Training and Development of Employees Essay Example for Free

Training and Development of Employees Essay Bahria University Karachi Campus Human Resource Development (HRD) Questionnaire Respondent’s Name: ________ ___________________ Organization: __________________________Division/Department: ___________________ Position/Designation: ____________________ Date: ______________________ Instructions a) Please fill out the questionnaire and kindly check ( the appropriate box where it deemed necessary b) In advance we are highly indebted for your full cooperation and professional support in filling out this questionnaire Q.1 Could you please cost some light, on the profile of both the Parent and Subsidiary Company? [pic][pic] Q.2 In HRD it is important to carry out, Strategic / Organization analysis in this context Could you please tell us in the analysis that how do you identify the following? a. Organization’s goals b. Organization’s resources c. Organization’s climate d. Environmental constraints Please elaborate. [pic][pic] Q.3) It is imperative for the HRD Specialists to undertake important activity like assessing the HRD†s need in the Organization. By using various methods kindly explain what is the situation in your Organization? Please provide the details. [pic][pic] Q.4) Do you think that the HRD†s need assessment is yielding the requisite results? Yes(No (In either case please provide the details [pic][pic] Q.5) In designing the effective HRD programs/ interventions do you need the following activities among others? 1. Define the objectives of the HRD intervention. 2. The â€Å"Make-Versus-Buy† Decisions related to the HRD programs. 3. Selecting the trainer. 4. Preparing a lesson program 5. Selecting training methods and media. 6. Preparing training materials. 7. Scheduling and HRD program. Kindly provide your perspectives briefly on the above sighted HRD designing programs within from a to e. a)._____________ b)._______________ c).__________________ d)._______________ e).________________ f)._____________________ g)._______________ Q.6 Are you content with designing effective HRD programs in your Organization? Check the appropriate Box Yes(No (In either case please provide the details [pic][pic] Q.7 There are various methods to deliver the training namely. a. On Job Training. b. Job Rotation. c. The Lecture Approach. d. Discussion Methods. e. Experiential Methods. f. Self Based/ Computer Based Methods. Could you please tell us which method is preferred in your Organization and why. Kindly elaborate. [pic][pic] Q.8 The MNC†s do realize the fact that to implement the HRD programs Physical environments do carry high weightage. Kindly tell us your perspective on this aspect and provide us details. [pic][pic] Q.9 Could you please tell us do you carry out the evaluation of HRD programs and how often in terms of its frequency? Please provide the details. [pic][pic] Q.10 The most popular and influential framework provided by Kirkpatrick’s Evaluation Framework advocated four criteria’s namely. a). Reaction (level 1) b). Learning (level 2) c). Job Behavior (level 3) d).Results (level 4) Are you using the same set of framework? Yes(No ( If answer is â€Å"No† please provide the details which evaluation model your organization is using and consequently its satisfaction level. Please provide details [pic][pic] Q.11 Do you use coaching to improve poor performance? Check the appropriate Box Yes(No (In either case please provide the details. [pic][pic] Q.12 In your perspective what skills are necessary for effective coaching? a).__________________ b).__________________ c).__________________ [pic][pic] Q.13 It is common to witness that MNC†s has a system in place which governs the employees assistance programs. Do you have such program? Please provide the list and comment on its effectiveness. [pic][pic] Q.14 HRD covers the areas of Career Management and Career Development what programs and activities do you have in this context. Please provide the list. Are you satisfied with the current Career Management and Career Development? Yes(No (In either case please provide the details. [pic][pic] Q.15 HRD Specialist also serves as a change agent and actively participates in designing and implements the intervention strategies in the organization. Kindly tell us what the situation in your organization is. [pic][pic] Before we depart, we once again extend our sincere thanks for enlightening us with your invaluable inputs and insights. Finally, if you have any comments/observations which you think is critical for our assignment, please provide the details [pic][pic] Interviewers: 1. _______________________________ 2.__________________________ 3. _______________________________ Bahria University Karachi Campus

Identification Of Strategic Problems Of Tesco Marketing Essay

Identification Of Strategic Problems Of Tesco Marketing Essay 1. After doing the PEST analysis of the company, we can recognize the result or the marketing issues, a company is facing. Pest analysis is about doing analysis of political, economical, social and technological factors, which a company is surrounded by. 2. Get an understanding about why firm issues require to get instant thought and why there are strategic marketing problems once the findings are assessed. 3. Determine the consequences of not addressing certain issues by considering the urgency or immediacy of the issue. 4. Consolidate overlapping or related issues into a controllable number. The last list should include no more than twelve issues. 