearance of the global financial crisis, in 2007, the performance of British banks has started to be reduced – this trend is continued, even more slowly, up today. An indicative example of the effects of the crisis on the performance of the British banks has been the following one: because of the crisis the profits of Halifax Bank were reduced by 72 %, while in Lloyds-TSB, the reduction of profits reached a level of 70% (UK banks 2011). The British bank less affected by the crisis was HSBC with a limitation of profitability of approximately 28% (UK banks 2000). The effects of the crisis on British banks were controlled through the intervention of the British government (in October 2008) who offered ‘an amount of ? 500 billion’ (UK banks 2011) for helping British banks to exit the crisis with the less possible losses. In January of 2009 the British government offered an additional amount of ? 50 billion’ (UK banks 2011) to support the country’s banking sector. The reference to the above facts is necessary in order to evaluate the current performance of British banks, as explained in the next section. 2.2. Recent performance of banks in the British

How successful is chinese "soft power" in the west Essay

How successful is chinese "soft power" in the west - Essay Example The China’s soft-power activities in the international world include the use of foreign aids and investment, exchange programs, diplomacy, peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance, and multilateral involvement. These vary in application over the western countries as compared to the African and other Asia countries. Nevertheless, the China’s soft-power activities are not successful in the West as evident in other countries, despite experiencing positive outcomes in the economy and reputation. Determining the China’s success in the west would help evaluate the usefulness of the soft-powers towards the western countries. This paper will evaluate the success of Chinese soft-power in the west that will be achieved by analysing the economic and social-cultural gains as well as the limitations to great successes as obtained in other regions. China has used its soft power to grow its trade activities with the western countries and this has borne positive outcomes in the American and European economies. China has attained increased persuasion in the west through use of her economy and rich culture to enter into trade deals as well as increase levels of the exports to the western countries. China has increased favourable trade relationships, notably with the Latin American countries through bilateral agreements (Gill & Huang, 2006 p.20). This has promoted economic activities between the citizens of both regions by attaining apt environment for businesses to thrive. The exports and financial transactions with countries such as Brazil have been on a rise in the recent years. A similar observation is made on the Chinese trade with the United States. China is the largest single exporter in the American market with a range of products such as in the telecommunication and textile industry (Gill & Huang, 2006 p. 24). The increase d exports are

Public health Annotated Bibliography Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Public health - Annotated Bibliography Example 438). The postoperative complications and prolonged hospitalization of the patients were analyzed in the light of these nutritional tools. The study identified that both MUST and SNAQ were equally competent in detecting malnourished patients. Malnutrition identified by both MUST and SNAQ were linked with postoperative complications, postoperative acute heart failure, prolonged ICU stay as well as prolonged hospitalization (p. 439). The study also showed that MUST is independently capable of detecting malnutrition among participants. The article is of importance as it emphasizes the need to conduct preoperative nutritional therapy among cardiac patients to identify adverse clinical characteristics. Johnson, T., Macdonald, S., Hill, S.M., Thomas, A & Murphy, M.S. 2006. Treatment of active Crohns disease in children using partial enteral nutrition with liquid formula: a randomised controlled trial. Gut. 55(3), 356–361. The article shows the effects of both Total enteral nutrition (TEN) and partial enteral nutrition (PEN) among children with active Crohns disease. The sample consisted of 50 children (26 with 50% of PEN and 24 with 100% of TEN) with a paediatric Crohns disease activity index (PCDAI) >20. During the six weeks of study the PEN group was allowed to supplement their energy requirement with an unrestricted normal diet whereas the TEN category was provided only nutrition in liquids. The results showed that both TEN and PEN contributed to significant reduction in the PCDAI. However, the research revealed that TEN was more suitable for the treatment of active Crohns disease as it could suppress inflammation, increase haemoglobin and albumin, and reduce diarrhoea whereas PEN failed to suppress inflammation and prevent disease relapse (p. 360). The study shows that nutritional supplementation is comparatively less effective a treatment in the case of children with active Crohns disease. The article makes a comparative

Www.ideo.com and www.kickstarter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Www.ideo.com and www.kickstarter - Essay Example Kickstarter.com has a terrific vision making dreams into realities. Projects, creative ideas and other dream endeavors become reality with the funding that could be provided by kickstarter.com. Looking closely at the reviews for kickstarter.com, the website both has good and negative reviews. For the good reviews, the website was able to materialize projects would not have left the trestle board if it was not funded through kickboard. One of the projects was the Dewey Mac, Kid Detective Book which is a make DIY (do it yourself) and STEM Spy Gadget (Carroll). The idea was to make children experiment from STEM (Science, Technology and Math) experiences to be able to play the game. The participant would be building real working toys such as foxhole radio and glass ear from materials that could be readily found at home. In the process, it strengthens the STEM skills of children while having fun. The kit received various awards which could not have been possible without kickstarter.comâ⠂¬â„¢s help. Another project that materialized through kickstarter.com was the â€Å"Foodie Dice: Play with your food† project (Tumbleweeds). The idea was to inspire cooking combinations from the dice by merely rolling them. It is composed of 5 primary dice and 4 seasonal veggie dice that could produce creative concoctions by