ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction The most important insight that I got from the book “The Places you go” is that pastors should be flexible in both the way in which they deal with people and the means by which faith is administered. When I read through the various chapters, I thought that the three most poignant sections were those involving the hospital, the jail, and the funeral home. Main Body As I read these chapters, I began to see that the environment in which a person is in greatly contributes to their emotional well being and general receptiveness towards their current situation. The problem really is that such places often contribute to negative feelings of hopelessness, despair, abandonment, and agony. From what I read, I learned that what is needed in such instances is not a preacher that spouts the word of God monotonously, instead, what is needed is someone that can sit down and just talk. The book shows how merely talking, listening, and trying to understand a person has a profound effect on people and makes them more receptive to the word of God. For example, there are instances where a person is simply not receptive at all to what a pastor has to say as seen in the case of death row inmates or when a pastor is confronted with a family where one of their members recently committed suicide (Beverly 2003, 1-150). Following church protocol and doctrine in such cases is ill-advised given the potential negative ramifications that may come about. Instead, what I learned is that pastors should attempt to develop a personal connection with the people that they are speaking to. They must understand the reasons behind certain events and help these people develop closure. It is not enough that a pastor preaches the word of God; rather, it is necessary for a pastor to attempt to implement some form of healing. When tragedy strikes or when someone is confronted with their impending death, it is usually the case that these individuals break down or keep the world at bay in order to wallow in their sorrows. From what I read in the book, this behavior is self-destructive and can often promote negative thoughts and feelings. A pastor can help such a person by relating to them, understanding the source of their problem, and using the word of God as a means of giving them comfort. Through the book, I developed the notion that doctrine and prayer are not what these types of people need. No amount of prayer and blessing on the part of the priest can help them get over their anguish. What they need is not someone who stands on a pulpit, nor a pastor that administers sacramental rights, instead, they need someone that is willing to be there to listen and to understand, in other words, what they need is a friend. Conclusion For quite some time pastors have always had t
ADDC, or the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company, is one of the largest providers of water and electricity in the vicinity. It is a public joint-stock company under the ownership of the Abu-Dhabi Water and Electricity governmental authority. Its area of service covers the entirety of the Abu Dhabi Emirate, except for the Al Ain region. The company specializes not only in providing these essential goods to the population, but also in adjoining operations, which include planning, design, construction, and operation of the electrical and water networks in the region. Even though the company is largely owned by the government, the authorities of Abu Dhabi are always looking to improve the functioning of their assets by implementing innovative management and business practices. The purpose of this joint paper is to work on solutions to potential problems that ADDC currently has, such as the inability to reach governmental standards of service level, delays in abnormal bill complaints and refund bank transactions for the customers, and a lack of new activities for the employees in the organization. Problems and Solutions The Inability to Reach the Governmental Standards of Service Level Quality of service has always been one of the pressing matters in ADDC. Many of the ensuing problems stem from the fact that the company has no external drive to improve, as it has a monopoly on supplying electricity and water to the end-users. Lack of competition, in turn, turns to a lack of effort to adopt new practices and focus on self-improvement. However, this problem could be solved from within, to some degree. Adopting the Quality Control Management paradigm and implementing Six Sigma is one of the ways to raise the quality of service to governmental standards. The Six Sigma program is a data-driven approach to improving the quality of the products and services, which has the potential to decrease the overall cost and improve the quality of managers and leaders of the company. Another approach would involve studying foreign companies and adopting their practices and techniques to achieve the same purpose. Delays in Abnormal Bill Complaints and Refund Bank Transactions for the Customers This problem, from how we see it, stems from inefficient banking transactions and a lack of information exchange between the bank, the customer, and the company. To solve this problem, we must first understand it in detail. Both the customers and the bank managers and employees would need to be thoroughly interviewed to determine the potential reasons for delays and complaints. The process of approving refunds and delivering bills must be simplified. Also, it would be reasonable to survey other banks as well. It could be possible that another bank would provide a better and faster quality of service while being just as available to the customer as the current bank. A Lack of New Activities for the Employees in the Organization This problem relates directly to employee motivation and desire to improve. From how we see it, ADDC does not offer enough opportunities for its employees to grow as professionals and