5. Organize issues in priority order by bearing in mind how they transmit to one another. Introduction   Once the strategic issues are found, the next step is to use the conclusion to identify strategic issues. It is in this stage that participants decide which issues are critical to the success of the company and its dream of improving the marketing strategies. Marketing Strategic issues or problems are those fundamental policy choices or critical challenges that must be addressed in order for a company to achieve its vision. Examples: (Cock Burger King) For over a century now, Coca-Cola has been the number one soft drink company in the world. They have vast profitable resources and some of the greatest marketing minds existing at their disposal. Despite all of that, Coca-Cola failed glumly when it introduced New Coke to the public back in 1985. The reason was that they were unable to understand the marketing threats and could not target the right market and were fail to arrangement their new product in the market. The simples reason of failure was people did not like the new cock. In spite of all the research that was done, and despite the thousands of taste tests conducted; the buying public just didnt like the taste of New Coke. And completely nothing Coca-Cola said or did could change that one simple fact. Unfortunately, that crooked out to be a very expensive lesson for Coca-Cola. They lost millions of customers to their bitter rival and number two soft drink giant, Pepsi. Yes, Coca-Cola is still the number one soft drink. But the slit has been narrowed significantly. Burger King required very much to be French Fries King. For years, the No. 2 hamburger chain beat out McDonalds in taste tests of hamburgers, but the Golden Arches kept a lock on having the number one french fries. So, Burger King spent several years formulating a new french fry, a potato stick coatedunlike its precursorwith a layer of starch calculated to help keep heat and add chomp. Armed with a $70 million marketing war chest, the company rolled out its biggest product launch ever in 1998. So, what happened? Burger Kings new french fries turned out to be a whopper of a flop! Sales of fries are significantly down, stated a 1999 internal memo. Double digit percent of consumers keep away from Burger King because of our french fries. Fortunately, Coca-Cola and Burger King were able to live on near disastrous miscalculations, because they had billions of dollars behind them. But other companies that poorly miscalculate their strategic marketing problems, and dont have those kind of financial resources, generally end up going out of business. Thats mostly why so many dot-com companies are reducing like fliesand will carry on to do so. Itroduction The presented piece of work studies the presentation of the TESCO public incomplete company in UK stock market, follows its progress and interesting events for the fresh time as well as provides with financial The presented piece of work studies the performance of the TESCO public limited company in UK stock market, follows its progress and interesting events for the recent time as well as provides with financial statements, balance sheet and calculates figures necessary. , balance sheet and calculates figures requiredFirst, name and address of the company is presented. Secondly, annual report, share prices graphic in compare with other companies and share price graph for the past two years, latest news and other information is provided in this report.TESCO was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen it made unbelievable success in international grocery and general merchandising retail chain. Nowadays it is the largest retailer in global and UK domestic market share whichs profits exceeds  £2 billion. Firstly company expert in food and drink and later it has diverted areas such as clothing, financial services, electronics, insurance and others. Now it has 3,728 number of stores all of the world and 440,000 numbers of employees working for the TESCO. TESCO leaders define their values as every little helps toward erecting value for customers and earn their loyalty. Company work hard for the buyers, meet their needs, act sensibly and treat with employees in trus t and respect. The strategy of the company is to offer great quality, affordable prices, high variety and customer service. TESCO own 2,115 stores in United Kingdom and had already penetrated to 13 international markets including Europe, Asia and USA. Aiming to provide excellent value and choice TESCO Company tries to provide all its customers with the goods they want to have and also take part in social and environmental challenges. (www.tescoplc.com) TESCO CASE STUDY: Tesco runs more than 2,300 supermarkets, hypermarkets, and expediency stores in the UK (where it is the market leader in food retail), Ireland, Central Europe, and Asia. Its operations include convenience and gasoline retailing (Tesco Express), small municipal stores (Tesco Metro), hypermarkets (Tesco Extra), and financial services through Tesco Personal Finance. A global leader in online grocery sales, it owns a 35% stake in US grocery chain Safeways GroceryWorks. It is the most important online grocery store and it is now expanding its business with a TV channel and a retail based education organization. HOW TO IDENTIFY THE STRATEGIC MARKETING PROBLEMS OFD TESCO: (By Doing SWOT and PESTLE Analysis of Tesco Plc) A PEST analysis of the industry will examine the local, national and global influences of political, economic, social and technological factors to appreciate opportunities and threats well. External Environment PESTLE Analysis All of those (political, economic, social, technical, legal and environmental) factors will to some degree apply to the retail manufacturing in Sweden. POLITICAL Following the European addition and Free Trade Agreements, the market has opened up for British Companies to invest in Eastern Europe. Tesco already has 60 Hypermarket store in Hungary.  