merely rolling them. The project receive $86,371 pledges and 2,333 backers (Tumbleweeds). III. Conclusion There are also some negative reviews about kickstarter.com such as non-notification of projects that it dropped that confuses the creators (sitejabber.com). But comparing these operational glitches to the benefit that kickstarter.com does to creative people, it is negligible. People in general are still grateful to the help that kickstarter.com extends to the creative. In sum, kickstarter.com serves as a bridge between people who have great ideas who does not have the resources to materialize it and those people who have resources who would like to h elp creative to materialize their ideas. Part II I. Title: www.ideo.com II. Introduction Ideo.com also deals with creative ideas just like kickstarter.com except that it does not look for fund those ideas into reality but rather help its customers to tap on their latent creativity to realize their creativity. Ideo is a design and innovation consultancy company founded in Palo Alto, California in 1991 by David Kelley, a Stanford Professor, Moggridge Associates, Matrix Design and Steelcase. Its current CEO is Tim Brown. It offers its consultancy services to its clients to help them design their products. Among the products connected with Ideo are futuristic PDS, sports watches and media panel (ideo.com). They call it â€Å"creative confidence† or design thinking where people discover their inherent creativity and transform them into a positive force in an organization (ideo.com). Compared to kickstarter.com where they look funding to help creative ideas materialize, ideo.com br ings out the creativity of people by actively engaging with their customers in the design of their products. III. Body Ideo.com can be classified as a cutting edge company in terms of design. Many of the known brands and popular products that we are using right now are in fact designed by the company. Among these companies are Samsung and British Airways. They collaborate with its customers and help them come up with a design and innovation that is consistent with the brand of their customers. IDEO integrate the needs of people, the possibility of technology and the requirement of business success as its approach to industrial design. It helps its customers

The theory of wound care fro Podiatry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The theory of wound care fro Podiatry - Essay Example They may be chronic or acute, and open or closed. The patient presented with a full thickness ulcer measuring 8 mms in diameter of approximately 6 months duration and the tissues around the ulcer are acutely inflamed. Patients with rheumatoid arthritis may develop leg and foot ulcers of varied aetiologies, including venous disease, infection and inflammation. The foot ulcers in rheumatoid arthritis patients may involve several of these aetiological factors and are often difficult to heal (Sunita). Both the ulcers and the treatments are often painful, and these ulcers may be present for years. Chronic wounds plague more than 10 million people in the world today. But even more troubling is the fact that these wounds may persist for months and even years without any healing or sign of improvement (Morgan 25). The problem is usually, if not always, not the wound itself; and therefore treating the wound will not, in chronic cases, resolve the issue. Chronic wounds have underlying causes t hat must be addressed in order for the wound to heal properly. Because normal skin and wound care is not enough to heal these wounds they usually remain for extended periods of time. As a rule, only 50% of leg ulcers heal within 4 months of appearing, 20% remain open at 2 years and 8% remain open at 5 years (World Wide Wounds). So we see that to effectively treat a chronic wound you must treat the cause and not simply treat the symptom. There are several factors that affect wound healing. These include the age of the patient, hydration status, presence of infection, presence of underlying conditions, medications, obesity, oxygenation and tissue perfusion, personal hygiene and nutrition (Bowler 499). In the case of Mrs. Freeman, these factors can be very well correlated. The physiological changes that occur with ageing place older patients at higher risk of poor wound healing. The age of the patient places her in a relative state of immune deficiency. The immune system also declines with age making older patients more susceptible to infection. Older people can also present with other chronic diseases, which affect their circulation and oxygenation to the wound bed. Dehydration leads to an electrolyte imbalance and impaired cellular function. The presence of infection can significantly alter the rate of wound healing. Infection has been defined as the deposition and multiplication of organisms in tissue with an associ ated host reaction (Dealy 56). In the given case, infection is rather evident in the patient's ulcer. The presence of unhealthy granulation, thick, bloody, and malodorous exudates indicate the presence of infection. Wound infection is a problem because, at the most fundamental level, infection stops a wound from healing by prolonging the inflammatory phase, disrupting the normal clotting mechanisms and promoting disordered leukocyte function and ultimately preventing the development of new blood vessels and formation of granulation tissue. Chronic diseases like diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus can delay the process of healing. The patient has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis of 10 years duration and this has markedly affected wound healing in her case. She also has secondary hypertension and iron deficiency anemia. The presence of chronic diseases weakens the immune system, dampening its ability to counteract the pathogens attacking the

Gender Inequality Essay Example for Free

