Quantitative Analysis for Business....Data Collection Essay

Quantitative Analysis for Business....Data Collection - Essay Example With quantitative research, the data collection process works with a stated hypothesis that works with a stated theory. In the case of BIMS, data collection is acquired from patients exposed to different medications and other measures. The various methods that fall under the quantitative include experiments, observation, using management systems to acquire information and conducting surveys (University of Pheonix, n.d.). The major merits associated with these methodologies are that they produce relevant results, as detailed results are obtained from the experiments. The researchers work with real time experiences hence are able to record details that may be used as constrains. The main disadvantage of quantitative is that they are time consuming as massive data entry takes place in the continuity of the process. The method is also prone to error as many data entry of the information is done by individuals, who might key in incorrect information. Quantitative methods of collecting data are expensive, as the researchers might require incentives to lure potential information givers. Also, travelling from one location to another includes miscellaneous expenses (University of Pheonix,

International Business Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Business - Research Paper Example Introduction Vodafone Group Plc is the world’s leading mobile network operator which has deep roots in ‘Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and the United States (Vodafone). The British multinational mobile network operator has subsidiaries over 25 countries. According to the reports, it has developed a network of approximately 341 million customers by March 31, 2010. The company has great interests in India and Australia as these countries hold a potential market for the growth of mobile network operators. The statistical data show that Vodafone serves 106.34 million customers in India, which constitute one third of their total customers. The Vodafone Group started its operations in India in 1994 through its Indian subsidiary Vodafone Essar. Vodafone Hutchison Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Vodafone group and they actively started operations in Australia in 1993. Vodafone claims that they have a wide network of 4.031 million customers across Austral ia (Facts & Figures). Company outline The mission statement of the company reads like this; â€Å"We will be the communications leader in an increasingly connected world† (Vodafone). The company gives great emphasis on product strategy. After selecting a particular segment for the product launching, the company designs a big project for influencing the customers of the targeted area. The Vodafone largely employs media advertisements by which they try to communicate unique benefits of the brands with the public. The wide range of advertisements help people to assess various services offered by the Vodafone and thereby they can differentiate the company’s products from that of its competitors. Likewise, the Vodafone group keeps some distinctive features in their distribution strategy also. The Vodafone Group has recently announced their plan to reorganize the activities of six service providers into another three new businesses. This reorganization intends to specificall y concentrate on various market sectors such as corporate customers, small businesses, and the consumer. These different groups would have different needs and it would be possible to meet their varied needs efficiently only if the company has concentrated on specific sectors. Vodafone’s theory in pricing process is that it should be ‘affordable to all’; but at the same time they do not compromise with product quality. Global business environment The rapid technological developments in telecommunication field have encouraged the entrance of large number of new service providers into the market. Although Vodafone is one of the world’s leading companies, it faces intense competition in India and Australia. In India, there are too many competitive service operators such as BSNL, Reliance, and Airtel. However, the Vodafone Group could establish their position in Indian telecommunication market through the application of a wide variety of promotional techniques. Similarly, an extreme competitive environment exists in Australia also in the field of mobile network service providers. The business graph of Vodafone Australia indicates its fascinating growth during the last couple of years. In order to overcome the complexity of cut-throat competition, the Vodafone practices the method of target marketing. They maintain separate team of researchers in order to valuate the potentials and threats of a selected

Leadership At Berkshire Hathaway And General Electric Commerce Essay

Leadership At Berkshire Hathaway And General Electric Commerce Essay Since, the researchers interest was the effects of diversification on two American Conglomerates (Berkshire Hathaway and General Electric). First, its important to look at why the researcher has chosen these two companies. Both companies have a wide range and diversity of product portfolios which are of particular interest. Following earlier research (Natter, Mild, Feurstein, Dorffner, Taudes, 2001; Krishnan Ulrich, 2001) the paper intends to narrow down area of focus to Berkshire Hathaway Inc and general Electric. Both companies are going against the trend of diversification, starting from the last decade the trend has been becoming less popular, but both corporations are still diversifying their business lines. Berkshire Hathaway currently has 80 businesses and one of the reasons for the companys success might be strong management, the CEO, Warren Buffett is a core resource for Berkshire Hathaway, he is known for buying excellent businesses at a price that make business sense. On the other hand, with so many businesses, diversification strategies might help companies in spreading market risks: adding products to the exiting lines of business can be viewed as analogous to an investor who invests in multiple stocks to spread the risks. Diversification into other lines of business can especially make sense when the core product market is uncertain, which is the case for Berkshire Hathaway and General Electric. 