Ã‚   Lidl is frankly fighting to maintain its market share with an violent pricing strategy. ECONOMIC the Retail sector is fairly recession prawn and also very sensitive to changes in interest rates. Since the events of September 11th the world economies have suffered heavily, stocks plummeted and prices are at all time lows. The world economy is however, now on the up post September 11th. Consumers are optimistic and the retail industry is once again booming. SOCIAL changes in consumer taste and lifestyle represent both opportunities and threats for the industry. Opportunities in terms of new market and consumers, however, there are new threats in terms of alternative established Swedish national retailers (foreign company bias). TECHNICAL Changes in retailing methods as such clothes sales via the Internet is now a common place in retailing. Paperless operation, the management and administration of the company are undertaken on IT systems, which are accessed through secure servers; provide flexibility in the running of the business. As Sweden is at the forefront of technological advancement with national companies like Ericsson, Tesco would enjoy the complete logistic and distribution channels already in place. LEGAL National legislation for health and safety both in terms of consumer rights and also in terms of production of own natural renewable resources for making clothes. ENVIRONMENTAL The renewable source of resources used in production, namely cotton and wool are environmentally friendly. The threats are in terms of legal penalty for livestocks in terms of health and safety.  Ã‚   After the on top of analysis, following were the strategic marketing problem found for Tesco: Identification of Strategic Marketing Problems of TESCO à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Perception of low quality -(Tesco value brands) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lack of local knowledge of customers and culture à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Foreign brand à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   New existing competition à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   unpredictability in Price of raw materials à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Economic recession à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Market shift to globalisation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   conquest bids à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Far-East low cost brands à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Extremely high competition for customers and resources  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strategic Marketing opportunities of TESCO: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Diverse ranges of products à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Open 24 hours a day à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strong Cash Flow Position à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Increase turnover and trading profits à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strong Balance Sheet à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Leading Supermarket Chain à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Brand Awareness à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Human resources à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Online Shopping à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Capabilities to turn resources into advantages  Ã‚  Ã‚   OPPORTUNITIES à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Develop brand awareness globally à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   New Markets à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Market shift to globalisation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Health awareness growth -GM crops à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Innovation Alliances à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Low cost brand growth à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Diversification à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Non-food offers untapped new markets with higher margins  Ã‚  Ã‚   Market Entry Strategy of TESCO: We can utilize An offs product/market matrix to identify guidelines for Tescos strategic development. This environment offers directions for strategic choice available to Tesco in terms of products and market coverage, taking into account its strategic ability and also expectation of stakeholders  Ã‚  Ã‚   Markets Existing Protect/build à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Consolidation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Market penetration  Ã‚  Ã‚   Product development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With existing capabilities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With new capabilities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Boyond current expectations   Ã‚  Ã‚   New  Ã‚  Ã‚   Market development à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   New segments à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   New territories à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   New users à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With new capabilities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Beyond current expectations  Ã‚  Ã‚   Diversification à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With existing capabilities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With new capabilities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Boyond current expectations Source: Johnson, G., Scholes, K., Whittington, R., (2005) We can see from the