Decision Analysis Essay Example for Free

Decision Analysis Essay In business today, many decision-making situations occur under conditions of uncertainty. The demand for a product can be one number this week and double that number next week or vice versa. There are several decision-making techniques to aid the decision maker in dealing with these types of uncertainties. There are two classes of decision situations, situations where probabilities can be assigned to future occurrences and probabilities that cannot be assigned. A decision-making situation includes several components, the decision itself and the actual events that can occur in the future, we refer to those as states of nature. The states of nature can be good and bad economic conditions, cold or warm weather, and an accident or no accident. The state of nature that does occur will determine the outcome of the decision, but the decision maker has no control over which state occurs. Payoff tables are organized so that the decision situations can be analyzed. Using a payoff table is a means of organizing a decision situation, including the payoffs from different decisions, given the various states of nature. Each decision will result in a specific outcome corresponding to the particular state of nature that occurs in the future. Payoffs are usually expressed as revenues or costs, but the can be expressed in a variety of values. Once a payoff table has been organized, there are several criteria available for making the actual decision. One of those is the maximax criterion. The maximax criterion results in the maximum of the maximum payoffs. The decision maker would be very optimistic. They would assume the most favorable state of nature would occur. When considering profit, the decision maker would pick the state of nature that gains the highest revenue. When considering cost, the decision maker would select the minimum of the minimum of costs, which is also referred to as the minimin criterion. The maximin criterion is another criteria that can be used. The maximin criterion results in the maximum of the minimum payoff. This is a pessimistic criterion. The decision maker assumes that the minimum payoff will occur. Of those minimum payoffs, the maximum is selected. If the decision maker were to consider costs instead of profits as the payoff, the conservative approach would to select the maximum cost for each decision. Then they would select the minimum of those costs. The minimax regret criterion minimizes the maximum regret. Regret is the difference between the payoff from the best decision and all other decision payoffs. With this criterion, the decision maker attempts to avoid regret by selecting the decision alternative that minimizes the maximum regret. To use this criterion, the decision maker selects the maximum pay off under each state of nature and then subtracts the other payoffs from those amounts. The Hurwicz criterion is a compromise between the maximax and maximin criteria. The decision maker is not totally optimistic not totally pessimistic. With this criterion, the payoffs are weighted by a cofficient of optimism, which is a measure of the decision maker’s optimism. The coefficient of optimism must be determined by the decision maker, which is a limitation. It can be difficult for a decision maker to accurately determine his or her degree of optimism. This is a completely subjective decision making criterion. The equal likelihood criterion is done in the same way. The equal likelihood criterion multiplies the decision payoff for each state of nature by an equal weight. In conclusion, decision making analysis is a key component to maximizing profit and minimizing cost. There are several different decision-making criteria. Which criteria is used would be based on the decision makers outlook on the future.

Our Definition And Personality Theology Religion Essay

Our Definition And Personality Theology Religion Essay Earth is a mere planet in our thought to be an ever expanding universe. Many scientists have been able to identify some of the codes that build our universe and give it an identity based on laws of physics, chemistry and biology. Moreover, we humans are part of that space and time, and each one of us can resemble his own universe and act according to his own laws. Nevertheless, what factors govern the way we act or who we are? In addition to that, what are the factors that we build our character and personality on? A persons personality can be defined as his/her identity that is comprehended by the way we act, speak, think and believe. Ones identity is a result of numerous factors that can be categorized under sexual decisions, personal experiences, impact of travelling, participation in society and religion, and connection to origins. The factors of identity are many, but sexual beliefs have almost the most powerful effect on a persons identity. As we saw in The Diaries of Adam and Eve, ones gender reflects much on the character and personality of oneself (Twain 363-78). Since the beginning of the human race, the first aspect that determined each persons identity was his/her sex. Sex is a broad topic and has maintained much attention since Eve came into Adams world. The way we perceive life truly depends on our gender. Girls tend to view life in a loving and soft manner in contrast to males that believe in being tough and masculine. Our gender plays an important role also because of the way society looks at each gender. A female is required to act in certain ways as Mai Ghoussoub describes in her text Missed Opportunities: Me and My Gender: you play with boys, you enter their classrooms, obtain better grades than many of them and then you are asked to obey them or accept the inequality that places them above you ( 396-401). Moreover, today possibly the most talked about subject in the Arab world is sex before and after marriage. Starting with males, sex before marriage is encouraged and counts as a plus on a mans CV for marriage. Since it is impossible to know if a man has had sex before marriage, he has been granted that privilege and is free to do what he wants. However, a woman having sex becomes marked. Before marriage, she becomes a social outcast and