4.2. 2 Reasons for their success (Berkshire Hathaway and General Electric) In order to achieve higher performance, GE generates great results from the people and process. This combination unlocks GEs business breadth, revealing new paths to growth. The company has 2 councils that are responsible for achieving such high performance: The Commercial Council that drives the Companys growth initiative: Growth as a Process. This initiative has yielded record-setting organic revenue growth for the last three years (Annual report, 2008). They also have Leadership, Innovation and Growth team training program, all are meant to achieve the long-term profitability and success of the Conglomerate and to develop communications expertise to create new ideas and foster existing ones. Also there is the Operating Council which was formed in 2007, which consisted of leaders from engineering, supply chain, sourcing, finance, and product management. The goal of the council was clear: create a $1 billion funnel of ideas, and improve the Companys operating profit margin rate by 100 basis points to a world-class level of 18% (Annual report, 2008). Also, The Council is focused on lowering product costs, reducing overhead, countering inflation, turning inventory, and improving price. It is a forum to share best practices on topics such as productivity, simplification, sourcing, restructuring, quality, and new products -all critical disciplines in an increasingly competitive and global environment. The Council uses a common scorecard to measure progress across the company and spreads its success to all businesses. In addition, General Electric has been a leading source of corporate strategy concepts and innovations for more than half a century. The firm has been among the top five members of fortune magazines Americas Most Admired corporations since the listing began. Considering the research question in this project which is the reasons for the success of two American conglomerates through diversification strategy and their achievements, the researcher refers diversification as a growth strategy and both 9Berkshire Hathaway and General electric) are known for their wide range of businesses and their growth through acquisitions. Makron Associated identified several conglomerates with exceptional performance in terms of ten-year shareholder returns. Berkshire Hathaway and General electric were part of these identified firms. The common characteristics of these companies were: strict financial discipline, rigorous analysis and valuation, a refusal to overpay for acquisitions and a willingness to close or sell existing businesses (Kaye and Yuwono, 2003) However, the case against conglomerates can be overstated and there are certainly potential advantages to unrelated diversification in some conditions: Exploiting dominant logics, rather than concrete operational relationships, can be a source of conglomerate value creation. As at Berkshire Hathaway, a skilled investor such as Warren Buffett, the so-called Oracle of Omaha and one of the richest men in the world, may be able to add value to diverse businesses within his dominant logic (Prahalad and Betis, 1986, 1995). Berkshire Hathaway includes businesses in different areas of manufacturing, insurance, distribution and retailing, but Buffet focuses on mature businesses that he can understand and whose managers he can trust. During the e-business boom of the late 1990s, Buffet deliberately avoided buying high-technology businesses because he knew they were outside his dominant logic. Countries with underdeveloped markets can be fertile ground for conglomerates. Where external capital and labor markets do not yet work well, conglomerates offer a substitute mechanism for allocating and developing capital or managerial talent within their own organizational boundaries. For example, Korean conglomerates (the chaebol) were successful in the rapid growth phase of the Korean economy partly because they were able to mobilize investment and develop managers in a way that standalone companies in South Korea traditionally were unable to. Also, the strong cultural cohesion amongst managers in these chaebol reduced the coordination and monitoring costs that would be necessary in a Western conglomerate, where managers would be trusted less (Markides, 2002). The same may be true today in other fast-growing economies that still have underdeveloped capital and labor markets. General electric has operations in many underdeveloped countries, For example, in 2008; GE completed the Hamma Seawater Desalination Plant, the largest desalination plant in northern Africa, which provides 2 million Algerian residents with a reliable source of fresh drinking water every day. Through innovatory thinking and cutting-edge technologies from GEs Oil Gas and Power Water businesses, GE is able to solve some of the problems that Algeria faces under todays harsh climate, while helping to position them for a brighter tomorrow. Also, graduate students in US compete to get entry-level positions with diversified corporation such General electric and Berkshire Hathaway and this provides them opportunities like the hiring of high calibre of employees. Other General Electric Success reason is the corporations strong core values: which are the underlying principles that guide an organizations strategy. Collins and Porras (2002) have argued that the long- run success of many US corporates-such as General Electric and Disney can be attributed (at least in part) to strong core values. The company workers consider their culture as part of innovation, a culture that was built over decades by their leaders and which is still the unifying force for the many GE business units around the world. While, communicating the strategy is an important within a company: Both