Gender Inequality Essay The issue of gender inequality or discrimination has existed in the financial industry of the United States. This paper aims to present the existence of such practice in the financial world of some of the famous yet lawsuit-stricken Wall Street firms. In particular, a book written by Roth, which has studied and presented the many incidents of gender prejudices, will be critically analyzed. To make the public realize the need for such harmful organizational practice to be stopped is the ultimate goal of this paper. A Critical Analysis of â€Å"Selling Women Short: Gender Inequality on Wall Street† Many literary writings have presented gender inequalities in work settings. Each work has revealed to the public the many damaging implications of gender discrimination. These kinds of prejudices have been manifested in several forms, notable of which are the famous sexual harassment and unfair labor practice cases. Almost always in such lawsuits, the women employees of big business organizations always fall prey or are subjected to various gender-related unfair practices. Several factors are taken into consideration when gender biases occur in work places. While it is worthy to note that modern working women have slowly achieved a sense of work fairness based from their significant contributions in their respective industries, the ghost of the past sill haunts the society. These are evident with the unsettled labor cases having women as the aggrieved parties. These are but some of the main issues presented in many books. Despite the efforts, however, to clearly present the realities within an organization setting, the fact remains that there are still no appropriate responses which may address the issues concerning women employees. One of the many books which concretely depicted the said condition is the 2006 book of Louise Marie Roth entitled â€Å"Selling Women Short: Gender and Money on Wall Street. † In fact, a literary work such as the Roth book is a clear proof that gender inequalities, which beset powerful Wall Street companies almost two decades ago, have destructively affected contemporary work environments. This is because of the idea that only a few of high-profile gender discrimination cases are resolved in favor of the women victims while majority of these lawsuits are decided favoring the managements where the supposed injustices emanate or where the suspected male offenders acquired their influences. These celebrated criminal cases and the eventual out of court settlements have clearly indicated the previous existence of discrimination and continued practice of gender inequality in the professional environment. Despite the efforts of the Roth book to enlighten and rectify the perspective that women in Wall Street nonetheless have their fair share of success, the reality that women in work places are likely to be shortchanged or are â€Å"sold short† of their respective powers and potentials will never cease to exist. This situation will continue unless concrete actions and sincere efforts are made in order to alleviate, if not stop, gender discrimination in work places. â€Å"Selling Women Short,† an Overview As an educator, Roth presented the book in a manner of self-realization. The author learned how Wall Street companies, such as Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, all of Citigroup, have provided and continued hostile work settings for their women employees despite the existence of many legal limitations. Based from a methodology using research questions and aimed at achieving an investigative design, â€Å"Selling Women Short† matched the male and female employees of Wall Street firms during the period of 1990s and at time when the market and chances were rich. In an era where the work setting was supposedly advantageous to women workers, Roth discovered the many forms of gender discriminations which hampered the female workforce to progress. In short, using thorough study procedures, the authors as presented by her book examined sex inequality on Wall Street and realized that deceitful prejudice is the outcome of people’s ignorant inclinations and injustices which manipulate how they regard other employees and their respective performances (Roth, 2006). The book specifically identified the Wall Street’s practice of performance appraisal system as the apparent cause of gender discrimination (Roth, 2006, pp. 36-37). The book further presented the various manners in which women employees of the said Wall Street firms have attained their respective success. In particular, the triumphs of women working in the security businesses involved searching for an influential male adviser but in the process, ultimately prevent them from joining team efforts where their inputs matter most. The book concluded by manifesting that work and family concerns do not go hand in hand. This is because of the reality that family-related issues could be the most difficult hindrances to gender fairness on Wall Street due to the fact that women workers desire and ultimately have their respective families. Appealing Components The book is most notable for its comprehensive and clear focus on gender-related emphasis, particularly the degrading reality of discrimination against women which was introduced by the Wall Street work settings and which has continued to harm the modern work place. Stunned by an outbreak of celebrated gender or sex inequality cases more than two decades ago, it was expected from Wall Street to sanitize its industries and the activities of its workforce. Interestingly for â€Å"Selling Women Short,† it has thoroughly and powerfully reflected on how Wall Street’s financial companies have cleared continuing discriminatory lawsuits. Roth is to be acclaimed for this fearless ability to research on the particular cases of gender inequalities and eventually share to the readers the results of her study as well as the appalling yet actual situations of discrimination involving women employees of the firms located at the financial capital of the United States. It is also interesting to discover from the book that Wall Street, which is regarded to be a fortress of untainted or wholesome economics as well as supposedly compensating employees according to their accomplishments and assessing their jobs impartially, is in reality nothing but deceptions. It was both an enlightening and enjoyable discovery that Wall Street was amiss with its supposed intention to equally pay employees, regardless of gender but who have the same qualities and achievements. The comparison made by Roth about the work experiences of the people who started their jobs at various Wall Street firms in the later period of the 1990s was truly appealing. This is because the author was able to unearth that aside from the reality that women employees are paid at a standard of 29 percent less than their male colleagues, they are likewise pushed to less rewarding career options as well as were deprived of promotion and worthwhile customers (Roth, 2006). Aside from the mentioned interesting points, the book has remarkably exposed the devious gender inequality in the Wall Street structure. Roth is again to be praised for her explicit revelation of gender discrimination when she wrote on the unwitting prejudices of the members of the management, colleagues of the women employees and the manipulation of the customers on the performance assessments, task