ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
British Petroleum British Petroleum is a UK oil company with extensive global operations in more than 80 countries (BP, 2014). Recent reports show that the company is among the six biggest global oil corporations, in terms of revenues and oil production capacity (Jennings, 2010). The main activities of the UK-based company include oil exploration and production (BP, 2014). Other activities include refining, distribution, and marketing of oil products. In line with its corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, BP (2014) has also invested in “green” energy, such as wind power. Environmental concerns have prompted the company to invest in biofuels, as well (BP, 2014). Recently, BP (2014) has received negative publicity for its poor safety record and its determination to make profits at the expense of the environment (Jennings, 2010). At the center of this controversy is the company’s failure to comply with existing health and safety standards (Morris, 2010). This paper proposes a coalition group strategy to change the company’s “casual” attitude of non-compliance. However, to have a proper conception of the plan, this paper analyzes key external organizational factors that affect the company’s operations, its main stakeholders, and how they affect the company’s financial performance. Key External Organizational Factors that Affect the Company Since BP (2014) is a multinational oil company, many factors affect its operations. Political instability is a key factor that affects it in this regard because it influences the company’s regulatory environment. Badiru & Osisanya (2013) say the main problem facing oil companies in this regard is the changes in trade agreements with foreign companies, even after they have invested a lot of capital. This is a huge global concern for oil companies because the agreement they sign when investing in a country often changes when they start operations. Geological Risk is also another issue that affects BP (2014). Since its main operation is oil drilling, it currently faces the challenge of drilling in unfriendly environments because oil companies have already exploited existing oil reserves. This challenge often results in increased production costs and dwindling oil reserves that cannot sustain the company’s operations (Badiru & Osisanya, 2013). Lastly, supply and demand risks affect the activities of the organization because the oil and gas industry often experiences market shocks that reduce investment values. Moreover, other economic pressures in the macroeconomic environment, such as the global economic crisis, or currency fluctuations, further worsen this situation (Badiru & Osisanya, 2013). Since most investments made by BP (2014) are capital-intensive, it is difficult to recoup them when oil prices decline. Stakeholders The stakeholders of BP (2014) include groups, or institutions that the company influences through its operations. Employees, shareholders, and customers are the three salient stakeholder groups of the company. They are pivotal to the company’s existence because they provi
The article written by Robert Biswas-Diener is aimed at examining the factors that influence a person’s life satisfaction. This term has often used as a substitute to the word happiness. Overall, this topic has been of concern to various researchers. In particular, the author argues that the influence of intelligence has often been overlooked by psychologists. In the writer’s opinion, people prefer to focus on those aspects that they can improve or at least change in some way (Biswas-Diener). In turn, intelligence is a stable attribute of an individual (Biswas-Diener). It does not depend on the efforts of an individual. This is one of the reasons why the connections between happiness and intelligence are not examined more closely. To a great extent, this attitude can be regarded as a form of a bias. The author mentions that people, who have a low IQ, are more likely to experience significant variations in life satisfaction (Biswas-Diener). They can also be described as mood swings. Admittedly, Robert Biswas-Diener mentions that these various can be attributed to various factors such as education and income level that are not dependent only on the intelligence level (Biswas-Diener). Nevertheless, the author argues that the relations between happiness and intelligence should not be overlooked. These are the main aspects that can be singled out. This article can be related to several concepts that were covered in the book. In particular, one should mention such as notion as intelligence (Wade and Tavris 243). Overall, this concept can be described as the ability of a person to apply cognitive skills while using various types of information. The examples provided in the book indicate that intelligence can be used as a predictor of a person’s future performance in various areas such as academic performance (Wade and Tavris 243). However, not much attention is being paid to its impact on life satisfaction. So, Robert Biswas-Diener’s throws a new light on this problem. This issues discussed by the author can be discussed with cognitive psychologists who examine the nature of intelligence and its impacts on various behaviors of an individual. These professionals can tell how intelligence influences a person’s worldviews, attitudes, and his perceived well-being. Overall, the information that they provide can be of great use. This is one of the details that should be identified. Additionally, it is necessary to examine such a notion as depression (Wade and Tavris 369). This term is used to describe the experiences of a person who is continuously overwhelmed by the feeling of anxiety, worthlessness, helplessness, and guilt. This psychological state is familiar to people who experience variability in life satisfaction (Wade and Tavris 369). This is one of the challenges that they cannot easily overcome. Thus, this notation can be related to the content of this article. These issues can be better analyzed by clinical psychologists who study various aspects mental disorders and their underlying causes. Overall, they can tell how a person can overcome the effects of mood swings. On the whole, these examples indicat