viewed as a shame to society, but after marriage she is honored to be giving her husband that special gift called virginity. These gender discriminations most definitely affect ones identity since we are all free to do what we feel is right. Ones decision about choosing to confer to the inequality of genders or rebel against it or having sex before or after marriage is highly anticipated in the society we live in, and as soon as we decide what to do, we would add one more building block to our character or more importantly to our identity. We grow up in different environments and are introduced to different things at different times and conditions. Our story is similar to that of Eves as described in The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain (363-78). We are all born in to this world clear of thoughts and ambitions, but as we grow up we get acquainted with our surroundings and discover the world around us. Being newly introduced to this world, we tend to question everything and formulate our own understanding of the nature we are brought into. According to the empiricism theory, our entire knowledge depends on the experiences we undergo, but there is a question on the table today; do our genes determine our personality and identity? Berkeley, a British empiricist, believes that The mind operates upon the ideas given to it, comparing or contrasting them; it does not merely record what is there (Hamlyn). Hence, we can observe that ones identity is strongly related to the experiences he/she witnesses in life. In addition to that, a person is influenced by other people as well. Furthermore, ones actions are in a relation to the surrounding environment and depend on the conditions found in it (Hamlyn). The people we encounter in life influence our thoughts and the experiments that we base our hypothesis on. As we saw before, personal experiences have a major effect on a persons identity and travelling is one of the most impacting experiences one can witness. Travelling around the world introduces the individual to all the different cultures and traditions that define others identities. This creates a wider range of knowledge on which we construct part of our identity. People who travel often try to go back to their origins in a later time in their life; the farther they are from their homeland the more they feel the need to connect to it. In House of Stone, Introduction: Bayt we witness how the author developed a deep connection with his grandfathers old house although he has travelled far away. He still appreciates the presence of the house and shows passion and regret to how he left his town and his roots. To him, the house is his identity, and had he not travelled, he would not have realized its great importance (Shadid 95-99). In Shadids text we see how travelling can make one reali ze his own identity, but there is a downside to everything. In Downtown Beirut- A City of Ghosts? the Lebanese people are invaded by new ideas and cultures to the extent that their land has lost its identity. Beirut became a place for everyone except the Lebanese people (Mohsen 117-22). From what the article states, identity is related to the land where a being expresses his self in, by creating memories in it and a place to call home. Religion can be counted as the highest rank in personal experiences and due its major impact it can be considered a category of its own in defining identity. The true meaning of identity is rendered useless in a vacuum world. The answer to Fearons question what is your identity? may vary according to the situation and the surrounding factors. An example of multiple identities is the duality of light characteristics which is considered wave or a particle depending on its current situation in nature. Therefore identity is the definition of the characteristics of an object associated with its surrounding (Fearon). By comparing light to humans we can clearly see that each persons identity is defined by his relation to other people. What we do in society is the true meaning of our identity. Society has many situations that affect us, and religion has been around for more than a century. It is a path that everyone has to take at some point in his life and it imposes its own identity on the person by managing to take control of his decisions and actions. Since we already saw how personal experiences and our decisions affect our identity, it is obvious that religion is a major factor that plays a role in each part of the identity equation. Ones participation in society is the key to developing his identity relative to it and to the world; however, religion imposes restrictions that guides the person to a certain position in society and gives him a predefined identity. Our identity is not only related to the present time we live in, but also to the past that lead to our being. What our elders left for us or what is called our heritage is yet another factor of identity because it marks the objects that we begin to build our thoughts on and narrows down the possible paths we take in life. An example of heritage identity is observed in Anthony Shadids text House of Stone: Bayt where the house of Isber samara becomes the symbol of Shadids original identity and his homeland (95-99). Traditions also count as a subset of ones origins where they interfere with an individuals experiences and thoughts by guiding them along the track of their elders identities. Identity is a word used to describe an object whether it was a living human being or bloodless hard rock. It is a very general word with a very specific meaning and effect on the universe. Nothing is created to just fill space in this galaxy, and everything has a certain job it has promised to fulfill. We have categorized some factors of identity to be able to understand the concept more clearly, but after this analysis we can conclude that our identity is what we want it to be. In the end, identity is basically who we are and its factors build up in a chain reaction that we can control most of the times. We can choose to have sex, to travel, to experience what we want, to follow religious paths or not and whether or not to maintain a connection with our familys and societys past.