Introduction The health care system of the United States is designed in such a way that citizens should gain entry into existing programs. Over the years, Americans have encountered diverse opportunities or disparities depending on different factors, including sex, age, gender identity, race, and socioeconomic status. This paper discusses the differences in access to health care services in this country. Disparities in Access to Health Care Services The issue of disparity in the American health sector is something that affects the experiences and outcomes of many citizens. This predicament impacts different groups and communities across the country. The first factor to consider when studying the nature of disparity is that of race or ethnicity. Dickman, Himmelstein, and Woolhandler (2017) indicate that Hispanics, African Americans, and Asian Americans tend to find it hard to acquire timely and sustainable medical services in comparison with Whites. This scenario is attributable to diverse aspects, including poor economic positions, lack of income, inadequate education attainment, and unavailability of medical clinics. The second issue is that of location. Citizens living in urban regions access high-quality health care services much faster than those in rural or underserved areas. Such areas lack adequate systems and programs to meet the needs of more people. Communities found in remote regions do not afford sustainable preventative and treatment health services (Dickman et al., 2017). This fact explains why specific diseases are common among members of such populations, such as kwashiorkor, malaria, influenza, and dysentery. Age is the third attribute that affects the accessibility of medical care in the United States. A study by King (2016) revealed that individuals aged between 24 and 55 years were able to receive health services within the shortest time. This is true since the majority of them are working, have medical plans, and enjoy improved living conditions. Children below 18 years of age might encounter difficulties when trying to acquire clinical care if their parents lack proper insurance. Similarly, the elderly will are usually unable to acquire on-demand medical services. Many American retirees lack adequate health resources or financial support. Homelessness and poverty are the fourth and fifth aspects that dictate the ability of different Americans to get timely health care. Households that earn less than 20,000 US dollars annually will be unable to get high-quality services (Dickman et al., 2017). The challenge doubles when such families make less than 10,000 US dollars per year (King, 2016). Low-income citizens will be unable to afford or access exemplary care from existing facilities. Homeless Americans continue to grapple w
Audience and location The city of Sidney continues to perpetrate a reputation of supporting the development of creative spaces aided by a series of events locations and programs. As such, the city offers a variety of periodic events and activities running through the year. To facilitate these events the city is proud to host and support several seamless and provocative spatial settings. These settings offer strategic circumstance and artistic environment that is endorsed by a rich cultural background. Running down from iconic operas to galleries and underground community theatres, these locations have earned a reputation of affordability in artist workspace through the facilitation, cooperation and support of local government. Subsidised rental and leasing programs as well as peppercorn rent programs have allowed creative arts developers to afford and enrich the content of their collections and pieces of art (Foo & Rossetto 1998). At the heart of these locations is the Heffron hall managed and controlled by Queens Street Studio in conjunction with FraserStudios, provide an exemplary coalition between artists and developers. This collaboration offers affordable rehearsal space allowing for a constant turnover of activity. Statement of intent The exhibition experience in any such location is pegged on a variety of factors besides the presented item or exhibition. The Falk and Dierking’s model notes that in such an experience as “the importance they find visitors attribute to individuals, objects, and environments other than those for which they specifically attend the attraction, informs many types of attractions” (2000, p.17). In effect, the elements comprising or leading to an activity, exhibition or presentation complement and shape the audiences impression and attraction to the item of art. Fundamentally, the attraction experience is a gradual and cumulative collection of events leading to the conception of a concrete bias in opinion in the form of an attraction. In the location above, the length of attraction represented to an audience, looking to visit this location will be greatly influenced by the features of the studio including the outside environment of the hall, the presentation of the advertisement of the event, the timing of the event and the general outlook of the space allocated. These are to be conjured to portray various elements of the piece in the format and approach of Mo¨dersheim’s (2004) as follows in his book art of war: Theme The piece must react to the audience in a manner sugge