corporation communications should be focused on the key components of the strategy, avoiding unnecessary detail or complex language. For example, CEO jack Welchs famous statement that General electric should either be number one or number two in all its markets. This strategy clearly shows that General Electric is a company that always strives hard to be a dominant player wherever the company competed. On the other hand, some of the most important sources of value creation within diversified firms are the ability to apply common general management capabilities, strategic management systems, and resource allocations processes to different businesses. Such economies depend on the existence of strategic rather than Operational commonalities among the different businesses within the diversified corporation (Robins and wiersema, 2002). Berkshire Hathaway is involved in insurance, candy stores, furniture, kitchen knives, jewellery, and footwear. Despite this diversity, all these businesses have been selected on the basis of their ability to benefit from the unique style of management established by warren buffet and CEO Charles Munger. The essence of such strategic-level linkage is the ability to apply similar strategies, resource allocation procedures and control systems across the different businesses within the corporate portfolio (Grant, 1988). While, GE participates in a wide variety of markets including the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity (e.g. nuclear, gas and solar), lighting, industrial automation, medical imaging equipment, motors, railway locomotives, aircraft jet engines, and aviation services. It co-owns NBC Universal with Vivendi (Annual Report, 2008). With all these many business divisions General electric remains still successful. 4.2.3 How the shareholders value is enhanced as the firms product diversifies. With so many ups and downs of corporate diversification, financial researchers have been worried with its benefits and costs. Majority of the benefits of corporate diversification come all along with the advantages of internal capital markets over external financing. By avoiding transaction cost and additional cost of informational asymmetries diversified firms with a bigger internal capital market allow for a more efficient capital allocation (Chandler 1977, Stein 1997). Also there are other benefits such as risk reduction on corporate level for diversified firms: lower cash flow volatility may increase the debt capacity of the company and thereby the tax shield of debt without facing prohibitive cost of financial distress (Lewellen 1971). Additionally lower volatility helps to reduce underinvestment cost when external financing is not available or only at prohibitive cost (e.g. Stulz 1990). In addition, Berkshire Hathaway and general Electric are companies that create Value by acquiring companies at favorable prices, and they closely monitor their financial performance, and operate through an effective internal capital market. At general Electric, Jack Welch was an especially effective example of corporate initiatives as a means of driving organizational change. His initiatives were built around communicable and compelling slogans such as General Electric growth engine, boundarylessness; six-sigma quality and destroy -your business-dot-com. The research assumes that diversification is a means by which a firm expands from its core business into other product markets, and that is what the corporate management is actively engaged in, diversifying activities than ever before leading to a considerable amount of rise observed in diversified firms. As it was earlier stated, companies diversify for three main reasons, Growth, Risk reduction and Profitability in a simpler way. Normally, Growth and Risk reduction have been significant motives for diversification; they tend to be not consistent with the creation of shareholder value. Therefore, both general electric and Berkshire Hathaway had and still have the desire to grow. Berkshire has been acquiring and owning stakes in companies since early 70s. We clearly see from the companys timeline that the Berkshire continued growing through acquiring stakes in many companies. The latest acquisition was in February 2010 which was the Corporations purchase of the remaining shares of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation for $26 billion, the companys biggest purchase ever. While General Electric has acquired Vital signs Inc for $860 in 2008 (Chicago Tribune, 2008) and it also announce in 2009 that it will buy out Vivendis stake in NBC Universal and sell a controlling interest of the company to Comcast, with General Electric retaining a 49 interest in joint venture (Goldman and Pepitone, 2009). With the Acquisitions history, Both Corporations have been growing and expanding their business with the objective of Maximizing Shareholder wealth. Referring back to the next motive for diversification which is the desire to spread risks To isolate the effects of diversification on risk, consider the case of pure or conglomerate diversification, where separate businesses are brought under common ownership but the individual cash flows of the business remain unaffected. As long as the cash flow of the different businesses are imperfectly correlated, then the variance of the cash flow of the combined businesses is less than the average of that of the separate businesses, Hence Diversification reduces risk. Both of the companies have engaged in numerous activities for decade, they have expanded their businesses. Rumelt (1974) discovered that companies that diversified into businesses closely related to their core activities were significantly more profitable than those that pursued unrelated diversification. According to Peters and Waterman (1982) Virtually every academic study has concluded that unchanneled diversification is losing proposition. This observation provided the basis for one of peters and watermans golden rules of excellence -stick to the knitting: Our principle finding is clear and simple. Organizations that do branch out