TQM and Business Process Re-engineering

TQM and Business Process Re-engineering Total Quality Management and Business Process Re-engineering Introduction This article going to discuss about Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) which are the most expressions of an increasing sophistication in management techniques and principles in recent years (Christian 1997). There are some ambiguous constructs between TQM and BPR. On the one hand, there are claimed that the management innovations might be restore competitiveness and back to traditional, such as bureaucratic organizations. On the other hand, TQM and BPR are normally concerned to only to the managerial common sense (Fisher 1994). This papers goals to explode the reasons and benefits relate with managers and workers around the BPR and TQM. Total Quality Management (TQM) Total Quality Management (TQM) has its roots in Japan, because of the original Japanese words Quality Control (QC) which means the development of quality improvement activities, due to the translation problems about QC from the original Japanese words(Boaden 1996). So, QC and TQM have same meaning, for example the principles were universally accepted as a means of continual improvement in quality overall organizational performance. Furthermore, there are aim of TQM which means for customer satisfaction, and improved flexibility (Ruth 1996). TQM often rely on a statistical base through mathematical foundation of quality control (Ruth 1996). At the begin , TQM started in 1950s and 1960s, it was attributed by Deming and Juran who promoted quality processes in Japan. Although the radical concepts of TQM were developed in US and Europe during 1980s and 1990s the growing international competition led many UK and other companies to adopt TQM, especially focus on quality by management gurus such as Peters and Waterman (Ruth 1996). There are some common quality principles of TQM, including customer orientation, substantial cultural change, top management leadership of the quality improvement process, focus on continuous improvement, respect for employees and their knowledge, and reduction of product and process variation with an emphasis on defect prevention rather than detection. Especially continuous improvement for example, it is often related with Kaizen which is one of the basic principles of TQM (Ruth 1996). The results of TQM processes generally are improvements in mistake rates, reduced time needed to save money, worker capital and increased efficiencies (Christian 1997). Another example of Customer orientation is one of soft systems of TQM. I t is usually flexible forms of work organization with the intensification and insecurity that come in its wake. TQM as an inclusive management practices that using methodology to set up models of organization and amplifies. Some aspects of TQM were obviously incorporated more easily than others. For instance, problem solving by teams, conferencing, and training. After finished the TQM training, managers were able to offer an intellectualized report of TQM (Chritian 1997). However, it was not mean that managers were understood of practical by their level, and they could sure what the elements exactly could mean in their working climate (Chritian 1997). For instance, senior managers might lose sight of the ball. They kick the ball into play, and when it has some problem or the ball is not working as fast as they think they would like change the way to find another job better than before (christian 1997). In addition, managers focused on the mechanisms- training, meetings. Because of TQM become a more efficient and modern company it was enabled managers could self-referential, especially in official company discourse (Christian 1997). And most of senior managers have had an opportunity to achieve a multitude of sometimes conflicting or objectives, who were choosed by consultants and management gurus. TQM principles, practices and techniques are have benefits to workers. Such as teamwork, group skills, continuous training and learning techniques as role clarification and group feedback (Christian 1997). For example, there are lots of quality management rules such as TQM, just-in-time, Quality Control systems are used by the operational workers in Denso Company, this are increasing and improving work efficiency and effectiveness. In spite of the benefits of TQM, there is failure paradigm of the Quality Management. For example, according to Kearney survey that there are 80% of the companies surveyed might not point to a dramatic improvement in implementation, and research from 1992 by Arthur D. who reported that TQM had a remarkable impact on their activities and habits are considered merely by the third of studied companies (Christian 1997). Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) The Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) replaced Total Quality Management (TQM) as the hottest topic of organizational processes and structures, always following the introduction of new information technologies into an organization. â€Å"BPR is the fundamental thinking and redesign of business processes, to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service and speed† (Hammer Champy 1994). On the other hand, BPR is contrasted with process simplification that it is considered involved in fundamental change, led by a view, involving new frameworks and technology and changes in habits and attitudes. In addition BPR was developed as a radical concept for fundamental change in an organization, relied on total redesign of an organizations programmers, and taking into account the full power of modern technology (Ruth 1996). BPR could make the small change in each department for example in marketing sales department, but return the huge benefits for the organization. For instance, structure change related with people and technology, it plays a crucial role in organizing people, technology, decision-making, control, and management. Bad organizational structure can reduce the success of the redesigning effort. These might involve multi-functional teams, product teams, and the flattening of the management hierarchy (Delvin 2002). In the technology facts are pointed that it might includes the relationships and controls in various technologies. The main features of BPR includes simple to multi-tasked work, empowerment of employees, change of focus from management towards customer, flattening hierarchies and managements habits from supervising to coaching, and switch from functional department to process teams ( Grint 1994). BPR have benefits both of managers and workers, including a non-bureaucratic and informal management structure, a flat organizational structure, tight control of day to day works for example someone absence, and little management of authority. To achieve these might via the three fields, such as reengineering technology, organizational structure, and communication (Delvin 2002). Firstly, the advantage aspects of reengineering technology to managers are including standard managerial processes which trend to integration all the information: share databases, function, network, and improving quality in operational processes (William 1996). Such as, the most important processes in a manufacturing or service company and distinguish the following steps: order flow, strategic process, product, marketing or sales, services, accounting, personnel, and technology (Marta 1999). These could via information technologies systems to achieve them. Information technologies, namely, personal computers and internet communications allow workers to work far away from the office. Employees may work at home or other areas. Multimedia communication programmers, which receive email or messages, and review news and get information is very convenience and quick. And computer systems can integrate multi-functional of business processes, sharing data resources, internal and external information. These processes not only reduce cost and improving the accuracy of exchanging information, but also increasing work efficiency and effectiveness (Marta 1999). Such as Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) which is one of popular software systems, it is widely used in most of companies in recent years. Secondly, organizational structure which is really difficulties in redesigning procedures especially to managers, they might less autonomy due to the formal constraints and regulations of organization (James 2000). For example managers may less decision-making and flexibility. On the other hand, the hierarchical or bureaucratical of organization might become flat levels. And their changed the management habits and attitudes from supervising to coaching or training. As well as towards pay more attention to the customers instead of management. Organizational structure change to workers, the organization needs encouraged employees who accept changes, share, and motivate their new style of working processes. On one hand, the organization must in-depth training and motivation their employees, such as provide the team work knowledge and creative new type of jobs. On the other hand, the organization must encourage their workers via incentive systems and involvement in the decision-making process (Marta 1999). Lastly, communication issues to managers are more crucial in the organization. For example, in most of the companies, they employees are working for the company, it is not only for the better paid, but also really focus on the senior managers who are respect or take care them as a word or a gesture. While these are absolutely small changes to managers, but to workers are really more respects or thanks to managers, prompted them to performance well, these are without money issues, each worker needs esteems and trusts. Communication processes involved in all departments and people at all levels of the organization (Winklhofer 2002). People should be kept as open as possible to ensure success. It can help higher management transform information about the business and BPR progress across the organization and make workers more ensure and understand what exact their role in the change process (David 2005). It will be reduce resistance of change process and give feedbacks to the higher level managers, such as the training issues or promotions, employees cannot be controlled, they