Introduction Biodiversity refers to the sum total of species, ecosystems and genes in a certain location. The term encompasses all spheres of biological systems such as the genetic or molecular sphere, the population sphere, the species, ecosystem and organ spheres, as well. Conversely, an introduced species is one that exists in an area outside of its native region. Usually, humans may bring them into a certain location either intentionally or accidentally. Sometimes introduced species may turn invasive and thus cause harm to the native population. The question of introduced species’ effects on biodiversity is a complex one as there is no single consequence of these organisms. Consequently, one must analyse both sides of the debate thoroughly before one can assert that introduced species either are harmful to biodiversity. How introduced species harm biodiversity Conservationists are deeply concerned about introduced species because they threaten the existence of native species. At times, this may occur through direct interactions with the introduced species or through the dependence of other species on the threatened one. When other species depend on the replaced one, then they may loose their habitat, source of food, or mode of reproduction. Eventually, they may also become extinct or endangered. The danger posed by introduced species may occur through various pathways: competition, predation or parasitism, disease, hybridisation, modification of the habitat as well as herbivory. When these phenomena manifest, then they eventually lead to the loss of biodiversity. Studies indicate that introduced species come second to habitat destruction with regard to their threat on native biodiversity. Usually, certain barriers exist in natural environments to allow species to evolve on their own. Few of these barriers include mountains, deserts, rivers and ocean. If these barriers did not exist, then it would be quite easy for species to enter new niches and minimise biodiversity in that area. Human beings have contributed adversely to circumvention of these barriers by bringing species, from other areas, for food or commercial purposes. Introduction of species, therefore, accelerates the amount of time needed to broaden a species’ range (Cohen & Carlton 1998). The most direct and serious way of reducing biodiversity by introduced species is competition. Non native populations will compete for the same space, nutrients, polluting insects or light as the native ones. In certain circumstances, the introduced species may be better equipped to fight for these resources than the local
Introduction   * Alzheimer’s – a dementia type affecting memory, thinking and behavior.   * A progressive degenerative disease.   * Usually affects elderly (over 65) (Alzheimer’s Association, n.d.).   * Prevalence is 5.7 million in the U.S.   * No cure present as of 2019.   * Paramount to research to enhance living conditions, delay symptoms progression, find cure. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive degenerative disorder that causes a deterioration of mental and cognitive abilities. Its usual onset begins at senior age and with time makes a person more and more dependent. As of now, there is no way to avert the disease and available treatment options can only slow down its progression and relieve a patient from symptoms. It is pivotal to review and research this disorder further in order to acquire more knowledge about its mechanics and finally cure it. Diagnostic Procedures   * Medical History Review.   * Neurological examination.   * Mental status evaluation (MMSE, Mini-Cog) (Karin et al., 2014).   * FDA-Cleared computerized examination (Cantab Mobile, Cognigram, and so on).   * Genetic Testing (APOE-e4).   * MRI and CT scans. Present research and practice offers a vast variety of techniques to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and proneness to its development. Currently, the abnormal loss of cognitive ability (such that is not part of a normal aging process) may be revealed by tests such as mini-cog or MMSE. They combine tasks on remembering and reproducing meaningful information to uncover signs of impairment. Among other diagnostic procedures there are brain scans, and electronic memory assessment tools such as Cantab. Genetic testing, despite some controversy can als