but stick very close to their knitting outperform the others. The most successful are those diversified around a single skill, the coating and Bonding technology at 3M for example. The second group in descending order, comprise those companies that branch out into related fields, the leap from electric power generation turbines to jet engines from General electric. Least successful, as a general rule, are those companies that diversify into wide variety of fields. Acquisitions especially among this group tend to be wither on the vine (Peters and waterman, 1982). Finally, the research paper postulates that shareholder value is increased when companies diversified in related businesses, since they share capabilities and core resources across the businesses. And the growth of such (GE and Berkshire Hathaway) conglomerates might improve the companys profitability, since new related businesses means spreading of risks and increasing of profitability across each business segments. 4.2.4 The costs and benefits associated with undertaking product diversification. In order to find out the costs and benefits of product diversification, the research paper looks at: the relative costs and benefits of corporate diversification are likely to depend on how the different business activities of a firm are related to one another. Where separate business activities use a common, indivisible input, a diversified firm can exploit economies of scope. However, One of the benefits of diversification focuses on the presence of economies of scope in common resources: Economies of scope exist whenever there are cost savings from using a resource in multiple activities carried out in combination rather than carrying out those activities independently (Baumol, panzer and willig, 1982). Also Economies of scope can arise in finance, by combing an industrial company with a financial services company; General electric lowers its cost of capital to both sides of the company. Also, Economies of scope arise not just from tangible input like a common R D department or a common distribution system but also from intangible assets like brand names and production know-how. For instance, general electric has the fourth most recognized brand in the world, worth almost $48 billion (Business week, 2009). While businesses within diversified firms can therefore be related in at least one of two ways: They could be related either because they share markets, distribution systems, product and process technologies, or manufacturing facilities (Ansoff 1965, Rumelt 1974, Teece 1980), or because they rely on common technologies, managerial capabilities and routines and repertoires (Prahalad/Bettis 1986, Kazanjian/Drazin 1987, Winter 1987, Grant 1988). The use of these assets may be transferable at negligible marginal costs. For instance, General electric shares of its activities like RD and Distribution channels across its wide range of businesses. Also, the companies engage in lots of transaction costs and its very complicated to manage such businesses but in the end they reap Benefits of high returns from their activities. 4.2.5 The incentives Top management expect as companies diversifies In Berkshire Hathaway, managers are paid modest salaries and also receive very significant cash bonuses if performance goals are achieved. Buffett tailors the compensation plan to each business, based on its economics and competitive positioning. Managers are compensated for elements of the business that are directly under their control (such as growth and profitability of insurance contracts). Major emphasis is placed on the capability to return free cash flow to headquarters. The company does not grant equity-based awards because their value cannot be as closely correlated to performance as can cash bonuses (meaning: In terms of value realized rather than expected value on the grant date). Still, cash bonuses can reach extreme levels-tens of millions for superior performance. So, Here the compensation have no relation with the size of the Company and thus it doesnt matter for Berkshire Hathaway whether they have many diversified business or not but the main focus is Achieving the targets and High performance is highly rewarded However, on the contrary, Buffett and his vice-President Munger receive humble compensation. Their salaries are set at $100,000. They receive no bonuses, options, or restricted grants. Instead, their economic incentive is driven by direct holdings of company stock which they purchased with their own money in the 1960s. As of year-end 2009, the values of those holdings were $40 billion of Buffett and $1.3 billion for Munger. Similarly, board members receive insignificant fees for their services and are encouraged to purchase substantial sums of company stock with their own money. To sum up, Berkshires top management performance has no direct influence to how diversify businesses may be, Instead each manager is rewarded for the excellent achievement of his area of control. On the other hand, General electrics CEO, Mr. Immelt earns higher salary than Warren Buffet. Immelts Base salary is $3,300,000 plus Bonuses. While the managers are rewarded on the basis of a guiding principle of compensation program which ensures that the management has in place the right metrics and incentives, applied over the appropriate performance periods. The company rewards consistent performance and discourage short-term-oriented behaviour that may yield a single period of good results without regard for proper risk management or the long-term health of the business. The committee uses a mix of compensation that balances rewards for current and long-term performance. Performance metrics include growth in earnings per share, revenue, and cash flow. Managers believe this is the best way to stimulate innovation and ensure solid execution, while guaranteeing that risks are recognized and managed appropriately over the long term. Although they have fine-tuned compensation programs as conditions change, the management believe it is important to maintain consistency in the compensation philosophy and approach. There is also a recognition that value-creating performance by an executive or group of executives does not always translate immediately into appreciation in GEs stock price, particularly in periods of severe economic stress. Nonetheless, General Electric continues to reward such performances based on the firms belief that, over time, true value creation does translate into stock price appreciation. 