Introduction One of the major wars waged after the Second World War was the Vietnam War (1965-1968). The two major antagonists in this war were China which backed North Vietnam and the US which backed South Vietnam. This war was in actual sense a front from which an ideological war between China and America was waged. China was keen on spreading communism while the US was equally keen on advancing capitalism or at least curbing the spread of communism. The then US president Lyndon Johnson adopted a policy favorable to South Vietnam. Therefore, the US extended its commitment to preserve the independence of South Vietnam from the communist threat that North Vietnam posed. On the other hand, there existed a close relationship between North Vietnam and China. Evidence of this is present in the assurance from Chinese Leader Mao Zedong to the North Vietnamese that “your business is my business; my business is your business, we together will unconditionally fight America” (Bradley 9). China therefore vowed to support the north to whatever extents were needed. This paper shall analyze the specific manners in which China supported Vietnam in the course of the Vietnam conflict. Reasons for Chinese Involvement and Support A major result of World War two was the emergence of two Super Powers, The USA and the Soviet Union, both of which favored different political ideologies. While the US favored capitalism, the Soviet Union was pro communism and aimed to spread this ideology to its spheres of influence. One of the biggest allies of the Soviet Union was China which advocated for an even more radical implementation of communism. China was committed to the idea of a communism which emphasized violent revolution and Vietnam presented a perfect ground from which China could propagate its ideology. In addition to this, China was even more determined that Moscow to spread the communism ideology everywhere. Aiding North Vietnam presented an immediate means through which China could oppose the US and as such, undermine capitalism. Vietnam was the arena for China’s support for “wars of national liberation” and china encouraged North Vietnam to take on an aggressive course in the fight to unify the north and the south. As of the time of the war, the capital city of South Vietnam was Saigon while that of the North was Hanoi. US defense of South Vietnam was an expression of greater commitment to battle against Communism in Southeast Asia. Another reason for the increased Chinese support of Vietnam was the deteriorating relationship between the Soviet Union and China. These Sino-Soviet tensions were broug
Introduction Women have participated in the labour force for many years. For women, it has been a struggle to be recognised and accorded the same treatment as their male counterparts in the labour force. The struggle for equality by feminists has bored fruits with the adoption of equal rights in the work place for women. The work place has even adjusted to accommodate the role of women as mothers. Many organisations give women maternity leave as a right and this indicates the understanding of the role of a woman as a mother and her capability to contribute to the labour force. The following article will highlight some of the factors that have contributed to the supply of women in the labour market. Oral contraceptive The invention of oral contraception impacted society in various ways both socially and economically. After the Second World War, many women went back to their traditional role of family rearing paving way for returning soldiers to replace the vacant positions left behind. This period in the 1950’s witnessed rise in birth rates which began the baby boom era. This state of events was however short lived with the introduction of the oral contraceptives. There was a decline in size of families because women could practice birth control more effectively. This in turn caused many women to return to the work force. Married women composed 15% of the women in the work force in 1900 but this figure increased to 62% in the 1970’s (Spielvogel 2010, p.11). The “pill” was revolutionary and enabled more women to participate in the labour force. It gave women more freedom to plan the size of the family and when to start a family enabling them to have more time to participate in the work force. The increase in the number of women in the work force however, had negligible impact on macro economic growth (Soete and Freeman 1997, p. 29). Wage growth Female labour supply in the work force has been on an upward trend over the years. This has been concluded from empirical studies carried out. The studies show that an increase in the wages will have a positive impact on the women labour force. Over the years, there have been more and more freedom fights and gender equality is widely advocated in most parts of the free world. With gender equality, comes access to various economic and social aspects that had previously been unavailable to women. Education is one of the social aspects that has become available and has greatly empowered the bargaining power of women in the workforce. Women empowerment has come with numerous advantages to the working woman. Experts have concluded from studies carried out on different populations that the increase in wages will result in more women entering the work force. Studies have shown that the increase in wages and income for working women can be linked to an increase in the supply of women in the labour force. The demand for more labour has led to introduction of incentives to attract more skilled and qualified labour. Women who have had access to education have increased their skills and qualifications in
The County of San Diego is a public organization striving for continuous development and improvement of its activities. The organization plays an important role in realizing the strategy of helping the region to build better health (“County of San Diego Annual Report 2014-2015” 1). Therefore, the organization is focused on providing appropriate policies for improving the health status of the population. The indicators related to health area of influence promoted by the County of San Diego include Life Expectancy and Quality of life (percent of citizens with an appropriate level of health able to live independently) (“County of San Diego Annual Report 2014-2015” 5). Therefore, caring for people that are most vulnerable to becoming dependent on daily care is one of the primary goals of the organization. Aging citizens of San Diego are one of the main objects of concerns of the County of San Diego. The organization works with providing appropriate policies and solving the problems related to improving the health of the aging population. “The Alzheimer’s Project: A Call to Arms” is the project launched by the County of San Diego to promote the regional initiative to address the