can be encouraging innovation, sharing information, and providing a change blueprint (David 2005). However, there were 70% of BPR projects failed (Ralph 2000). It had have many reasons about failure of BPR, including have â€Å"ill-defined scope and processes defined, inaccurate information and data, lack of executive commitment and sponsorship, limited guru to proceed and fast changing technologies† (Ralph 2000). One of the typical unsuccessful example of BPR in the organization, management risks involve operational problems such as lack of customer focus, transaction issues, and lack of time to execute the project. Conclusion In conclusion, this paper provides general theories and examples about Total Quality Management (TQM) and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR). Although there are many critical articles about TQM and BPR, and the high rate of failure cases. While, it is not deny that BPR established on the TQM programmers, there are similarities both of them such as high quality, continuous improvement, and working efficiency. However, there are basic different between TQM and BPR. For example, TQM do not changing the existing processes, it is focus on continuous improvement and customer satisfaction. In contrast, BPR is changing the existing processes, reengineering the whole processes, set up the new processes instead of old one. References Boaden, R.J. (1996) What is TQM †¦and does it matter?, Total Quality Management (in press). Christina, D. C. (1997) TQM and BPR: Beyond the beyond myth Journal of Management Studies 34:5 September 1997 David, P., Ruey-Dang, C. (2005) The State of Business Process Reenineering: A Search for Success Factors. Total Quality Management Vol. 16, No.1, 121-133, January 2005 Delvin, G . (2002) A Wider View of Business Process Reengineering. February 2002/Vol.45, No.2 Fisher, L. (1994) Total quality: hit or myth? Accountancy, 50-1 Grint,K. (1994) Reengineering history: social resonances and business process reengineering. Organization,1, 179-201 Hammer, M. Champy, J. (1994) Reingenierla De La Empresa ( Redesign of the Business), Barcelona, Spain: Parram6n, 1994 James, Y.L., Thong., Chee-sing,Y., Kin-lee, S. (2000) Business Process Reengineering in the Public Sector: The Case of the Housing Development Board in Singapore. Journal of Management Information Systems. Summer 2000. Vol. 17, No.1, pp. 245-270 Marta, F, O. (1999) Information Technology in Business Process Reengineering March 16-23, 1999 Ruth, J. B. (1996) Is total quality management really unique? Total quality management, Vol, 7, No.5, 1996, pp553-570 Ralph, L. K. (2000) Risk management for business process reengineering projects pp71-73 William, J. K., James, T.C., Subashish, G. (1996) Inforamtion architectural design in business process reengineering Journal Information Technology (1996) 11, 27-27

Symbols and Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthornes Rappaccinis Daughter :: Rappaccinis Daughter Essays

The Use of Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter Nathaniel Hawthorne's Rappaccini's Daughter is perhaps the most complex and difficult of all Hawthornes short stories, but also the greatest. Nathaniel Hawthorne as a poet, has been characterized as a man of low emotional pressure who adopted throughout his entire life the role of an observer. He was always able to record what he felt with remarkable words but he lacked force and energy. Hawthorne's personal problem was his sense of isolation. He thought of isolation as the root of all evil. Therefore, he made evil the theme of many of his stories. Hawthorne's sense of the true human included intellectual freedom, passion and tenderness (Kaul 26). Hawthorne was also a symbolist who had enormous respect for the material world and for common sense reality. Hawthorne usually established a neutral territory somewhere between the real world and fairy land, where the actual and imaginary meet. His ultimate purpose was always "to open an intercourse with the world" and out of this came symbolism (Kaul 66). For example, the cross -hybridization of the plants in the garden is called "adultery (Newman 267). Rappaccini's Daughter was first published in December 1844 in the United States Magazine and Democratic Review under Hawthorne's own name. Before the story was even published Julian Hawthorne read the unfinished manuscript to his wife and she asked how it was going to end. Hawthorne was not quite sure how he was going to let the story end. It has been said that Beatrice's dilemma may have been a reflection of Sophia's (Hawthorne's wife) sheltered years when she was younger at home with her mother. While Giovanni's failure to save Beatrice or himself is a tragic reversal of Nathaniel's and Sophia's happiness together (Newman 258). In Rappaccini 's Daughter, it is full of symbols and symbolic allusions. Its setting is a fantastic garden filled with vegetation and poisonous flowers and in the center is a broken fountain. Hawthorne's focus is on Beatrice as she is seen by Giovanni. Hawthorne presents a trapped and poisonous Beatrice who needs a special kind of redemption. She is a prisoner in the garden and her body is full of poison.