Ansoff Matrix that Tescos launch of Baby wear in Sweden will involve a market development strategy. As Tesco already sells kids clothing (existing product) but Sweden will be a new market. Both capability and market consideration has driven Tesco to into development into new markets. Kids clothing is a product that can be exploited in other market segments and also geographical spread internationally. Tesco may encounter some difficulties around creditability and expectations as they attempt to enter the new market. Tesco may not be seen as a credible mainstream supplier. Tesco Plc Target Customers Tesco must decide which market segment in Sweden it wants to target; this will subsequently determine its common strategy. If it wishes to with the low cost retailers then it must adopt a cost leadership strategy. Otherwise it will have to look for differentiation so that it can charge premium prices at the high-end market. As the competitive rivalry in the low cost market is passionate, Tesco should enter the high-end market with a differentiation strategy. However, before Tesco decides on its goal customers, we need to conduct a market analysis, in provisions of size of the baby clothing market in Sweden, market shares of all the existing firms in the market and ultimately segments within the market, to identify particular segments, so that Tesco can target these and adjust its marketing. TESCO Marketing Objectives: Tesco could have the following objectives: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Profitability, in terms of operating margin (a 10% target) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Swedish Market share (a 20% target) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customer advocacy (the number of customers who recommend Tesco branded clothing, repeat business) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Respected company (the number of community stakeholders who respect Tesco) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Employee motivation (the number of employees who feel motivated to deliver Tescos goals) Tesco must ensure that it sets SMART marketing objectives that are measurable, time limited, attainable and relevant. New Marketing Strategy of TESCO: Tesco strategy is clear, with growth being from four areas the core UK grocery business, non-food, international expansion and pursued retailing services such as financial services, the dotcom business andtelecommunication packages. Basically, Tesco is using its strong stable core to keep the business ticking over while it forges new riskier areas of growth. Pushing further into non-food in the next phase (Johnson, G., Scholes, K., Whittington, R., (2005)). Lidl is currently destroying the market by selling the products below cost price. Therefore, Tescos generic strategy will have to be cost leadership, unless we can successfully differentiate our line of clothing so that we can charge a premium price. A marketing strategy will involve analysing the markets, and which products to offer. The strategy is implemented through marketing tactics, which involve detailed decisions about factors such as the price and the way the product is distributed. So Tesco must decide on its model of entry in terms of, own stores, Internet selling or joint venture with an existing national retailer. Source: (http://www.universitydissertations.com/Marketing/Tesco-Marketing-Strategy.php)

The Little Prince by Antoine de St. Exupery :: Prince Antoine Exupery Essays

The Little Prince by Antoine de St. Exupery The Little Prince by Antoine de St. Exupery is a wonderful novel. The Little Prince was originally written in French in 1943 as Le Petit Prince. It was then translated to English by Katherine Woods. The Little Prince is the story of a young boy from another planet who ventures from his home to discover new worlds. In the process, he makes friends and teaches valuable lessons. St. Exupery places himself as the narrator and author of this story. St. Exupery tells of how he went down in his airplane in the middle of the desert and meets a little prince from another planet. The little prince tells the author/pilot about all of the people and animals he has met since he set out on his voyage. In the process, the reader’s eyes are opened to many of the mysteries of life. To make a great book, there are certain criterion which a book must meet. A book needs to be entertaining so the reader will enjoy it and continue to read on. A great novel needs to be well written. It should have a message or a lesson for the reader to pick up on. All great literature also needs to be timeless so it can be applied in different times and places. The Little Prince is a good novel, in great part, because it has very entertaining characters. Part of what makes these characters so enjoyable is the fact they are each a paradox. The prince is an interesting character to follow through the book. The way the little prince never answers anyone else’s questions, yet always expects answers to his own, is amusing. He is childlike in appearance yet seems older in his wisdom. The author of the story is captivating, because his character gives a great deal of insight into the thoughts of adults. The author is also childlike, in his hope that he will one day find another person who looks beneath the surface of things. Another character, the wise fox, is the prince’s first friend on the Earth. The fox appears to be a silly animal at first, after one reads on, however, they discover he is not silly at all. Also the rose, the prince’s love, is very arrogant yet charming. The snake, whom the prince meets his first night on Earth, is dangerous yet helpful at the end when he assists the prince in returning to his home planet.