allocation, and eventually compensation (Roth, 2006, p. 62). Simply put, the book, through the words of Roth, has effectively presented how employees behind Wall Street companies have portrayed realistically damaging components such as their penchant to relate with those of similar sex and how they have a say to the system of gender discrimination. Ultimately, the author is to be credited with her proposals to limit the practice of all gender-related inequalities. Though the suggestions seem to fall short of being real, such attempt by Roth implied her earnest intention for the public to realize the harms of discrimination. Conclusion Despite the above mentioned interesting attributes of â€Å"Selling Women Short,† the book itself is unfortunately similarly short of its suggestions on how gender inequality could have been addressed, if not stopped, even from its start of existence. While Roth’s writing job was generally appealing and informative primarily because of her efforts to deal with the issue of gender discrimination, it may be in a way perceived that the public was shortchanged of more concrete solutions. Nonetheless, what Roth has ultimately achieved was for the book to eventually sink into the organizational set-up of Wall Street firms where it is aimed at influencing the people who build the practice of gender discrimination to finally put an end to such prejudice. Reference Roth, L. M (2006). Selling Women Short: Gender Inequality on Wall Street. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Reflective Writing on the meaning of Leadership

Reflective Writing on the meaning of Leadership During the first workshop of PASBD, I was in a way taught by our lecture, that working in a group or a team, every member is an important key to achievements, and having a leader is important to keep the team on track as well as lead the team to achieve goals. Leadership can be seen as a counteractive influence when groups experience difficulties in establishing the conditions necessary for making the best possible choice Dennis Gouran (qtd. in Beebe Masterson 2006). Therefore, a leader always gave me an impression that he or she has to be brilliant with good leadership skills, thinking that if a group is lack of a skillful or brilliant leader, a team would most probably fail. Throughout the semester I came to see the importance of a leader, but not as a dominant to the entire team. I felt that having a vertical leadership  [1]  is somehow not so appropriate in completing our task as a group in this subject; rather Shared Leadership will be more appropriate used to explain our g roup. Having a leader is crucial to keep the team going, however a team does not restrict to only one leader. According to Pearce Conger (2003) leadership is broadly distributed among a set of individual instead of centralizes in hands of a single individual who acts in the role of a superior, referring this as Shared Leadership Craig Jay, (2003), which is the process of influencing each other in a team, leading each other to achieve a certain goal or achievement, where leadership is carried out by the team as a whole, rather than solely by an individual alone.  [2]  . In our group, I felt that each group member has a very important role to keep the team going, having each with different skill contributing to a team will only keep the team resourceful, and unlock the thinking by bringing in new idea. Benne and Sheats, 1948, (qtd. In Craig Jay, 2003), raised that team members had actually the roles that is as critical as the team leader, where leadership is a reciprocal process. And the roles are divided by Benne and Sheats into two categories, which are Task Role  [3]  and Socioemotional Roles  [4]  . In my own opinion, I felt that I am most suitable to be classified as the Socioemotional Roles in a team, where I played most of the role as a group observer or as a follower. I do not enjoy leading a team dominantly, most of the time it will depend on situation where I felt suitable to contribute, usually collecting each group member opinion and idea before deciding on which suggestion is most appropriate to be taken up. Team Role Considering the team role, define as A tendency to behave, contribute and interrelate with others in a particular way. Belbins (1993) I would consider myself as a Monitor Evaluator Belbins (1993), being describe as having the characteristic of sober, strategic, discerning, able to sees all options and could judges accurately. A Monitor Evaluator in a team is needed to provide a logical eye, make impartial judgments where required and to weigh up the teams options in a dispassionate way  [5]  . This stands in a part of my personality, where I often not like to make a judgment without knowing the actual situation. During a group discussion, I usually observe the interaction and the statements of others before I start putting more of my opinions. It is important to have delegated team role in a group, with the different combination of characteristic, the team can only help each other to meet up all the requirements needed to complete the task. Due to the different characteristic of members in a group, it leads to a certain disagreement between members during the completion of the task. However to get job done, members of a group often need some corporation to a certain extent. In my situation I find it sometimes difficult to coordinate with group members who are in the team role of a Shaper  [6]  , where they have the tendency to hurt people feeling on some statement they made, without realizing it. Their actions often speak louder than words, made me feel annoying and difficult to concentrate. Despite the characteristics which I do not like about Shaper, they are actually important in providing drive to ensure that the team kept moving and did not lose focus or momentum, Belbins (1993). On the other hand, I most enjoy te aming with members with the role of Co-coordinator ², where they often delegates well, and will seek for advice for other members, allowing each members to feel the respect and involved in to team. According to Beebe Masterson (2006), Not only group members need a mutual concern to unite them, but they also need to feel they belong to a group. Nevertheless, each Team Role has its own contribution; however there are also allowable weakness Belbins (1993), where allowable weaknesses are the downside of the characteristics of the roles, which is allowable due to the strength which goes with it. As for my role as a Monitor Evaluator, I have the weakness of being said to lack of drive and ability to inspire others, and overly critical, Belbin (1993). I often realize this weakness of