Company Overview Sony Corporation (Sony) is one of the leading electronics manufacturing and distribution Companies in the world. The company deals with the design, development, manufacture, and sale of products such as communication products, televisions, video and audio products among other electronic components (Städtler, 2011). Apart for this entity, it also offers insurance services through its subsidiaries in Japan. Other business operations include advertising agency and network services. The company’s operations fall under six reportable segments. They include networked Products and Services; Music; Consumer Products and Devices; Pictures; Financial Services and others. It also operates its subsidiaries across 200 countries inEurope, North America as well as Asia. The Company’s headquarters is in Tokyo, Japan. Its major industry competitors include Dell, Creative technologies, LG, Samsung, Fujifilm Holdings, Philips, Pioneer Corporations, Hitachi, and Casio Computers (Städtler, 2011). How Internal and External factors may affect the firm The internal factors are those whose origin and control are within the capacity of the firm. They include strengths and weaknesses. The strengths within Sony shall be material assets that will boost its performance if well administered. This firm may achieve strategic objectives through utilization of its strengths. On the other hand, external factors entail those influences that emanate from outside the firm. They come as opportunities and threats. Threats are harmful hence; they will impair on Sony’s growth objectives. Such threats may come in form of strong brands, imitation, and changing customer needs. On the oth
In this essay, I argue that the argument Feldman makes for attitudinal hedonism does not hold water. First, I will briefly summarize Feldman’s argument. Next, I will point out a serious flaw in the argument. Then I will consider an objection that Feldman could possibly raise to my criticism. Finally, I will explain why this objection fails. To the best of my knowledge, the most powerful argument Feldman makes for attitudinal hedonism runs as follows:  1. Pleasure/enjoyment and pain are attitudinal feelings, not sensory feelings.  2. Man seeks to maximize attitudinal pleasure and minimize attitudinal pain.  3. The value of one’s life is determined by how much that person enjoys things that happen in his/her life.  4. Therefore, a good life is the one enjoyed by person who lived that life (from 2 and 3) (Feldman 604). Feldman’s argument is logically valid if all premises are taken to be true. Some people might think the argument is convincing when taking the first glimpse at it, but a close examination will reveal a serious flaw in the argument. Specifically, the third premise is by no means beyond doubt. In what follows, I will show that it is actually false. Ethical theories are normative in nature. They are summaries of principles that should guide behavior towards the desirable and help us avoid undesirable behavior (Crisp 78). In this essay Feldman focuses on the individual’s life and what makes it worth living; the good life essentially comes down to whether the person enjoyed life. Feldman sets himself apart from sensory hedonists and describes a different approach to hedonism i.e. attitudinal hedonism. Despite this departure from sensory hedonism, I still disagree that the value of one’s life is determined by how much they enjoyed their life. This stems from the fact that value is an extrinsic phenomenon judged on the basis of normative standards usually determined in a societal setting. The value of one’s life therefore is not determined by the individual’s judgment that he/she enjoyed life. Hedonists, Feldman included, regard pleasure as the only source of intrinsic value. They argue that all things that are desirable are only vicariously so as the main end that is aimed for is pleasure. This is not the case as there are other things we desire as ends in themselves e.g. beauty and truth. Feldman obliviously appeals to some other sources of intrinsic value when defending his theory of attitudinal hedonism. In his defense against Shelly Kagan’s deceived businessman thought experiment, Feldman argues that the businessman who is living a veridical life is living a life that has more value than the one who is deceived. In this defense Feldman uses another
Introduction Professor Ekman created the basic emotions framework and defined specific criteria to which basic emotions adhere. According to these criteria, basic emotions are not culturally dependent, which means that they appear even in preliterate cultures. Also, basic emotions may be triggered by internal or external stimuli without being consciously chosen. The response to the stimuli is rapid and usually lasts for several seconds or minutes. Unlike complex emotions, basic ones are consistent in their first appearance and always followed by distinctive thoughts, memories, or images. While it seems quite rational that expressions are universal, many social psychologists claimed that emotions were expressed as a result of cultural influences. In order to demonstrate that emotional expression is universal, Ekman and his team showed photographs of people depicting various emotional states to participants of twenty-two countries (Niedenthal and Ric 240). The test subjects had to identify the emotional state they saw on the photo from the predetermined list of possible emotions. The evidence gained from this experiment allowed Ekman to conclude that expressions are universal. Main body The core emotions identified by Ekman in the result of the above-mentioned experiment are anger, fear, disgust, sadness, happiness, and surprise. Through cross-cultural research, the scientist found that these emotions are biological rather than culture-specific and can be conceptualized along with the level of activation and degree of pleasantness. Since the attribution of the six basic emotions, research has continued to determine other basic emotions. In the 1980s, the new core emotion of contempt was discovered based on the experiments conducted with the New Guineans. Even though the basic facial expressions are the same from culture to culture, what makes one angry, sad, or laugh depends on the cultural, as well as social, background from which one comes. This is because there are informal cultural rules of what is acceptable or not. For example, if one finds something to be funny, another person may find it to be humiliating or just not funny. For example, despite the fact that Brits may enjoy their national comedies, the majority of them are almost never mentioned by non-Brits whose sense of humor is different. Whether someone will publicly display emotion is mostly culturally determined. People lear
