Utopia And Prince Essays - Machiavellianism, Niccol Machiavelli

Utopia And Prince The Prince in an effort to discover their views on Human nature---This paper can easily be transformed from this topic. Niccolo Machiavelli vs. Thomas More : Defining Human Nature It is difficult to determine Niccolo Machiavelli's and Thomas More's view on human's nature. Each took a different approach to the topic. Through Utopia, Thomas More attempted to change man's thinking by creating an ideological society. Niccolo Machiavelli, through The Prince, attempted to teach man how to deal with human nature. With this in mind, Machiavelli's concept is much more realistic than More's; therefore Machiavelli better represents human nature. Machiavelli's view of human nature in The Prince, presents, on the surface, a view of governing a state drastically different for his time. Machaivelli believed that the ruling Prince should be the sole authority determining every aspect of the state and put into effect a policy which would serve his best interests. With this, Machiavelli uses the prince as man, and the state as the man's life. These interests were gaining, maintaining, and expanding his political power. Though in some cases Machiavelli may seem harsh and immoral, one must remember that his views were derived from concern of Italy's unstable political condition in the 1500s. Machiavelli seems to be teaching the common man how to live his life so that their life is good and prosperous. Machiavelli generally distrusted citizens, stating that "...since men are a sorry lot and will not keep their promises to you, you likewise need not keep yours to them" (Machiavelli 651). Furthermore, " a prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promises" when, "such an observance of faith would be to his disadvantage; and when the reasons which made him promise are removed" (651). Machiavelli did not feel that a Prince should mistreat the citizens. This suggestion once again to serve the Prince's best interests. If a Prince can not be both feared and loved, Machiavelli suggests, it would be better for him to be feared by the citizens within his own dogma. He makes the generalization that men are, "... ungrateful, fickle, simulators and deceivers, avoiders of danger, greedy for gain; and while you work for their good they are yours" (649). He characterizes men as being self-centered and not willing to act in the best interest of the state," and when it (danger) comes nearer to you they turn away" (649). Machiavelli reinforces the Prince's need to be feared by stating: "...men are less hesitant about harming someone who makes himself loved than one who makes himself feared..." (649). The bond of love is one which men, the wretched creatures they are, break when it is to their advantage to do so; "... fear is held together by a dread of punishment which will never abandon you"(649). Machiavelli suggests that the key to being a good "prince," is deception. "It is necessary to know how to disguise this nature well and to be a great hypocrite and a liar: and men are so simple-minded and so controlled by their present necessities that one who deceives will always find another who will allow himself to be deceived" (651). Machiavelli states that men judge more, "with their eyes than with their hands." And with this Machiavelli claims that, "everyone sees what you seem to be, few people perceive what you are," (652) and those who do realize what the Prince is, dare not tell, for the Prince has the power of the masses to protect him. Machiavelli, in a sense, describes how to live, successfully and prosperously, by dealing with the human's nature. He details how one is to manipulate another's thought, in order to place oneself in a more respectable position. With this, Machiavelli pronounces human nature to be very cold-blooded, deceiving, self-centered, and most of all temperamental. Thomas More, in Utopia, tried to express that the only way for a better life was through change. More's key complaints of human nature were greed, power, and pride. More, seemingly, imagined a society, in which these three things no longer existed, believing that they were man's downfall. The main thought that he attempted to instill in the minds of the English was this: Take a miserable spell of disastrous harvests, when many of thousand of men have passed on in hunger. If at the end of this famine the barns of the rich were searched, surely enough provisions would be found in them to have saved the lives of those who died from starvation and disease, if it had been rationed equally among them.