4.2.4 Risks associated with the strategy of diversification Buffett is also primarily responsible for enterprise risk management. Risk oversight is not delegated to a committee or risk management function. According to Buffett, I regard myself as the chief risk officer at Berkshire. ( Berkshire Hathaway, Annual meeting 20080 The companys primary tool to mitigate enterprise risk is the delegation of responsibility to managers with proven skill and integrity. Munger explains : A lot of people think if you just had more process and more compliance, you could create a better result in the world. Well, Berkshire has had practically no process. We had hardly any internal audit until they forced it on us. We just try to operate in a seamless web of deserved trust and be careful whom we trust. (Wesco Financial, annual meeting 2007). Due to the global economic crisis was the failure of many executives and businesses the ability to understand and adequately manage and price risk. At GE, the corporation has strategies and management processes that effectively manage risk and maximize opportunities across its many businesses. Its process includes long-term strategic planning, executive development and evaluation, regulatory and litigation compliance reviews, environmental compliance reviews, GE Capitals corporate risk function and GEs senior level Corporate Risk Committee. And as a result of the current financial crisis; GE expects that managing risk will be even more important to competitive advantage and long-term success. The corporations executive compensation program is designed to reward those executives who demonstrate an ability to assess and manage risk effectively. At the same time as over the past year, General electric leaders have demonstrated the ability to identify risks and adapt strategies in order to protect the Company. GE acted quickly to improve liquidity, raise capital, and transform the financial businesses. The company has also exited businesses with unacceptable rates of risk-adjusted return. Similarly, Berkshire Hathaway believe that it is important to continue to reward those who demonstrate this disciplined ability to protect the firm;s businesses, but its only appropriate that certain components of compensation will decline during periods of economic stress and reduced earnings. Both General Electric and Berkshire Hathaway, have techniques to spread risks and overcome challenges and thus their activities of diversified businesses. As it was explained earlier, Berkshires CEO considers himself as a chief risk officer and while the managers of both corporations have responsibilities in reducing the risks involved in the activities under their control. In addition, both General electric and Berkshire Hathaway fits in the Prospector strategy of Miles and Snow. Since both firms have highly diversified businesses. This is the most aggressive of all the four strategies. It typically involves active programs to expand into new markets and stimulate new opportunities. Innovative product development is vigorously pursued and attacks on competitors are a common way of obtaining additional market share. The both corporations have a way to respond quickly to any signs of market opportunity, and they do so with little research. A large proportion of their revenue comes from new products or new markets. They are often highly leveraged sometimes with a substantial equity position held by venture capitalists. The risk of product failure or market rejection is high with the prospector strategy. Their market domain is constantly in flux as new opportunities arise and past product offerings atrophy. They value being the first in an industry, thinking that their first mover advantage will provide them with premium pricing opportunities and high margins. Price skimming is a common way of recapturing the cost of development. General Electric and Berkshire Hathaway are known for being opportunistic in headhunting key employees, both technical and managerial. Thus this explains why both firms spend so much on advertising, sales promotion, and their personal selling costs are a high percentage of sales. Typically firms who fit in the prospector strategy are structured with each strategic business unit having considerable autonomy. With Berkshire Hathaway trusting responsibility of business performance entirely in the hands of local managers and General Electric decentralising decisions within each business units, Risks might be reduced. And Firms in these industries tend to be in the introduction or growth stage of their life cycle with few competitors and evolving technology which also provides opportunities such as less competition to both companies Products. Example of GE acquired firms includes Vivendi in 2009,(which is a French international media conglomerate with activities ranging from filming, publishing, telecommunication, music, television and it also have Internet, and video games. The acquired firm had financial troubles due to over-expansion in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. In addition, General electric acquire Vital Signs Inc. for US$860 million in 2008 (Appendix 6.2, GE timeline). The acquired firm makes disposable medical products used to help patients during surgery to breath. Berkshire acquired several companies the last 2-3 years, for instance: the company purchased 80 percent stake in Iscar Metalworking for $4 billion in 2006, which was the firms first purchase of a foreign subsidiary. Johns Manville Corp, a business unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired Corbond Corp, a manufacturer of polyurethane spray foam insulation products in august 2009.