Coal :: Research Essays

Coal As the granddaughter of an Irish immigrant coal miner, I thought I knew everything there was to know about coal. I was wrong. After learning about coal rank, and the different types of coal mines, I gained a much deeper appreciation for the work of my grandfather. Being from Tamaqua, I knew what anthracite coal was as soon as I could understand my Pappy’s ramblings. Among the Top 20 Signs You’re from the Coal Region, included â€Å"You think only God has the proper resume to take over after Joe Paterno leaves Penn State† (Top Ten). Another was â€Å"You’ve eaten coal candy† (who hasn’t?) (Top Ten). However, I know now that there are different types of coal mining techniques, such as underground mining, longwall mining and shaft mining. I also learned about the different types of underground mines, like shaft mines, slope mines, and drift mines. Shaft mines are usually the deepest type of coal mine. They use elevators to vertically transport workers and equipment to the level of the coal seam. Slope mines incline from the surface to a coal seam. Drift mines have entrances to coal seams from the hillside horizontally (UMWA). My Pappy, however, was a shaft miner. I can now more easily identify with my Pappy’s old coal mining stories since he worked in a shaft mine, and I know now the general set-up of that type of mine. For instance, there are two shafts, the man shaft, and the air-shaft. Also, I learned about the different layers underground, like sandstone, shale, and limestone, before the coal seam appears. Decisions about what type of mine to construct depend on surrounding terrain and the depth of the coal (UMWA). In recent years, however, coal production has decreased in the Appalachian Region, causing plenty of Gaelic tantrums during the holidays. In 2003, Coal production in the Appalachian region declined, due to lawsuits, underground mine fires, geological problems, and depleted reserves (Annual†¦). With my newfound knowledge of coal, coal mines, and coal production, I intend to have many more intelligent conversations with my Grandfather in the years to come. Coal :: Research Essays Coal As the granddaughter of an Irish immigrant coal miner, I thought I knew everything there was to know about coal. I was wrong. After learning about coal rank, and the different types of coal mines, I gained a much deeper appreciation for the work of my grandfather. Being from Tamaqua, I knew what anthracite coal was as soon as I could understand my Pappy’s ramblings. Among the Top 20 Signs You’re from the Coal Region, included â€Å"You think only God has the proper resume to take over after Joe Paterno leaves Penn State† (Top Ten). Another was â€Å"You’ve eaten coal candy† (who hasn’t?) (Top Ten). However, I know now that there are different types of coal mining techniques, such as underground mining, longwall mining and shaft mining. I also learned about the different types of underground mines, like shaft mines, slope mines, and drift mines. Shaft mines are usually the deepest type of coal mine. They use elevators to vertically transport workers and equipment to the level of the coal seam. Slope mines incline from the surface to a coal seam. Drift mines have entrances to coal seams from the hillside horizontally (UMWA). My Pappy, however, was a shaft miner. I can now more easily identify with my Pappy’s old coal mining stories since he worked in a shaft mine, and I know now the general set-up of that type of mine. For instance, there are two shafts, the man shaft, and the air-shaft. Also, I learned about the different layers underground, like sandstone, shale, and limestone, before the coal seam appears. Decisions about what type of mine to construct depend on surrounding terrain and the depth of the coal (UMWA). In recent years, however, coal production has decreased in the Appalachian Region, causing plenty of Gaelic tantrums during the holidays. In 2003, Coal production in the Appalachian region declined, due to lawsuits, underground mine fires, geological problems, and depleted reserves (Annual†¦). With my newfound knowledge of coal, coal mines, and coal production, I intend to have many more intelligent conversations with my Grandfather in the years to come.

Financial Market Development

In many of the developing countries it has been hitherto believed that the financial market reform has to be gyrating around the commercial banking system. It is true that the commercial banking sector’s contribution to growth in economy in these developing countries such as Chile and Mexico has over time grown inextricably connected to the development and growth of the other related capital market areas such as equity, government debts and the corporate securities.Therefore, reform in the capital market has hitherto emphasized the use of strategies with the potential of not only strengthening but also deepening the capital markets i.e. both the debt and equity markets. This paper seeks to highlight the general issues in the development in the capital markets such as GDP, interest rate spreads not only in the global context but also in the developing countries thereby showing how the global trends have affected developing countries and these countries’ policy response s o as attract, emulate and manage reform and development in domestic capital markets. The paper finally highlights the comparative trends in domestic capital market with specific focus to country experience: Chile and Mexico in regards to their participation in international capital market.Development of a country is measured by the GDP. However there are other factors which the UN has identified as measure for development such as life expectancy, rate of literacy etc. The UN has on the other developed a compound indicator called HDI which