mine and attempt to change, by trying to say things to keep the discussion in progress. Weakness offers clues to a possible strength, Belbins (1993), knowing my own weaknesses could help to improve more in the future. I believe that by making use of my weakness appropriately, it could transform into strength. Working in Team/Group Working in a group is different from working individually. Working individually allows having flexibility in time management, as I can plan my own schedule to work on the assignment, as well as deciding on something without have to seek discussion or the opinion of other group members. When working in group, one of the major frustration about group work is the time it takes to accomplish task Beebe Masterson (2006). Working in a group, it needs much cooperation from each group members to get things done effectively and efficiently. This includes encouraging the group members to attend the discussion meeting, and ensuring every group member to take on the responsibility to complete their task assigned, If we want a better solution, it is going to take time, patients, and understanding, Beebe Masterson (2006). Because working in a group involves a few individuals, and few individual usually means involving different time to suit, as each has own different daily activities. This will create some difficulties in finding the correct time and place that is convenient for all to hold a discussion meeting. On the other hand, I also find many advantages in working in a group. Having a group of people working together is like pooling of skills and knowledge, and this will to certain extent speed up the researching process and the decision making. Working together with a few person, allows to have discussion on problems and solutions, increasing the probability of picking the error done by another, and could pool different opinion to a problem. There are different types of group according to Beebe Masterson (2006); there are the primary group and secondary group. Primary group members associate with one another to perpetuate the joy of community, to fulfill the basic human needs to be social Beebe Masterson (2006), therefor the conversation is informal. Secondary group is what I would classify as our group, as the secondary groups exist to accomplish task or achieve goal the reason you join secondary group is to get something done Beebe Masterson (2006). Our group is assigned with a take to complete every week, we gather to solve the problem in the task given. Further, our group could also be classifying as the Focus Group, where we have a goal to focus, as well as given a particular topic to follow, Beebe Masterson (2006). In order to get the group working well there are two most important behavior of group member based on Michael Mayer, Beebe Masterson (2006), these behavior encourage members to participate fully in the discussion, especially in analyzing problem, and, offer supportive comments to others, Beebe Masterson (2006). To me, having these behaviors can only our group fully utilize the skills and knowledge we have to achieve the best result possible. However, working in groups, I had come through different types of personalities grouping. Some are in a dominating role, where without seeking permission from others, they tries too in a way give order to people telling them what to do. Trying to get ideas across group members who like to dominate is rather challenging for me, I had experience some hard time convincing on an idea. This experience gives me a lot of practice on my patients, and practicing different way of communicating an idea. Nevertheless, there are also group members who are B locks Progress and some are Social Loafing, Beebe Masterson (2006). Block Progress has an attitude which is often stubborn and disagreeable with no supportive reason. Social Loafing are people who attempt to rely on others to do their job, and hold back on their contribution, Beebe Masterson (2006). These group members will delay the progress of the group, keeping the group from achieving goals. From these, I had realized that to work together effectively, individuals must develop common goals and collective focus rather than pursuing only individual goals Beebe Masterson (2006). To get the work effectively done I will have learn to be a competent group communicator, Beebe Masterson (2006), to always have motivation  [7]  and have the ability to interact appropriately to achieve goal. Communication Having the ability to convey ideas through communication is very important when working in group, as Speech communication gives individual access to the ideas and inner world of other group members, Beebe Masterson (2006). Failure in communication well will cause misunderstanding, leading to conflict or inability to come out with a well done assignment. Problems of communication that I have faced are such as Bypassing and Allness Statement, Beebe Masterson (2006). Bypassing is when, I or my group member is trying to make a statement, we misunderstand the meaning of on a same word, and this had leaded us to produce or work not as required at first. Further is Allness Statement, means that some statement is simple but untrue generalization, Beebe Masterson (2006). Knowing that there are chances that we may misunderstand out group members word, I often like to summarize our discussion at the end of the meeting, to ensure that the message is got through clearly. Throughout the entire course, I found myself in groups are being generally low profile, in the sense where I prefer to monitor the progress of the group discussion and only give opinions when I felt I am needed to, in another words seeking for others to discover that I have something to say. Realizing that a group cannot function without words; communication is the vehicle that allows a group to move towards its goals Beebe Masterson (2006), I have encouraged myself to speak out more during a discussion. At the beginning I was struggling to get points out of my mouth, after few discussions, I had felt more comfortable. In order to be sure of my communication skill I had done a test through the internet, on a website call Test Yourself  [8]  . The outcome of the test on my communication skill says that I am insightful, where I sometimes have difficulties interpreting other peoples words and actions, and see things from their perspective, although I can generally sense what others are feeling and thinking relatively well. Conflict between group members Conflict, happens when members have disagreement over two or more options that a group can take, Beebe Masterson (2006), and A conflict occurs because people do not understand one