The Authentic Mexican Restaurant :: Observation Essays, Descriptive Essays

If there is one place in Naples that I never get tired of going to, and where I can have fun just by basking in the ambiance of its atmosphere, it’s the authentic Mexican restaurant, Cilantro Tamales. At first glance the restaurant seems to be in an inconspicuous spot, lying in a strip mall containing a no-name music store and consignment shop. However, despite the location, Cilantro Tamales stands out from all other restaurants or gathering places. Cilantro Tamales isn’t a typical Mexican restaurant. Upon entering you are immediately greeted with warm smiles, and are led to a bamboo chaired table with all sorts of hot sauces and other sizzling toppings to greet you. The air is filled with spices. The cinnamon and jalapeà ±o aromas mingle and make the mood rich. Every dish on the menu seems delicious and it is always difficult to decide what to order. I always think that any dish which I don’t try gives me the excuse to come back again. Everyone who eats at Cilantro Tamales gets to have an unlimited amount of their fresh, homemade salsa with warm, salty tortilla chips. The thick chunks of tomatoes and onions with hot peppers and cilantro make a perfect combination for anyone’s taste buds. The waiters and waitresses carry immense trays burdened by the weight of great tasting meals, and each dish has enough on it to make mountains jealous. The delicious food is not the only reason Cilantro Tamales stands out. The restaurant itself is rich with culture and flavor. All the walls are a shade of bright yellow or sun burnt orange and red, which add to the Mexican feel. On the walls are historical black and white pictures of Mexico and its people which act as cultural memories of times past. The Latin and Mexican dance music can always be heard in the restaurant. I sometimes can’t help but move to its invigorating rhythm. An interesting facet to the restaurant is the hand crafted pottery.

The last supper -movie satire analysis

After having buried 10 conservationists , the students have a garden full of tomatoes proving that † conservationists serve great as fertilizers†(NOT) and since that in life they served no good to the society from the liberals point of view, in death they can. The students invite the guests with an already planned ending for all of them: death. They are in continuous disagreement with them in order to find something that they , n turn, see as wrong and reason the death of the guest , this taking some of the guilt off their shoulders and considering it a â€Å"good gets for society' .At the slightest â€Å"counter-idea† they hurry the dinner and get to the exciting part of it by using phrases such as: â€Å"it's time for dessert â€Å". Len the movie ,this is seen in the scene where the anti ecologist gradually considers their point of view as well and starts rethinking; confused of him agreeing to the libertarian point of view, and used to Just having their gues ts poisoned, the group of students does not break the â€Å"Sunday ritual† and assures the guest( by saying † you are entitled to your own opinion†) , who comes back to his conservationists point of view.This goes to the original argument :insignificance of life. As the movie progresses the students kill more and more people ;slowly not taking into consideration their status in society , Just their â€Å"closed-minded† ideas. The director stops introducing the guests by their names as they will eventually die;instead, continues by defining(l want to say it in a different way) them by their causes and slowly Just shows the piles of soil that were once their guests.The students decide a matter of life and death by either last questioning the guest : â€Å"if you were in a bar with a guy called Doll Hitler , would you kill him to save all those life's or would you let him live†? Or â€Å"it's 4 to 1 . He lives. † This again, shows the insignifica nce of life and how little they care for the others and their fate. RACISM (DISCRIMINATION AGAINST BLACKS ) From the very beginning ,Luke is the one who initiates the idea of having â€Å"the deadly dinner† ,even though his colleagues are reluctant.He is also the one to have suggested not to call the police ,and instead Just hide the murder . While he starts off as the most rational in critical situations, he becomes the most irrational ,cruel and â€Å"quick-tempered† ; he is also very sarcastic throughout the movie ( † keep them in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant† he says to a sex offender they have had as guest) . By the end of the movie he loses control and gets to the point where he is about to kill one of his own mends.THE LAST SUPPER (RELIGIOUS REFERENCE) In the movie, the 5 students are supposed to take the place of the apostles and the guests are Jesus, who is going to be sacrificed. The characters are also given names of apostles Dude,Pauline,Ma rc,Luke and Pete) The difference is , the roles are reversed, while the apostles are meant to spread the good word of â€Å"Jesus† to other people, they kill him. This could also mean that the students represent only two apostles :Judas(who betrayed Jesus) and Peter (who denies he knows him ) ;While Jesus is aware of his scarification , the guests aren't .The guests are also served â€Å"very good food† as it will be their last meal . Unlike most movies where good always wins over bad in the end, â€Å"The last supper† ends by having Norman -(the very conservatism celebrity that is present in short scenes throughout the movie ,watched and critiqued by the students ) killing the 5 students with their own weapon and later describing himself as a â€Å"humble ,humble servant† in