The Light In the Forest Essay -- essays research papers

It is the fall of 1764, and the relations between white settlers of western Pennsylvania and Indians of the Ohio area are strained. Nevertheless, the ambitious white Colonel Bouquet and his troop of 1,500 men march into Indian country and demand the return of whites who have been kidnapped by the Delaware Indians. True Son, a fifteen-year-old white boy who has been raised by Indians since the age of four, is one of the white prisoners who is going to be returned. True Son loves his Indian way of life and considers himself to be Indian; he has been raised to view whites as enemies and cannot imagine living with them. But although the Indians love their adopted white relatives, they agree to give them back so that they will be able to keep their land. True Son's stoic Indian father, Cuyloga, whom he idolizes, forces his stubborn and resistant son to leave with the white soldiers. On the trip to Pennsylvania, True Son is placed under the care of Del, a strong white frontiersman who understands the Delaware, or Lenni Lenapi, language since he grew up near Indians. During the march, True Son is very depressed and considers committing suicide by eating the root of a May apple. Del prevents him from doing so and eventually True Son gives up the idea when his Indian cousin, Half Arrow, meets up with the party and walks along with True Son and their friend, Little Crane, whose wife is also among the white captives. The three laugh together and speak of the strange ways of white peopl...

Essay --

When Osama Bin Laden was killed by US Navy Seals in May 2011, strategists of the world took notice . While this incident was of great importance to an apparently stagnant global war on terror, the fact that the mastermind behind the insurgent juggernaut al Qa’ida was able to hide inside a supposed ally’s borders is of far graver concern. Regardless if Pakistan was complicit in or ignorant of Bin Laden’s sanctuary, Pakistan proved they are incapable of policing their borders to a level that satisfies the world community. US intelligence officials estimate Pakistan has anywhere from 110-200 nuclear weapons . According to George Tenet, â€Å"the most senior leaders of al Qa'ida are still singularly focused on acquiring WMD [weapons of mass destruction].† Allowing an insurgency with nuclear ambitions to flourish is inexcusable. As the war in Afghanistan winds down, the insurgent threat in the region is not going away. Irregular conflict will continue a nd the area where the US and its allies need to pay particular attention is Pakistan. Our strategy should be a globally unified effort to strengthen the Pakistani security structure while removing any potential source of an insurgency. To combat the likely difficulties in implementing this strategy we must focus on not limiting our strategic goals, embrace unity of effort as the only means to winning, and we must remain flexible in an unknown future. There are a number of obstacles that threaten to make implementing such a strategy either ineffective or impossible. Professor Colin Gray from the Centre for Security Studies at the University of Hull discussed such sources of difficulty in 1999. He argued three reasons as to why it is â€Å"difficult to do strategy well:† First, its very na... ...ture is to accept that it is unknown, and focus the unified effort on the worst possible scenario. In the case of Pakistan, that worst case scenario is obvious: insurgents getting a WMD. This nuclear threat might be the catalyst that drives competing agencies to look beyond their differences towards a very clear and common goal. Gray concludes his article with this reminder to future strategists: â€Å"You do not have to win elegantly; you just have to win.† If our strategists remained focused on â€Å"winning† we can hopefully hinder the inevitable difficulties in doing strategy well. If we do not let the difficulty of such a lofty goal limit our strategic goals, if we use the dire consequences of failure to force competent unity of effort and we don’t let an unknown future distract us from the primary goal, it is entirely possible that we can indeed â€Å"win† in Pakistan.