another Beebe Masterson (2006). It is something difficult to avoid when involving contact between human, in terms of communication or what so ever. In my situation, while needed to work in a group of five, there are always chances of conflict happening once any members cant get into the same opinion. A group with more than two people will often add complexity and element of uncertainty to the Trans active communication process, and this will affect the outcome Beebe Masterson (2006). I would preferably try my best to avoid conflict when working in my group, as conflict will have negative impact on a group harmony and the outcome of our work, I will keep the group from completing its task, interferes with the quality of the groups decision or productivity, threatens the existence of the group Beebe Maste rson (2006). According to the book of communication in small groups, Beebe Masterson (2006), Communication scholars Gerald Milller and Mark Steinberg had identified three common types of interpersonal conflict; they are the pseudo-conflict, where people misunderstand one another, Simple conflict, where people disagree about issues, and, Ego conflict, when personalities clash, Beebe Masterson (2006). Throughout the entire course, I came through the three types of interpersonal conflict in a different way. These conflict does not happen when our group members first met, it all happen when we begin to know more about each characteristic and working style, then begin the disagreement between each other. The conflict that I found most challenging to deal with is the Ego Conflict, as in the situation when the group members become defensive about their position because they think they are being personally attacked, Beebe Masterson (2006). There are times where the entire progress of the task is being delayed, and other group members are put into pressure, by worrying if the deadline could be met. Fortunately, we managed to overcome these obstacles, meeting the deadline. Dealing with conflict, each individual will have different style in managing it. Even though working in a group, each will manage the conflict in their own way as the feel more comfortable with. I myself manage conflict in a Nonconfrontational Style, one of the three general styles of managing conflict by, Linda Putnam and Charmaine, according to Beebe Masterson (2006). Nonconfrontational Style explains that a person in managing the conflict face by working hard to avoid conflict with others, Beebe Masterson (2006). I do not like to go into argument with others, for any reason; I will feel very uncomfortable to communicate or rather become speechless, when things begin to feel unpleasant. Thus, I would choose to withdraw myself to a certain extent, until the situation become calmer before I start to sort things out by communicating with the group member. Avoiding an immediate attack from another group member may give you time to think of more appropriate response rather than blurti ng out the first thing come to your mind Beebe Masterson (2006). However, in some situation, Avoiding conflict does not make the source of problem go away, it still exist Beebe Masterson (2006). When the conflict became too critical to be left to calm by itself, it cant be avoided by keeping quiet, things would have gotten worst if so. In this, no matter how uncomfortable I am to face the conflict, I still have to stand out to solve the problem, trying not to make things reach the extent where, group members turn into enemies. If others are unlikely to change, then you may have to change yourself, Belbins (1993). Conclusion Going through the entire PASBD course is a whole process of learning, teaching in the lecture, and through experience. From the lecture, I had learned on skills of presentation as well as got more understanding on the topic of PASBD. What I gain from the lecture are actually from the experience of others, and I can only understand it theoretically, if I did not got the true experience I can never have the real feeling of what the theories actually trying to convey. Mr. JJ said something about experience, the meaning is roughly of: experiencing the process is like riding a roller coaster; you will not want others to tell u about it, it is what you need to feel for yourself through your real experience. It is through the experience that I could utilize what I learned, and physically going through the process allowing me to have deeper impression on the leanings. Belbins (1993) had also mentioned something about experience learning, saying that Like competing in the Olympic Games, the g reat thing is to have taken part. Unless people enrol for the event, they cannot win the race. What we do will be what we learn; people equipped themselves for work through working, and through the lessons learned through experience, Beebe Masterson (2006).

Blowfish Algorithm Advantages and Disadvantages

Blowfish Algorithm Advantages and Disadvantages Blowfish is a keyed (piece of information that determines the functional output of a cryptographic algorithm or cipher), symmetric cryptographic block cipher. It was designed by Bruce Schneier in 1993. Since then it has been analyzed considerably, and it is slowly gaining acceptance as a strong encryption algorithm. Blowfish is license-free and is available free for all uses. It is also a symmetric block cipher that can be used as a drop-in replacement for DES or IDEA. It takes a variable-length key, from 32 bits to 448 bits, making it ideal for both domestic and exportable use. Blowfish is also one of the fastest block ciphers in public use, making it ideal for a product that functions on a wide variety of processors found in mobile phones as well as in notebook and desktop computers. The first implementation of the Blowfish Algorithm in LabVIEW. With this set of subvis one can encrypt data in LabVIEW without the need of external software. This can be used to send data securely over Data socket as well as TCP and UDP communications along with protect remote control systems from unauthorized access, by encrypting the control communications. .( B. Schneier, Applied Cryptography, John Wiley Sons, New York, 1994.) 