is a combination of the above named measures and is used to measure level of development. The global economy generally impacts on the economy, especially on the capital market of the developing countries. This means that governments cannot borrow because the states that lend are also engrossed in economic woes of recession. Further, if the lending states manage to lend, the interest rates are higher than recommended thus pushing thus tradi0ng a big blow to the development of the developing countries (BoÃ… ¼yk, 2006).In countering the global; economic trend especially that of recession, the developing countries have resolved to internal borrowing through the use of corporate securities and bonds in the state owned corporations so as to raise the money required to run these governments and initiate industrialization and other forms of development. Secondly, the governments in the developing countries have resolved to IPOs thus relinquishing their right in state owned organizations to the public to raise the much required funds. The practice in developing countries implies that financial integration facilitates growth of capital markets but it may negatively affect the volatility of share prices and efficiency of stock market especially when the capital market reforms are not suitable (Sheffrin, 2003).The main questions that remain are how the developing countries can develop without depending on the already developed countries for assistance, can GDP alone be used to measure development in the developing countries? How can the developing countries manage to insulate their economies from being affected and greatly influenced by the global economic trends such as recession through their capital markets without necessarily adversely affecting the volatility of the stock market and share prices?Actually, the countries that qualify to categorize as developing can invest heavily in the capital market thereby using the funds raised from these investments in industrialization and other forms of sustaining developments. For instance, the countries such as Chile and Mexico have invested in the capital market top help catapult the development needed .but it has proven such a step if not carefully managed may lead to the total crashing of the capital; markets. The two countries are simply a tale of capital market crises.The 1994 Mexican peso crisis demonstrates a typical capital market crisis which sent shock waves t hrough the global economy. In the 1980s, Chile suffered a similar crisis as Mexico because of the 1970s structural reforms characterized by a radical opportunity in the economy; rampant privatization, and deregu- lation effort in a bid to realize a modern financial sector. Â  In a bid to save themselves from the capital market crises, the countries’ use of predetermined exchange rates aimed to get rid of inflation collaborated with the resultant huge capital inflows intermediated by a fragile banking system to bring forth an exchange- rate overvaluation, a susceptible financial sector and the eventual crumpling of the currency

No Faith, No Love, No Time, and Dr. Lazaro Essay

The short story â€Å"Faith, Love, Time, and Dr. Lazaro† of Brillantes is caught in a juxtaposition and irony by the abstract elements of the title. This paper hopes to make these abstract elements concrete to further understand the story better. Furthermore, this paper will present a comparison and contrast of mainly two characters, Dr. Lazaro and Ben, as counterpoints. Faith often leads to the spiritual belief of the existence of a Higher or Supreme Being, in this case God (for the Catholics), which is contextualized in the story. On another level, faith is also believing in oneself, and this belief initiates the believer to proclaim, and spread such faith to others who are â€Å"non-believers. This is shown during the younger years of Dr. Lazaro, who firmly believed in God, but because of certain critical events in his life, lead to a loss of his faith. Looking at it on another level and from a professional perspective as a physician, Dr. Lazaro is emotionally and objectiv ely detached, as is required by his medical profession. On the other hand, Dr Lazaro’s inherent power to either save and heal or allow the ravages of disease to snuff life are perhaps reasons why he had been hard and emotionally detached. Firstly, after seeing a cancer patient suffering so much that even morphine, a kind of pain reliever, couldn’t even ease the pain of the patient, he was just back in his element, back in his coldness, numbness, and apathy. Lastly, his seeming air of detachment from reality while curing the tetanus of the child, juxtaposes with the impending reality of death and misery in the child’s family. But what could have done this to him? Perhaps, as a doctor, exposed to seeing patients undergo traumatic pain and deep suffering, could have anesthetized Dr Lazaro’s emotions. But this detachment, even aloofness is striking. His fear of having to deal with more pain prevented him to be at his best, especially after having experienced it himself. His son committed suicide by slashing his own wrist, and he could not do anything to save him. He felt that his efforts of saving life was useless. If he was not able to even rescue his own son’s life, what more others? These maybe are the underlying doubt and question that is in Dr. Lazaro’s mind that diminished his self-esteem, that made him emotionally detached. Because as a doctor, there are no room for doubts and fears but  rather only the belief in oneself and in one’s capability to help other people. Dr. Lazaro’s counterpoint, Ben, is different. Even at a young age, he was sure of what he wanted to be, and believes that he can follow a religious vocation. Although he may have a good career and