his presidential campaign. Why is it being satirized? ) I believe that the director is trying to say that both the right and left wing /wingers can become evil/ harmful when taken to the extreme :extreme conservationists ( the guests) and extreme liberalizes(the students) 2) Another problem I think the director meant to point out how easily people lose their life's over different causes (like those mentioned in the movie: homosexuality , anti-ecologist, racism). This makes me wonder ,† Is it really worth it to die for it or to take a life? And â€Å"When can you say it was right for you to decide that someone's existence isn't important to the society anymore ? † . This argument can be evidenced by history itself. Situations where people have died and been killed because their opinions or way of being did not correspond to the majority are many, hence Stalin's saying : † If you are not with us , you are against us. â€Å"Another example is the time of â€Å"The inquisition† (an example Ewing Galileo Gillie's scientifically proven idea that the earth revolves around the sun did not correspond to the original statement . N order to avoi d imprisonment , he was forced to deny his statement. ) 3) Throughout history , â€Å"blacks† have always been seen as the â€Å"bad guys† with bad intentions . Len the movie , they have chosen the â€Å"head of the plan† ,a black , meaning to make fun of the concept and the stereotyping . 4) â€Å"Good doesn't always win in the end , especially in the real world† is what the directors expressed through their last scene . Corrupted people become the leaders of our countries. Is it effective?In my opinion, â€Å"The last supper† is a good movie, with a well-planned plot that is rather a continuous sarcastic response to certain topics such as : discrimination, the unnecessary deaths of people and intolerance. This film made me question my own tolerance of different views; it also made me think of how ,as a libertarian myself do I change the world without imposing my own views. Some minus points , from my perspective, are the repetitive scenes in the dining room of the guests and the students and the rushed through scenes that take place in the middle of the movie.

Counseling Religious Clients

Different populations require different approaches in counseling. Counseling is a mean of attending to a person’s situation or condition using techniques, systems and approaches that differ among the groups of individuals. For instance, a raped teenager should be counsel in a different way as a homeless teenager. Conversely, African-American clients should be treated in a unique way as the Asian clients (cited in Miller, Leukefeld & Jefferson, 1994; Cook 1993). Nevertheless, just like the other populations, religious clients have unique characteristics and experiences that need a unique counseling approach.Likewise, religious clients have also unique needs for their mental health care. However, unlike the common people being counseled, religious people have sets of belief systems and values that, for a number of conditions, may interfere to the counseling program being implemented to them (Carpenter, 2003). In order to practice professionalism and ethics, counselors behave leg ally, morally and ethically. They are aware that they can only win the client’s trust and secure client’s protection by practicing high level of professional conduct (APA Ethics Code, 1992, 18).Principle D, Respect for People’s Right and Dignity, as stated in the Ethical principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct highlights: Psychologists are aware of cultural, individual, and role differences, including those due to age, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, language, and socioeconomic status. Psychologists try to eliminate the effect on their work of biases based on those factors, and they do not knowingly participate in or condone unfair discriminatory practices (1992).Counselors take into consideration the client’s personal and cultural background before deciding on the assessment instrument that he will be using in the counseling process (APA Ethics Code, 1992, 11). One of the characteristic-factors that should be checked is religion. There are no religion restrictions in the counseling activity. Nonetheless, from among the mentioned factors or clients’ considerable backgrounds, religion—the foundation of people’s moral and faith—is the most controversial.The Code of Ethics of 2005 by the Governing Council of the American Counseling Association gives light to the five overlapping ethical principles that guide the counseling practices with religious clients. The principles that can be applied focus on the counseling relationship, freedom of choice, confidentiality and privacy in counseling process, professional responsibility, and evaluation, assessment and interpretation. Counseling Relationship In counseling, clients may have diverse cultural backgrounds.In order for the counselor to practice good counseling, he must need first to understand the cultural identity that each of his clients possesses. Section A. 2. c of the Code of ethics states that à ¢â‚¬Å"counselors communicate information in ways that are both developmentally and culturally appropriate. † Counselors must deal with clients in the most culturally appropriate way. The counselor’s approach to a religious client depends highly on the knowledge he or she has about the culture and religion of the client.People restrict their thinking on the concepts of races and ethnic groups when dealing with culture—yet this broad concept also includes the religious groups. As cited by Gardner, in the 1992 edition of Counselor Education and