Gender and Social Norms Essay

In today’s society social norms have huge effects on parental decisions. Some would say that shaping a child’s life around these norms might be what is needed in order for one to have a successful life. Majority of individuals tend to migrate towards others who are like them. With this being said, if you aren’t raised how the average person is, you will not have a group to migrate to and will never develop relationships that can benefit your future. My survey consisted of three questions, which were answered anonymously by ten different individuals. The first two questions were to find out what my participant’s sexes were and what their current marital status was. My final question was, â€Å"Do you feel boys from the ages four to seven should be provided with Barbie Toys if asked for them?† The statistics I received were quite diverse. Being accepted in today’s society is the key factor when developing early relationships, which will impact your future. As it is one has to face plenty of other obstacles such as being discriminated against due to their individual sex, race, culture or religion. If you aren’t raised around the norms society has developed then that is one more obstacle you must face when going through life. Sociological imagination is stated to be forces of society that control our personal experiences. I believe that this hits the direct point I am making when I say that there are forces outside of what one’s parents believe in that influence the way someone is raised. Parents want their children to have the average childhood and be accepted by everyone. The only way one can accomplish this is to base the decisions made for their child around the social norms. For boys, they should only play with action figures and should participate in athletics. Females should only play with Barbies and should be put in classes such as ballet. It is out of what society accepts if one’s child does participate in anything that the opposite sex should be doing. This may lead to harassment of many sorts and keep one from advancing and becoming successful. On the other hand, if someone partakes in something their gender is known for, this may lead to extra opportunities. I am stating that if someone of a specific sex has been raised the way the rest of that society has been, it will broaden their chances to migrate towards others due to a higher chance of commonalities. I found out that sex did not play much of a part when determining what people thought about my topic. Majority of the males did answer no when asked if boys should be allowed to play with Barbies. Females also leaned towards that end. Seventy-one percent of them said they would not allow a boy to play with a Barbie if they asked for it. While tallying the statistics I noticed that every person who was currently in a relationship said they would not allow it. I feel they answered it no because they may have already spoken with their significant others about possibly having children, and they wouldn’t want their child to be an outcast. I would bet that they have not spoken about this specific topic in general; therefore they would keep aware from such topics to avoid any disagreements with their partner. They may believe in two different sides, but choose to stick to what society accepts. I also saw that the few who answered yes were either single or divorced. I think these individuals are at a point where they know they are free to have their own beliefs and will exercise them because there is no one they have to persuade, other than themselves. A single parent may stick to what they believe in when raising their child, or they may resort to what society accepts. The only person I received a survey from who was married chose not to buy such toys for young boys. She actually chose to express why she felt this way. She said that her and her husband are expecting a child shortly and have been open with one another about these sorts of scenarios. She stated that they refuse to force their child (ren) to live in this â€Å"invisible acceptance bubble† that society has come to. They feel everyone should be raised differently so the world will be as diverse as possible. She expressed that she does not want to be a part of raising someone who is exactly like the next child. She described it as society losing its color. Everything will soon be black in white if we keep allowing these invisible rules to take over what should be our decisions. Society has developed norms that many people feel forced to go buy in order to achieve acceptance. Although they may not agree with what the majority does, they refuse to be a part of an outcast group. I understand why people would take part in such actions. I believe it is because they are afraid to be different and not accepted by most, which can lead to lack of relationships, needed to be considered â€Å"normal.† The survey I conducted showed what ten random people thought when asked if they would allow and/or supply a boy from the ages four to seven with a Barbie if asked. Majority responded no, which I feel was because it has been declared â€Å"wrong† in our society. Survey You are being asked to complete this survey on family issues for a paper I am writing for my FCS 340 class. All answers will remain confidential and anonymous.

How Religion is Detrimental to Human Enlightenment Essay