3.2 Strategies and Mechanisms Blowfish has a 64-bit block size and a key length of somewhere from 32 bits to 448 bits. The algorithm consists of two parts. One is a key-expansion part and one more is a data- encryption part. Key expansion converts a key of at most 448 bits into several subkey arrays totaling 4168 bytes. It is a 16-round Feistel cipher and uses large key-dependent S-boxes (basic component of symmetric key algorithms which performs substitution). Each round consists of a keydependent permutation, and a keydependent substitution. It is also similar in structure to CAST-128, which uses fixed S-boxes. Blowfish is suitable for application where the key does not change frequently, like a communication link or an automatic file encryptor. It is significantly faster than most encryption algorithm when on 32-bit microprocessor with large data caches. (Fast Software Encryption, Cambridge Security Workshop Proceedings December 1993) 3.3 The Feistel structure of Blowfish A Fiestel network is a general method of transforming any function (generally called F- function) into a permutation. It was inented by Horst Fiestel and has been used in many block chiper designed. The diagram below shows the action of Blowfish. Each line represents 32 bits. The algorithm keeps two subkey arrays: the 18-entry P-array and four 256-entry S-boxes. The S-boxes accept 8-bit input and produce 32-bit output. One entry of the P-array is used every round, and after the final round, each half of the data block is XORed with one of the two remaining unused P-entries. The diagram to the right shows Blowfishs F-function. The function splits the 32-bit input into four eight-bit quarters, and uses the quarters as input to the S-boxes. The outputs are added modulo 232 and XORed to produce the final 32-bit output. Since Blowfish is a Feistel network, it can be inverted simply by XO7Ring P17 and P18 to the cipher text block, then using the P-entries in reverse order. Blowfishs algorithm initialize with the P-array and S-boxes. The secret key is then XORed with the P-entries in order and then use the same method to encrypt all the zero string. The consequential ciphertext replaces P1 and P2 then encrypt the new P1 and P2 with the modified subkeys. Now the output is P3 and P4. Altogether Blowfish algorithm will repeat 521 times in order to calculate new subkeys for the P-array and the four S-boxes. It is about 4KB data is processed. The blowfish uses a large number of subkeys. These keys must be precomputed before any data encryption or decryption. The P-array consists of 18 32-bit subkeys: P1, P2, P3, P18. There are four 32-bit S-boxes with 256 entries each: S1,0, S1,1,, S1,255; S2,0, S2,1,..,, S2,255; S3,0, S3,1,, S3,255; S4,0, S4,1,..,, S4,255. Figure 3: Feistel Network (John Wiley Sons, New York, 1994) As what mentioned above, blowfish has 16 rounds. The method of calculating it: The input is a 64-bit data element, x. Divide x into two 32-bit half: xL, xR. Then, for i = 1 to 16: xL = xL XOR Pi xR = F(xL) XOR xR Swap xL and xR After the sixteenth round, swap xL and xR again to undo the last swap. Then, xR = xR XOR P17 and xL = xL XOR P18. Finally, recombine xL and xR to get the ciphertext. 3.4 Key Expansion Key expansion converts a key of at most 448 bits into several subkey arrays totaling 4168 bytes. The figure and the explanation of the Key Explanation of Blowfish are showed below Explanation for the Key Explanation of Blowfish figure : Step 1: Expand key to 576-bit XOR with P array Store results of 2 in P array Step 2: datal = 0x00000000; datar = 0x00000000; for (i = 0; i Blowfish_encipher(datal, datar); bf_P[i] = datal; bf_P[i + 1] = datar; } for (i = 0; i for (j = 0; j Blowfish_encipher(datal, datar); bf_S[i][j] = datal; bf_S[i][j + 1] = datar; } } 3.5 Application That Use Blowfish Method Below are the applications that using Blowfish Encryption: AEdit : A free Windows word processor incorporating text encryption. Coolfish: An encrypting text editor for Windows. Foopchat: Encrypted chat and advanced file sharing using a client/server architecture. JFile by Land-J Technologies: A database program for the PalmOS platform. Freedom by Zero-Knowledge: Privacy for web browsing, e-mail, chat, telnet, and newsgroups. JFile is one of the famous application that use blowfish method. JFile5 is the new version of the JFile. It is a flat-file database application for the PalmOS. There are 4 primary views in JFile 5.0. First is Main View, where it is the view that shows a list of all the JFile 5 databases that are currently installed on the Palm device. Second is New/Modify Database Structure View, this is the view when we are creating a new database, or modifying the structure of an existing database. Here is where we have to set the field names, the field types, the database name, and other elements of the database structure. The third view is Database View, this is the view that presented along when we tap on a database name from the Main View. The last view is Record View, this is the view that received when we tap a specific record from the Database View. In this JFile5 we can change the current method of security for each database by tapping the lock icon of the database on the main screen. There are three levels of security for databases in JFile5. The first level is the green/open lock where at this level the database contains no security, any user accessing the device can view and edit the database. The second level is the orange/grey closed lock, at this level the database is protected by the Security applications password (if it is set). To access this database, we will need to provide the password set in the Security application. This security level is appropriate for handing the Palm temporarily to a colleague so they wont have easy access to the database, but the information is not encrypted in any way. The third level is the red/dark closed lock at this level we will choose an encryption password for the database. The entire database will be encrypted, and we MUST remember the password to access the database. Due to the encryption, certain operations within the database will be slower. In addition, we will need to insure that any PC/Mac side utilities that we use w ith JFile support the encryption method. There are also some new features in this JFile5 where the maximum number of databases increased to 120 and it is improved use of color in the application compared to JFile4. There are 5 different sorts and filter settings can be saved for quick and easy usage, it is also easier to use because of the updated user interface. It is also has multiple locked columns for left/right scrolling in the main database view and the encryption of databases using 64-bit Blowfish algorithm. The VFS memory cards made easy movement of databases and have new calculated value field types. There are also default values for fields, read-only field options are also available with the Beam-Via-Coola (www.coola.com) support. They also enhanced resolution for Handera 330 devices, extensive keyboard input support and the Navigation of most common areas of JFile for JogDial equipped devices. The limitations for this JFile5 are 120 databases (1 in the demonstration version), 20 character maximum for field names, 50 fields maximum per databases, 4,000 characters per field of data, 10,000 characters per record of data and 16,000 records per database. 