Individual Behavior and Processes Essay Example

Individual Behavior and Processes Essay Example Individual Behavior and Processes Essay Individual Behavior and Processes Essay Introduction Mgt provided us with a good basis for understanding organizational behavior by exploring the most essential elements of organizations and how they function. In Week Two our exploration of organizations will become more specific by examining the most basic working elements of the workplace: people. This course will eventually ask us to contemplate the complexities of people working together in groups and teams but, in order to get our studies off to the best start we will begin by considering how individuals function within the workplace. Most students can easily describe themselves however their descriptions are often based upon their internal view of how they see themselves or how they hope others view them. In order for a person to improve their relationships they must gain an accurate understanding of how others see them. Week Two will examine the diversity among individuals and how our differences affect the way we interact with others in the workplace. Most of todays employees want to be involved and expect to have some level of responsibility in helping to meet organizational goals. They want more autonomy to make their own decisions and to accomplish their own goals. Still, employees want to have a personal life and place a very high value on their personal freedoms. More and more employers report that today’s workers often turn down overtime wages in order to spend more time doing what they enjoy! This fact demonstrates how important individual freedoms are. Each worker is different in the way they view the workplace and each has a unique set of expectations for what makes them feel happy and successful in their work. Success in the new workplace requires a set of skills for working successfully with a broad mix of people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, different ages and genders, and different domestic and national cultures. When people think of diversity they primarily think of differences in age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, and sexual orientation – but diversity is much broader than that. Diversity also includes things like religious beliefs, education, experience, socio-economic class, family values, and more. Consider your own workplace: think about where people grew up, where they went to school, and how many other ways they are different. How many differences can you count among the five people with whom you work most closely? How well do you know these people and how many unknown differences might there be? These differences make people act and think in very different ways. Diversity is everywhere and organizations have two clear choices: to manage and utilize diversity or to suffer from it. Valuing diversity is extremely important for today’s organizations. Truly valuing diversity is characterized by managing and working with others while fully respecting their individual differences. Many organizations are providing training designed to help people understand and respect differences. Heres the key: instead of fearing or dreading the differences in our workforces, lets try to take advantage of them. A diverse workforce offers a rich pool of talents, ideas, and viewpoints for solving complex problems. Diversity, if managed properly, can provide a competitive advantage for an organization. Good managers understand that diversity, like conflict, can be looked upon as a barrier to success or as an opportunity for success. If an employer lets differences interfere with hiring and developing someones ability, it becomes some other companys gain. Leading employers and managers are aware that this can be used to their gain. They make an effort to understand and tap into those differences and prevent erroneous perceptions or stereotyping. In the end, their ability to understand and motivate a diverse workforce results in increased organization success. Respecting diversity is really quite simple. If an individual feels respected and understood then they are most likely to be happy in their work. Similarly, if they feel that they can effectively communicate with others then they feel important. By respecting the differences among people and enabling a positive environment for communication, effectiveness in the workplace may be significantly increased. Effective communication begins with a willingness to listen and think critically about what another person has said. People often misinterpret the messages sent by others and respond in ways that are inappropriate – we’ve all seen examples of misunderstandings in our lives. Effective communication depends on the ability of two people to send and receive messages in a way that allows their intentions to be accurately interpreted. Communication is a very dynamic process that is continually challenged by factors called â€Å"noise. † Noise is defined as anything that can interfere with effective communication (Schermerhorn, Hunt, Osborn, 2005, p. 295). Communicative noise is not necessarily audible; for example, noise can include a person’s mood or attitude. A lack of contextual basis can also act as a barrier to effective communication. This type of noise commonly occurs in the workplace when workers communicate via email. The mode we choose to send a message is called a channel. Email is a relatively new channel to people, so miscommunication frequently occurs because the people receiving our messages are not able to judge our intended meaning as clearly as they can in person. Practical Application and Questions for Thought How many times have you hit the â€Å"send† button on your email only to have someone call you to ask why your response was so negative? Consider what your boss would think if you sent the following email message on a payday: â€Å"Gee boss, I’m so happy with my paycheck that I feel like I’m cheating the company! † If you gave me a raise, I don’t know what I would do! † Would the response from your boss be positive or negative? What future implications might this message have for you? The answers to those questions depend on several factors like how well the boss knows you, what type of mood the boss is in, and how much money you earn compared to others in the company. That is exactly the point – you cannot know how the message will be perceived because you are not able to convey it in a way that lets the boss know you are joking. If you were to see your boss in the hallway and if you knew that he/she was in a good mood, you might smile and whisper the statement. Under those conditions, the boss is much more likely to understand that you are kidding. Youll recall that in Week One we discussed a workplace scenario in which a new director was faced with the task of fixing a supply department that was riddled with problems. Of course the director’s tasks include researching, identifying, and planning solutions for a number of procedural problems. Because the central problem was defined as a cultural deficiency, it is certain that one of the director’s first actions was to gather the middle managers and institute a culture change. This has a profound effect on the workplace, beginning with the way the employees viewed their place in the organization. Instead of being afraid of taking action for fear of making things worse or being reprimanded, they will soon take an active part in process improvement. They will also realize that they are the keys to success and that they are expected to be proactive in all areas of their jobs. Because management is openly communicating with them they understand what the standards are and how departmental success will be defined. The employees are active participants in discussions about where we need to go and how were going to get there. Most importantly they are told that above all else they are all in this situation together and that they will all succeed or fail together. The increase in motivation caused by this new culture will be instantly noticeable. When dramatic cultural change like this occurs you see the positive changes in the employees’ expressions and you can actually feel it as you walk through the department.