Religion has bequeathed us with numerous powers to live, breathe in peace, and capture our soul to realize the truth of ourselves and divine. The whole concept of religion lies in the fact that it binds us with our imperceptible creator and enables us to visualize our self and our esteem perquisite hidden power. But to this religion only, we owe extreme form of fundamentalism and fanaticism that since centuries and as far as our history goes have been detrimental to the basic core of all our religions and religious faiths. Religious doctrines of almost all over the world laid down principles of the life for their respective societies: how they will live and follow their religious rituals? These religious practices prepared persons in their respective societies to live in harmony with each other and maintain the cordial ambience with their environment. Almost all the religions of the world adopted their own religious belief systems. But when these systems take an extreme form of fundamentalism and show their aggression and disbelief against other religious groups and faith, they hurt at the most fundamental concepts of human lives on which religions are based. They make religion as the most hatred thing in the world and turn it into the most inauspicious aspect for human enlightenment. Religion enlightens by inculcating within the people the moral values on which the human life and society is flourishing but when the propagators of these moral values use the religious beliefs and religion to instigate their fame and for their own commercial purposes, this religion only becomes a darker phase in their life. Just when 16th century began to shower the new rays of hope on the mother Earth, Niccolo di Bernardo dei Machiavelli, an Italian political philosopher, diplomat poet, playwright and musician wrote, â€Å"We Italians are irreligious and corrupt above others. †¦.. because the church and her representatives have set us the worst example. †1 According to Machiavelli, religion became just a mere tool in the hands of ruling powers to change the mind set of the public according to their own needs and aspirantions. And its happening till today. This world of today is witness to the massive force of ruling class using religion to meet their political and commercial needs. Cotton Mather, writing of a former condition which he would admired to have renewed in his own time, said: â€Å"New England being a country whose interests are remarkbaly in ecclesiastical circumstances, ministers ought to concern themselves in politics. † 2 Further said by Cobb, in the early days, the clergy had a greater influence on the minsteral affairs and the influence was so much that they with their ruling power could bring magistrates and courts too to their dictate. This led number of clergies to misuse the power and made the religion as an instrument of bigotry and superstition. 3 The clergy, political class and other religious fanatics made religion an arena of superstition and doctrine of blind faith that did not believe in the new thoughts of this scientific and highly technological advanced world of today and made religion deterimental to Human enlightenment. Human enlightenment endows the knowledge and awakening of human values and the knowledge of scientific truths and temperament that has made our life at ease. Science wants us to solve all problems of our life through deep regressive thoughts and our own efforts. Atheists began to instigate the adherance to religion and God within us. They believe that no divine power can solve our problem and prayer is just a wastage of time. 4 1 Burckhardt, pp. 272 2 Cobb, pp. 237 3 Cobb, pp. 237 4. Cronish, para 2, Online Edition In fact even Albert Ellis, PhD, said, â€Å"If religion is defined as man’s dependence on a power above and beyond the human, then, as a psychotherapist, I find it to be exceptionally pernicious. Religion, first of all, is not self-interest – it is god-interest. Religiosity is essentially masochism and both are forms of mental sickness. All religions contend that their super-human entities cannot be humanly experienced and that their gods and their principles are beyond science. Religion is†¦ directly opposed to the goals of mental health. †5 Religion beckons us to follow spiritual life but the way religious doctrines are propagated and publicized and mould the mental attitude of the people, they are going even against the moral values that are so basic for a person to be human. The politicians, religious heads and other fanatics are misusing the religious doctrines to spread among human race superstition, blind faith, sins, violence chaos and disorder. History is clear proof to show how since ages poltical rulers and religious heads are degrading the religious doctrines and misrepresenting them to fulfill their own aims and are spreading useless dogmas, corrupt powerhouses, chaos and confusion and thus result in making the religious values as a sole detrimental to Human enlightenment. The religious texts of almost all the religions of the world have been written by humans, that are centuries old, in their own language and style that people of today’s generation are not able to comprehend and take out the extract what lies beneath the hidden text. This lack of understanding belies the own faith and life style of the contemporary world. As Christopher Hitchens in â€Å"God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything† said that as religion has impeded people to treat other persons in a just manner and it is not necessary to learn the basic human values and human relations from religion or religious doctrines. Human relations come 5 Cronish, para 2, Online Edition from human own needs and aspirations. Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens state that â€Å"Religion and churches are manufactured, and this salient fact is too obvious to ignore. †6 And according to Dawkins, â€Å"The manufacturing and growth of religion is best described in evolutionary terms: Religions, like languages, evolve with sufficient randomness, from beginnings that are sufficiently arbitrary, to generate the bewildering – and sometimes dangerous – richness of diversity. †7 And Harris delving into the historicity of the religious tradition and doctrine states that â€Å"The Bible, it seems certain, was the work of sand-strewn men and women who thought the earth was flat and for whom a wheelbarrow would have been a breathtaking example of emerging technology. †8 He further states that it was not even the work of sand-strewn men but several written pieces were pierced together and compiled to give shape to the bible. Further elaborating Dawkins states that, â€Å"Ever since the nineteenth century, scholarly theologians have made an overwhelming case that the gospels are not reliable accounts of what happened in the history of the real world. †9 It implies that the bible and almost the majority of the religious texts were written taking in view the social, culture, political turmoil that were affecting the people of that time and period but that can be relevant