3.6 Hardware Architecture Pipelining is a famous technique for improving the throughput of computers, by using parallel elements so that several instructions can be worked on simultaneously. The basic idea of pipelining is to begin carrying out a new instruction before execution of an old one is completed. When pipelining is used, the number of steps in the basic algorithm is less important than fitting the steps into a framework so that they can be performed in parallel. The figure of the pippelining implementation are showed below These are processed separately (with delayed arithmetic carries shown in the figure as carry) and then combined at the end of processing. Even though more clock cycles are needed, the speed of the clock can be greatly improved, because smaller adders are required at each stage, with smaller internal propagation delays. (Malaysian Journal of Computer Science, Vol. 14 No. 1, June 2001, pp. 16-27) These are some examples of blowfish hardware architecture Figure 18: Chip Specifications What is this table? Explanation needed Mode Specification 0 Idle 1 Initial 2 Encrypt 3 DecryptTable 1: Mode Specification What is this figure? Explanation needed The controller is implemented as a Finite State Machine and described in a behavioral Verilog model. The figure and the explanation of the Finite State Machine are showed below Figure 20: FSM of Controller (Bruce Schneier, Applied Cryptography, John Wiley Sons, Inc. 1996) Explanation of Finite State Machine figure : e1: Finish loading data from ROM to SRAM e2: Finish initialization and mode != 1 e3: Finish encryption and mode != 2 e4: Finish decryption and mode != 3 Datapath includes ROM modules, SRAM modules, and the main arithmetic units of Blowfish. The figure showed below is the architecture of the datapath Figure 21 : The architecture of the datapath Explanation for the figure of the architecture : The  Ã‚ ° string is mapped to ROM_P and ROM_S-box. The P-array is mapped to SRAM_P, and the four S-boxes are mapped to SRAM_Sbox. Because the size of SRAM module is 2n words, P1 and P18 are implemented as registers, and the others are mapped to 1632 bits SRAM. We use a shift register under DataIn to expand 4-bit input to 64-bit input and a shift register over DataOut to reduce 64-bit output to 4-bit output. CORE implements the loop of the 16-round iteration. A pipeline stage is added to the output of the SRAM modules. The pipeline stages will double the performance of the Blowfish hardware but lead to the overhead of area. 3.7 Advantages and Drawbacks Blowfish is one of the fastest block ciphers in general use, except when changing keys. Each new key requires pre-processing equivalent to encrypting about 4 kilobytes of text, which is very slow compared to other block ciphers. This prevents its use in certain applications, but is not a problem in others, such as SplashID. In an application, its actually a benefit especially the password-hashing method used in OpenBSD uses an algorithm derived from Blowfish that makes use of the slow key schedule. Blowfish is not subject to any patents and is therefore freely available for anyone to use. This has contributed to its popularity in cryptographic software. The disadvantages of Blowfish are it must get key to the person out of band specifically not through the unsecured transmission channel. Each pair of users needs a unique, so as number of users increase, key management becomes complicated. For example N(N-1)/2 keys required. Blowfish cant provide authentication and non-repudiation as two people have same key. It also has weakness in decryption process over other algorithms in terms of time consumption and serially in throughput

Suicide In Our Society :: essays research papers

Suicide In Our Society   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Once every minute someone tries to commit suicide. Sixty or seventy times a day these attempts succeed.( Earl A. Grollman, Suicide: Prevention, Intervention, Postvention, Boston: Beacon Press, 1988, p.4) Unlike what many want to believe, suicide can happen to anyone regardless of race, age or sex. News reports, books and the internet all point in the same direction. We are undergoing a breakdown in our social roles, and suicide is the result.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first ever recorded talk of suicide was in 2000 B.C., when a man says that his life is filled with pain and suffering and he is contemplating taking his own life. Although attitudes toward suicide have changed over the years, it has not ceased to happen. The first suicide prevention Centre didn't come until almost 4000 years later. In 1774, England created the first Centre to try to prevent attempted suicides.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Suicide prevention isn't happening until it's too late. One high school, in a small town in Quebec, had four suicides in seven weeks. After these had happened, the school invited parents in to discuss suicide prevention. (CTV News 11:00 p.m. January 6, 1997.) These might have been able to be prevented if communities would assume their roles and discuss it on a regular basis and not have suicide be a word that is whispered but never spoken.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The myth that those who talk about suicide will never actually go through with it is completely false. Most people who do kill themselves give some sort of clue before doing so. It may be something very subtle such as â€Å"I wonder where my father keeps his gun† or they might just come right out and say â€Å" I would rather die then go on living this way.† What ever it is everyone should know how to recognize when someone is feeling suicidal and get help to them right away. Suicide can be prevented if noticed at an early enough stage.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Suicidal feelings can be brought upon someone by many different situations. Someone with a terminal illness may not see a reason to continue a short life of pain, when they think they'll die soon anyway. Economical stress hurts more then just your wallet, someone may feel that they are a failure and that may bring suicidal feelings. The death of a loved one or the breakdown of a family can also cause these feelings. Because someone may fall in to one of these categories doesn't mean that they are suicidal, but all hints should be taken seriously. A cry for help needs help from a professional helper.