become successful in being a doctor, surgeon or even an engineer, but is this really what he wanted to become? Ben’s faith in God, as well as his faith in himself, galvanized his stand to serve others by becoming a priest. Many clues and textual evidences to Ben’s desired career are shown. First, was his reading of a biography of a man who became a monk. Second, was when he baptized the child. Lastly, was when he was called Father Lazaro by his own father, Dr. Lazaro – after he performed the rite of baptism on the sick child.. The three showed concrete evidences of his wanting to become a priest. Love is passion and desire in disguise. It is when you do something, and you do it with your heart, mind and soul because of your desire, passion and love. This characteristic is shown by Ben in his passion of serving others by his desire to enter the priestly vocation. This desire to become a priest to serve others as minister of God rather than become a lucrative doctor or an eminent engineer became apparent when he subsumed others over and above and over self interest. The setting of the story has also intensified the color of love for Ben. It was set in April, midsummer, the hottest days of the summer season. Like April heat, it made love more raging and fiery. Ben didn’t have to be in Tarlac and stay with his father, he and his mother could have gone up to Baguio for a cool summer. But no, he stayed. He, like the April heat, is raging in love and desire to be of help to other people. The act of considering others before oneself is definitely a selfless act defined by love – made concrete through his desire of becoming of a priest. This is shown when he baptized the dying child, he baptized the child as a symbol of his love, his love of wanting to see him in the kingdom of God. Although Dr. Lazaro at first had the desire to also serve others, the death of his most loved son, killed off any love left for the doctor to serve, albeit mechanically, acting out a physician’s obligation, devoid of compassion and depth of feeling. His son who died was a reflection of himself. It was a treasure of his that he loved so much but which vanished so quickly. With the pains and sufferings, he grew more in hatred and not in love. Nevertheless, his blaming Adam for eating the apple was an unwitting  sign of still believing in the word of God. Nonetheless, to make matter worse, he hated God for taking away his treasure, the son, from him which is why he lost faith in God. It’s as if he had lost the willpower to live again. Time is an abstract element. Time is made manifest in the story not only by the sequence of events portrayed progressively by the plot, but by the seeming imperviousness of Dr. Lazaro to temporal matters that are expected of him – th at of sharing moments as father to his family which he does not; preferring instead to spend time ensconced in his study after work listening to classical music. Time is also the gap not only in the chronological difference between father and son, but more so by the glaring chasm that has separated both from each other – figuratively and emotionally. The detached air by which Dr. Lazaro tries to interact with Ben, and the trepidation faced by Ben to inform his father of his plans to enter the priesthood is indicative of a temporal and filial gap. Thus, no precious moments are shared by father and son except for the talk, which had to happen in the course of the long drive for sick call. Time can also be seen in the recollection of Dr. Lazaro. As he travels back in time and space, it proves only one thing that the past is not yet dead to him. He lives more on the past, than on the present. Regretting and wanting to have been able to show love, faith, he wished that he and his dead son must have spent more time together. He finds himself lost in time, and can’t express love and faith to anybody else. The name Lazaro has likened itself to that of the parable of Lazarus. There was a rich man who can have any human valuables in his life, but never dared to share it with anyone else. Lazarus was a beggar with sores lying at the gate who waited for leftovers and food scraps to fall from the rich man’s table to eat.. When rich man and Lazarus died, the former was tormented in hell and the latter went to Abraham’s side. The rich man asked Abraham to dip the finger of Lazarus in water to cool his tongue. But the chasm and gap had separated heaven and hell, hence, no one from any side could cross over the other side. He then requested to send Lazarus to his father’s house for he had five more brothers and warn them of this place of torment. Abraham replied that they must listen to Moses and the Prophets. But the rich man insisted to send someone from the dead to go his family and they will repent. Abraham replied that if they will not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even  when someone rises from the dead. Dr. Lazaro was an allusion, pretty much like the rich man in the parable. Firstly, he had no faith in the existence of the Superior being, just like the rich man in the parable who never practiced his faith of sharing his riches with others. The rich man showed his love by way of his request to send back from the dead Lazarus to warn his equally delinquent brothers to mend their ways. Such action is definitely precipitated by concern and love to spare them from the same hellish fate. Dr. Lazaro, much like the rich man, only showed a semblance of love when there was already a big gap. Lastly, both the rich man and Dr Lazaro idled their time – the former surrounded by luxury and comfort oblivious of what goes around him, and the latter who prefers listening to classical music Needless to say, the story’s title should really means â€Å"No Faith, No Love, No time for Dr. Lazaro†.