Supervision authored by Pate and Bondi, â€Å"the term culture includes religious beliefs and practices and that religion is understood to be intimately tied to ethnic identity† (1996). From this, in understanding the values of the religious clients, the counselor takes into consideration an approach that is culturally motivated.Freedom of Choice In the macro-perspective of culture, one reason for the disagreement, dif ference or dissonance between the counselor and the religious client, is the values and belief systems of the client which for the counselor, are inappropriate. There are set of beliefs that the religious clients have, that may intervene in the counseling process. â€Å"Clients have the freedom to choose whether to enter into or remain in a counseling relationship and need adequate information about the counseling process and the counselor† (Section A.2. a, 2005). Part of this principle is the right of the client to know the counselor’s values and beliefs, especially if these values may result to the restriction of the counselor’s range and ability to conduct the counseling process due to the conflicting views and beliefs between the religious client and the counselor. If this is so, clients should be given freedom to look and choose another counselor that has similar or directly related values with that of his (client). Confidentiality and Privacy in Counseling ProcessGetting the clients’ trust is one of the goals of the counselors. To achieve this, establishing and upholding boundaries, and maintaining confidentiality are given high considerations. Section B. 1. a states that â€Å"counselors maintain awareness and sensitivity regarding cultural meanings of confidentiality and privacy; counselors respect differing views toward disclosure of information† (2005). It is very crucial for the counselors to give respect and show sensitivity to the culture of the religious persons they counsel.Inquiry is important before the counselor acts on whether or not to disclose the information derived from counseling the religious client. Professional Responsibility â€Å"Counselors practice only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, state and national professional credentials, and appropriate professional experience† (Section C. 2. a, 2005). Understanding religious cli ent means having an adequate learning and understanding of their cultural beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral patterns.If the counselor can achieve this, then, it will be easier for him to understand the condition of his client. Moreover, for the success of the counseling process, the counselors should gain appropriate knowledge, awareness, sense of sensitivity, and skills relevant to the activity of working with the population of diverse backgrounds. Without good milieu and specialized training, the counselors who treat religious clients may neglect their condition and situation.With better understanding of the set of beliefs of the client, the counselor will be sensitive and intelligent enough to know what approach is to give the religious client. Evaluation, Assessment and Interpretation As summarized in Section E. 3. a of the Code, for the achievement of the goals, the counselors consider the client’s background in terms of his personal and/or cultural identity, his abilit y to understand the results based on his beliefs, and his possible reaction or the impact of the results to him.Moreover, â€Å"counselors recognize the effects of age, color, culture, disability, ethnic group, gender, race, spirituality, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status on test administration and interpretation, and place test results in proper perspective with other relevant factors† (Section E. 8, 2005). This is a process—first; the counselor needs to consider what counseling program is applicable to the client given sets of standards. Second, the counselor weighs all contributing factors to the possible outcome before considering results.Third, the results will be interpreted depending on the accuracy of the outcomes. Furthermore, Section A. 5. a says that â€Å"counselors avoid actions that seek to meet their personal needs at the expense of clients. † This concept, when applied to religious clients, means that the counselor must be aware of hi s or her personal opinion about the religious issues that may lead to certain reactions and overreactions—causing emotional harm to the client. Working with Religious Clients On his article, Gardner enumerated some ethical guidelines on how to work with religious clients.First, therapy in the context of evangelistic activities that promotes particular political and spiritual ideology and worldview must be avoided. Second, in the attempt to change some of the beliefs of the client that have direct effect on his or her disorder, the counselor must try to narrow down the approach and inform the client on the program he wants to implement. Third, a help from other professionals is better if dealing with the religious issue of the client is quite difficult to comprehend and accept.Fourth, counselors must try to include and integrate the religious beliefs of the client with the treatment she or he is undertaking. References American Counseling Association. (2005). ACA Code of Ethic s. Retrieved June 19, 2008, from http://www. counseling. org Carpenter, D. (2002). Ethical Considerations in Working with Religious Clients. Retrieved June 19, 2008, from Gestatalt-Global Corporation website: http://www. g-gej. org/1-2/religious_clients. html Gardner, J. N. (1996). Ethical Issues in Counseling Religious Clients. Retrieved June 19, 2008, from http://www. g-gej. org/1-2/religious_clients. html