Ancient Homosexuality Essay Example for Free

Ancient Homosexuality Essay The modern self is primarily built up of one’s history, body, religion, politics and entertainment – a Freudian composition of what identity is. And all of these things, the very factors that make the modern self the way it is, roots from the ancients. Cicero once thought that without the knowledge of the past, once shall remain a child, hence, Simon Goldhill’s Love, Sex and Tragedy: How the Ancient World Shapes Our Lives. With Cicero’s principle in mind, Goldhill wishes his readers to have a full understanding of who they are and how they came to be the way they are. Among the very controversial societal issues that Goldhill discussed pertained to homosexuality. Sexuality, in the time of the Greco-Romans, meant a love-affair with the phallus. They paraded it in the theatres, processions, public road, and even public memorials. The phallus was part of the classical man’s body, sexuality and sensuality – which, by the way, not only applies to men, but for females as well. The Greco-Romans had a profound relationship with sexual organs and acts, which, the modern man – apparently influenced by the rules of Christianity, might find obscene. A part of Simon Goldhill’s discussions on sexuality is the root of homosexuality. The Greeks had a particular fondness over a scenario where a bearded male desires a beardless lad. In today’s terms, this is the so-called pedophilia, as practiced through the inter-crural activity. This involves the placing of one’s penis between the partner’s thighs, may it be front or rear, followed by thrusting to attain sexual pleasure. Greeks from the seventh century, reinforced pederasty among men from the upper-class society, especially in their twenties, to acquire a young boy approximately aged 12 to love and nurture until he grows to marry at age 30, and later take a boy of his own. Practicing pederasty reinforced late marriage for these males, in the hopes of reducing the possibility of overpopulation, as well as to improve the education – initiation and instruction, of the ancient Greek youth. On Greek vases, one can find a picture of the bearded man – erastes, and the beardless youth – eromenos, as the erastes touches the eromenos’s genitals. The erastes takes the intiative as the eromenos remains passive. But, the ancient Greeks prohibited the relationship between a bearded man with yet another bearded man, and it was shameful that a bearded man becomes the passive one – or pathikos. The pedagogical pederasty is an illustration of a father-son relationship, where the erastes acts as a substitute father to help the young lad on his way to manhood, maturity, and to orient him to become a productive part of the society. The erastes demonstrates this affection by little presents ranging from a bottle of oil to money. The relationship was beneficial in both parties – the erastes provides education, protection, love and a role model for the eromenos – who offers beauty and admiration in turn. In modern theory, this is called sexual reciprocity. Gay does not necessarily mean one is less man or woman than a heterosexual. The ancient Greeks have never defined it in that way. Pedagogical pederasty and the sexual reciprocity that follows it are acts that only show the so-called love – in whichever form you wish to see it, may it be erotic or platonic. However, if we do know the origins of homosexuality, how does it actually affect us as individuals? We do obtain the full understanding of our identities in terms of our sexuality, and the understanding of others’ sexuality. This book simply implies the basic lesson of respect. Ancient Homosexuality. (2017, Mar 09).