During his era, Shakespeare had plays that were full of violence and they were very popular. Today’s audiences get disgusted because his plays are full of blood shedding and cruelty. In Shakespeare’s work, violence is portrayed in many ways such as in rape and sexual violation, mutilation, brutal murder and suicide. Specialists in the modern world have criticized violence as it has been used by Shakespeare and others have defended it. The way he uses violence shows the attitudes that people had during those times. There are so many violent episodes in Shakespeare’s work which make many people think that he was so much addicted to it. In Titus Andronicus there are scenes of blood shedding especially in the last scenes. Shakespeare makes Lucius, the new emperor in Rome, to become a superior man in the play. There is a quarrel between the Andronicus family and the Roman Empire that intensifies as the play continues. This results to grudges that are very irritating as well as dreadful acts. In the play, violence dominates and Lucius demonstrates this by integrating Titus and Marcus but frustrates Aaron. At the beginning of the play Alurbus is murdered, according to Roman law it was deemed as appropriate (Scott 264). At the end of the play, Titus becomes horrible especially to his enemies. This can be seen when he brutally murders Chiron and Demetrious in a very tricky way. This kind of brutality that has been exemplified by Titus contributes to one of the moral dynamic of Lucius that is about how well trickery can be used to commit violent acts. On the other hand, Marcus is a character who exists in the background and acts as a go- between. He clarifies revenge and blind violence when he states “you sad faced men, people and sons of Rome; by uproars severed as a flight of fowl; scattered by winds and high tempestuous gusts; oh let me teach you how to knit again ; this scattered corn into one mutual sheaf; these broken limbs aga
Shakespeare’s tragic heroes are often represented as noble characters who suffer disaster and who are not to blame because of their naivety. At the same time, the brilliance of the tragedy is confined to the flaws of the characters which prevents them from making the right decision. Othello is also in front of the choice whether to trust his wife or listen to his ill-famed tempter. Othello, therefore, is a tragic hero who confronts the strong force of his jealousy and excess trustfulness. The rapid development of the actions in Shakespeare’s play reveals Othello’s gradual fall from grace as a result of his growing jealousy. At the end of the play, Othello’s realizes that his naivety and lack of confidences in his wife’ innocence and fidelity. The hero attempts to receive one more change to redeem and suffers because of the inevitability of the outcomes of his personal weaknesses. Othello is a tragic hero whose nobleness and naivety prevents him from making the right decisions. The protagonist, therefore, is a soldierly character who belongs to a primitive race and is guided by emotions rather than by his mind. Although his has a jealous and passionate nature, Othello rejects his impulsivity: “… Keep up your bright swords, for the dew will rust them. – Good signior, you shall more command with years than with your weapons” (Shakespeare 20). By pronouncing these phrases, one can call Othello as a wise personality whose nobleness and grace makes him reasonable and impassionate. At a glance, Othello meet al the requirements of a noble figure. He takes the noble position of the General of the Republic of Venice and he is always aware of the responsibilities he takes. Despite these words, the hero is soon eager to take revenge on his wife for reasons that would have never been counted as a proof by a reasonable and sensible mind. Placing faith in Iago, whom he considers to be committed to the highest moral values, Othello makes an error brining him to fall. The wrong decisions made of Othello are due to the flaws in his character. The hero suffers tremendously because of his ill-famed nature and impossibility to resist his primitive impulses. The downfall of Othello lies in his extreme disposition to jealousy and excess confidence in Iago’s honesty. He overtly accepts Iago’s false statements as the truth leading to disaster of the self. Being extremely disposed to deception, he is furious about the facts he learn from Iago and acts immediately, with no delay and little reflection. Othelo’s simple way of thinking, as well as his extreme hatred to wife differs completely from the noble and wise statements at the end of the play: “She’s gone; I am abus’d, and my relief must be to loathe her. O curse of marriage, that we can call these delicate creatures ours and not their appetites.” (Shakespeare 112). Being under the influence of the Ancient, the protagonist fails to believe in his wife’s words and, because of the wrong choice, he commits the inevitable. Regarding Othello’s actions described in the play, the hero’s mind, as represented by the poet, is very primitiv