to this time and period too if properly interpreted and comprehended. But unfortunately this is not happening, Hitechens wants to tell us that all our academic studies, like â€Å"the sciences of textual criticism, archaeology, physics, and molecular biology have shown religious myths to be false and man-made. †10 Science has proved that all religions are construed by 6 Fish, para 1,Online Edition 7 Fish, para 1, Online Edition 8 Fish, para 1, Online Edition 9 Fish, para 2, Online Edition 10 Fish, para 3, Online Edition men for their own purpose and it was the man of that time and age who wrote the textual books. Titus Lucretius Carus, Roman poet of first century B. C in his magnificent rendered opus De Rerum Natura postered the view that, â€Å"But ’tis that same religion oftener far Hath bred the foul impieties of men. †11 He held the belief that the world was made up of matter and void, and everything in the world is learned and understood purely from nature and that all the religions of the world are born because of the fear that people faced because of the dangers that nature had in store for them in their primitive stage and their ignorance about the world around, about themselves and about everything that were part and parcel of their life. Humans were afraid of fire that is why they started worshiping fire, they were afraid of animals so they made many of the animals their deity. Slowly and slowly, they turned their worshipping into rituals that necessiated them to follow in their lifes. Their religious freedom and beliefs strangled their hold on the people’s freedom. Initially they made this beginning to give protective cover to people against discrimination, persecution and oppression but in this momentum, the religious fundamentalists and fanatics made religion too symbol of slavery, persecution and oppression of weaker sects and women. For e. g. many of the propagators of the religions thought it their right to confer discriminatory attitude against gays, force women and children to cover their face with veil. 12 And above all their rights to threaten to death or kill anyone and everyone who comes in front of their religion. In many religions, women’s place is inferior to men. Rev. Jill Nelson, pastor of the Sunshine Cathedral Metropolitan Community Church, commenting on Leviticus 20:13, said, â€Å"It is grounded in the old Jewish understanding that women are less worthy than men. For a man to 11 Lucretius, Book I – Proem, Line 3-4. 12 Namazie, Online Edition. have sex with another man ‘as with a woman’ insults the other man, because women are to be treated as property. †13 The most essential needs of our human beings are food, clothing, shelter, leisure and the most important being freedom. It’s the freedom that we all cherish and along-with the freedom need awareness, emotional satisfaction, responsibility towards ourselves and for others. Human beings are enlightened if they get freedom and independence of thoughts and sexuality and many of the religions are snatching this only freedom by putting before us several of their religious doctrines. Though many of the religions like Buddhism and Christianity say that feeling of essence of spirituality itself is the freedom for you. The New Testament of the Christianity says, â€Å"You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free† implying that knowing the spiritual truth and freedom of choice will give you freedom but in this materialistic and scientific world of today we are not seeking just the freedom of spirituality but freedom in all the way’s of our life, and in all our breath. We cannot grow unless we are free. Karl Marx had an ardent belief that religion is socially construed, and is harmful for human lives as it discourages the down trodden human beings from participating actively in the political, social and economic upheavals of the society as it promises that the faithful people shall be rewarded in the life after. Ruling class treat religion as a tool to suppress the sufferings and down trodden by implying their own modifications of religious doctrines. For their own commercial and social gains, they imbibe the religious textual principles and traits among the poor and hamper their economical progress and independence. 13 Kinney, Online Edition. 14 Muhammad, Online Edition Marx labeled religion as an opium of people because the religion could give poor the momentarily relief but could not make them rid of their prolong sufferings. Secondly, religion gives them dreams of better life after their death. In other words, Marx treats religion as a rout of Escapism. In the words of Marx, â€Å"The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo. †15 Marx says that the concept of sin so highly delivered by Christian doctrine is anti-social as Christian doctrine is inherent in the nature of human beings that becomes the part of the misery and Marx says that sins are socially planned and implemented and ought to be changed. It is the world of man, man is a part of this state and society, and it is this society that religion own its existence to. To ignore religion means to ignore the roots of our civilization, its monuments, its beliefs and practices, achievement and the legacy that it had bestowed onto us by our ancestors. If we do not have our own religious faith, its bound to have venomous effect on our own personality but this very religion becomes our enemy when we begin to use its doctrines and principles to embellish our own selfish ends. And this misinterpretation of the religious doctrines, selfishness of the ruling and powerful elite make our religions detrimental to Human Enlightenment. WORKS CITED Burckhardt, Jacob. â€Å"The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy† (Translated by S. G. Middlemore) USA: Penguin Classics, 1990 Cobb, Sanford H. â€Å"The Rise of Religious Liberty in America: A History† Ayer Publishing, 1970. Cornish, Keith S. â€Å"SECULAR SYSTEMS† atheist foundation. org. au Internet (19August 2002) Available: http://www. atheistfoundation. org. au/secularsystems. htm, 10 December 2007 Fish, Stanley. â€Å"Is Religion Man-Made? † Internet (24 June 2007) Available: http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/is-religion-man-made/