Does the rotation of auditors improve the quality of auditing Essay - 5

Does the rotation of auditors improve the quality of auditing - Essay Example Auditing had never been influential and applicable as it is today. Each corporation feels the need to examine its accounts from time to time, and especially when change is about to occur, so that it can determine their correctness and fairness, as well as detect of any irregularity. Auditing is broad and can be conducted for systems, data, and finances which are of great concern in this context. Auditing can be described as an examination and verification of accounting data with an aim of establish the correctness and reliability of the accounting reports and statements (Shirin, 2009). However, numerous controversies exist over establishing a standard against which actual audit performances can be measured. Therefore, organizations may have difficulties in assessing the effectiveness and quality of their audit, even if it serves the purpose. Audit quality has been described by Fearnley et al as the â€Å"market assessed joint probability that a given auditor will both discover a bre ach in the client’s accounting system and report the breach† (2011, p. 2007). Organization’s committees and shareholders need enhanced audit quality for the sake of delivering appropriate organization audit results and opinions. Firm rotation of auditors has been campaigned for and applied in some countries as a way of improving audit quality. The issue of audit quality that auditors’ rotation attempts to address There are several factors that affect the quality of audit. Nowadays, clients want to be confident of the financial reports they get, to make future projections of the business. Internationally, various initiatives have been proposed to establish a standard or enforce some consistencies across borders, in how the auditors ought to accomplish the audit objective, and what financial statements clients should expect (ICAEW, 2010). The number of recently reported financial failures in organizations call for more accountability and undertaking of effec tive measures for countries, firms, and audit practitioners, whom are all affected in case of any unexpected undesirable effect after auditing. There have been cases of firms experiencing frauds and even bankruptcy after a repetitive auditing by specific auditors, while auditors are sometimes prevented from delivering certain quality audit results due to differences in countries’ regulations, economic incentives, their ability, and expertise. Considering the perceived audit failures, there is an urge for audit effectiveness and efficiency to enhance clients’ confidence in the quality of audit reports. This remains the greatest problem in quality control. Rotation of auditors is one of the strategies recommended, but still debatable over its success in promoting audit quality. Rotation of auditors The concept of auditors’ rotation is related to job rotation of employees, but unlike the later, which is intended to enhance motivation, the former has clear based obj ectives to impact on the quality of audits. Due to the established failure and fraud cases when a former auditor has been reemployed for a longer term by a specific client, companies avoid hiring similar auditing firms for a subsequent number of years to conduct their audits. The issue surfaced since the 90s and proposes that audit firms serve as client auditors for a certain period, then replaced by others. AICPA requirement proposes seven years of an auditor firm or auditor service, after which rotation occurs

Communicating With Confidence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Communicating With Confidence - Essay Example A writer’s ability to quickly attract attention and create interest in the target audience gives them an edge towards communicating confidently. Generation of new ideas through creative and critical thinking leads to a better understanding of the topic and makes the writer to clearly understand the research problem. Communicating credible information obtained by the use of the proper research methodology creates confidence. Multiple measuring instruments such as interviews and questionnaires can be used to avoid biasness in the information. Writers should also be able to use relevant and intellectually stimulating examples with other supporting details to give evidence of deep thinking. In today’s world where there is an overload of information due to high technology, effective and clear communication is essential in order to create a good impression. For a person to communicate confidently, a combination of technical knowhow and appropriate formatting of information to fit the target audience is necessary. Effective communication skills are beneficial because they foster healthy relationships between individuals and organizations and enhance the chances of people building on a successful career. Therefore, a person with the ability to communicate confidently in a world where information is constantly changing and a great deal of time is spent on writing stands a better chance of being successful. According to Mati (2009), many business people lack the ability to communicate effectively in writing therefore businesses must be committed to rewarding the best writing practices. A number of factors have to be considered for a person to improve writing skills and communicate concisely. The initial step involves deciding on the audience or readers that the message is being conveyed to and the format of communication which defines whether the tone will be formal or otherwise. For example, a written letter