urgent problem of enormous rates of the disease and contribute to the problem-solving process. The project gathers together the best specialists to provide expertise and strategic guidance on the creation of policies able to decrease the current rates of the disease and improve the life of people suffering from it (“The Alzheimer’s Project: A Call to Arms” 6). The Central Issue Through promoting the discussed project, the County of San Diego strives for dealing with such issues, as broadening the knowledge about the Alzheimer’s disease, improving existing treatments, and investing in promising areas of research. Alzheimer’s disease is fatal and every year takes millions of life of US citizens (Ballard et al. 1019). San Diego also faces the skyrocketing numbers of patients suffering from the disease and needs urgent solutions to stop the tendencies of a growing percent of people with the symptoms of the disease. Besides being fatal, the disease puts a tremendous toll on caregivers, as caring for such patients is extremely challenging and expensive. Alzheimer’s disease causes a huge economic burden in San Diego and puts a serious threat to the ability of healthcare system to function properly. Therefore, investing time and efforts in dealing with the central issues of the project can benefit the citizens of San Diego and the whole population of the country. If effective methods of dealing with the problem are found in the project, the effective policies would be developed to ensure implementing efficient solutions in San Diego. The Major Factors One of the major factors influencing the development of issues related to the discussed project is the involvement of all groups of specialists from different sectors affected by Alzheimer’s disease
From a global business perspective, understanding culture of various communities is critical. This is because culture plays a critical role in business transactions and operations. Yamagishi (2003) identified various aspects that define culture. They are heritage, norms of reciprocity and rules, way of life, societal norms, psychological orientations, regulation of human life, common beliefs, community symbols such as language, history and artifacts as well as religious beliefs (Yamagishi, 2003). Granchev and Mobina (2006) reported that there are nine cultural dimensions identified by the GLOBE namely; power distance, uncertainty avoidance, institutional collectivism, in-group collectivism, assertiveness, gender equality, future orientation, performance orientation, and humane orientation. However, cultures of different people may converge or diverge in one way or another. In this paper, the various cultural dimension issues in Russia, Japan, India, Hong Kong, France, Thailand, and Germany that can affect international business are discussed. Russia Three divergent factors determine the modern societal culture in Russia. They include the traditional backgrounds that have been developed historically over the centuries, totalitarian regimes of the 20 th century, and the 1990s and early 2000s rapid changes in value systems, beliefs, and behavior (Granchev, 2004). Granchev and Mobina (2006) analyzed findings of a cro
Introduction Organisations bring together people from different backgrounds. To ensure that diverse groups of people working in an organisation are organised such that they work towards common aims and goals, communication is an essential skill for any leader. Organisational leaders select various communications strategies depending on the situations that they encountered in their work environments. Communication strategies are crucial in organisations, particularly in the information age. Organisations are growing into immense complexities and are constantly looking for mechanisms of becoming competitive. One of the ways of gaining competitive advantage is by “discovering and implementing a communications strategy that supports company business objectives for its customers, workforce and partners” (Perry & Bodkin, 2000, p.89). Good communication strategies have multiple benefits for an organisation ranging from enhancing workforce motivations to the creation of additional customers and retention of the existing clientele. The main aim of this paper is to provide an outline of communication skills and discuss its benefits. It also discusses how managers can deploy communication skills to make their work efficient and effective. The discussions of the paper are based on the existing literature of the roles of organisational communication in enhancing the success of organisations and on the understanding of the roles of communication in organisations developed over the semester. Thus, an opportunity is seized to offer authors personal opinion on the development of communication skills, propose an action plan for learning and utilisation of the communication skill in the future. Communication is selected for discussion as a managerial skill that is essential in an organisation since its incorporation or its negation in an organisation determines the extent of effectiveness of organisational leadership. The benefits of good communication Communication refers to exchange of information, either verbally or non-verbally. Verbal communication entails the transfer of meaning through sounds and words. Non-verbal communication entangles transfer of meaning, intentionally or unintentionally, via symbols or actions. In organisational settings, communication refers to exchange of information between organisational leaders and employees and or from employees to employees (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione, 2010, p.54). It also entails the transfer of information from the organisations to the customers and the owners (shareholders). Organisations’ leaders encounter various pressures to comply with various demands raised by a myriad of organisational stakeholders while still ensuring that an organisation remains competitive in the short and long run. Ensuring compliance to these dual anticipations, organisational mana