Precision System Inc Essay Example for Free

Precision System Inc Essay The decision that the group would take is to implement a web-based ordering system that would allow customers to configure their orders in accordance with the specification that they want. Through this the data entry error will decrease. The necessary steps for planning the implementation of a web-based ordering system are stated bellow. The first step in implementing this course of action is to determine the objectives of the company. As for our PSI it aims to reduce its error in order entry stage of the business process. The company should also take into account the customers that will be using the website so that we can better design it in accordance with their characteristics and the data information that they would provide as deemed necessary to process an order. We should also take into account the constraints of creating a website such as bandwidth so that we can properly take this into account in the design phase of the website construction. The second step is to construct metrics that will help in determining the success or the failure of the selected course of action. Such metrics for PSI includes that the incremental cost for the web-based ordering system should not be more than 15.72% of the estimated annual failure cost. This will help the company evaluate whether the investment is fulfilling its intended purpose or not. The third step is to define system specifications. PSI should identify the features that can be done through the website which comprises of the ordering features for the goods sold by the company. PSI should also specify business requirements which are as follows: customer may change or cancel their order one week from the required delivery date of the equipment after which the order is said to be final, the allowed mode of payments will also be identified, the maximum and minimum orders needed for a certain transaction, and all other policies that the company wants to implement. PSI should not forget to identify the role of the customers in this web-base ordering system which is imputing their order specifications and sending the request for the order through the said website. We can use site map or written system requirements depending on the complexity of the specifications the company aims to make. Lastly, we need to identify the infrastructure needed for the system if there is any. The forth step is building a content map. It is where we actually identify the text, pictures, sounds, database, and any data form that will be contained in the website that PSI aims to create. The data should be match with the firms’ specifications so that the content will be appropriate for its intended purpose. It is but necessary in this stage to identify the person who will be responsible for the implementation of this website. PSI should also identify the persons who has the authority to alter the data in the website. To ensure everything is in its proper place, a content plan should be develop. The fifth and final step is the identification of management and maintenance personnel. PSI should identify the person who will be responsible for the overall system so that the website operations can properly be monitored. The maintenance personnel should also be identified due to the fact that we would rather not let the website stale and lose the return on investment that we might have generated if resources were properly use. After the stated steps above, we can now operationalize the plan we have formulated above so that we can actually have a website that will be able to take the orders of our customers. The steps to be followed under the implementation phase would be stated bellow. The first thing to do is to find a vendor who will create the website for the company at the least amount of economic outflow without sacrificing its quality. In here, PSI and the vendor company should list the tasks assigned to each party so that there is no redundancy of work. The list of tasks should include the date and time of implementation so that we can ensure that the necessary task to be performed is being accomplished. The second step is preparing the company for change which is not an easy thing to do. People in the organization especially those who might lose their job or have a hard time coping with new systems being installed would naturally oppose such a change. That is why a considerable time should be spent to ensure that the people of the organization is ready for any alteration in their normal work environment. The employees of PSI which are currently in the order entry department won’t be fired but their responsibility will no longer include that of encoding the orders of the company. The third step is to inform the customers with the web-based ordering system because they are also one of the stakeholders for the change that we are going to implement. Informing them of the modifications will hopefully get them on-board with our decision which will make the implementation of the change easier on the companies part. Lastly, we should track our results and modify operations for necessary improvement. We will track the results of the project by comparing the actual from the metrics develop in the planning phase of the study. Through this, we will know where we are and where we are suppose to be. If we are far from our goals we need to check what we are doing wrong and fine-tune the operations. This cycle of improvements never ends as business of today always seeks for improvement.

The Power of Peer Pressure Essay -- Peer Pressure Essays

Today, children can kiss their youth goodbye. Starting as young as 12 years old, tweens, the term coined for kids in between child and teen, begin to face the cruel world of reality: drugs, sex, alcohol and violence. At 12 years old, the world should be perfect. Instead, the world is far from it. Kids have too much exposure to the dangers the world has to offer at an early age because of what surrounds them. Because of the influences of peer pressure, parenting and, of course, the relentless media, today's children face problems at a young age that can potentially lead to serious complications in the long term. Everyone's doing it, right? Wrong. Peer pressure is when a child does something he or she does not want to do as a result of being pressured by friends. All children experience peer pressure and give into it at one time or another. Fortunately, most children are not "experimenting" with drugs, sex, alcohol and violence. Even though most kids are not indulging in these activities, there still are a handful who are and they attempt to pressure other kids to do what they a...